Are physical activity and sedentary behavior related to depression?

Depression is an increasing public health concern with rising prevalence. Nevertheless, far from everyone seeks help or receives adequate treatment. Although psychotherapy and antidepressants still constitute the bulk of treatments offered, recent research suggests that physical activity (PA) can be a powerful adjunct therapy while sedentary behavior (SB) is a definite risk factor for developing … Read more

Comparing internet-delivered cognitive therapy and behavior therapy with telephone support for insomnia disorder: a randomized controlled trial

Our aim was to compare the effects of Internet-delivered cognitive therapy (CT) and behavior therapy (BT) against a waitlist (WL) condition to better understand their unique contribution in the treatment of insomnia. Methods Two hundred and nineteen participants with insomnia disorder were randomized to CT (n = 72), BT (n = 73), or WL (n = 74). The … Read more

Deposit Limit Prompt in Online Gambling for Reducing Gambling Intensity: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Pre-commitment tools – allowing users of gambling services to pre-set a limit for how much money they may spend – are relatively common. However, there exist no clear evidence of their effectiveness in preventing gamblers from spending more money than they otherwise planned. The aim of the study was to compare gambling intensity between users … Read more

Open PhD-position: Psychological and Social Mechanisms Underlying the Diffusion of AI in Society

Social and ethical impact of any technology presupposes its diffusion. The overall aim of this PhD project is therefore to contribute to the development of a methodological framework for predicting the diffusion of consumer AI in different demographics within the coming decade. The aim of the framework is to identify the features that affect the … Read more

Congratulations Ekaterina Ivanova (she is defending his PhD thesis today)

Today Ekaterina Ivanova will defend her PhD-thesis entitled  “Responsible provision of online gambling: Effects, usability and gamblers’ experiences of protective measures implemented in online gambling environments“. Professor Mark Griffiths from Nottingham Trent University will be the opponent during the public defense. From the abstract of the thesis: Problem gambling is considered a public health problem … Read more

Congratulations Kristoffer Magnusson (he is defending his PhD thesis today)

Today Kristoffer Magnusson will defend his PhD-thesis entitled “Methodological issues in psychological treatment research : applications to gambling research and therapist effects“. I have been the main supervisor and Clara Hellner and Gerhard Andersson have been co-supervisors. The opponent will be professor Andy Field from University of Sussex, School of Psychology. From the abstract: Over the … Read more

Agreement between problem gamblers and their concerned significant others regarding the amount of money lost when gambling

In a study that was published today, we investigated the level of agreement between problem gamblers and their concerned significant others (CSOs) regarding the amount of money lost when gambling. Reported losses were analyzed from 266 participants (133 dyads) seeking treatment, which included different types of CSO–gambler dyads. The intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) concerning the … Read more

Treating depression with virtual reality interventions

Depression is a common mental disorder with a large treatment gap. Low-intensity, automated Virtual Reality (VR) interventions (not requiring a therapist) is a scalable and promising solution now that VR is an accessible and mature, consumer technology. Yet unlike with phobias, there have been few attempts at translating evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapeutic (CBT) techniques for … Read more

The efficacy of app‐supported smartphone interventions for mental health problems: a meta‐analysis

Today we published a new paper in World Psychiatry (impact factor = 34). Although impressive progress has been made toward developing empirically‐supported psychological treatments, the reality remains that a significant proportion of people with mental health problems do not receive these treatments. Finding ways to reduce this treatment gap is crucial. Since app‐supported smartphone interventions … Read more

The Negative Effects Questionnaire: psychometric properties of an instrument for assessing negative effects in psychological treatments

Psychological treatments provide many benefits for patients with psychiatric disorders, but research also suggests that negative effects might occur from the interventions involved. The Negative Effects Questionnaire has previously been developed as a way of determining the occurrence and characteristics of such incidents, consisting of 32 items and six factors. However, the Negative Effects Questionnaire … Read more