Predicting momentary stress recovery in early stages of mental illness: from the lab to everyday life

 Early stages of mental illness are associated with delayed affective recovery from daily life stress, resulting in persistent feelings of negative affect. Maladaptive coping behaviors may underlie this delayed recovery. If we would be able to predict the moments in daily life where the recovery process malfunctions, we could offer treatment (i.e. alternative coping behaviors) in the very moment it is needed. In this proposal, I describe a study that will investigate how we can predict the moments during the day where recovery hampers in individuals at early stages of mental illness. To do this, I will use an innovative combination of high-tech wearable devices that continuously measure bodily responses (i.e. heart rate, sweat, and skin temperature) and a diary method assessing momentary affect, both in a controlled setting (a lab) and one week in daily life. I will then investigate 1) how the emotional recovery process is associated with the faster bodily response, both in the lab and in daily life 2) if I can use the responses from the lab and the bodily response in daily life, to develop a personalized model that can detect moments of stress in daily life, and predict how long the affective recovery will take 3) if the momentary coping behavior is related to stress recovery, both in the lab and in daily life. In sum, I propose a highly innovative project, aimed at predicting affective recovery from stress in everyday life.