The chance that people with psychoses become victim of a violent crimes is three times higher than in the general population. This is partly due to the clinical syndrome that is associated with misperception of social cues, self-stigma, decreased self-esteem and a lack of assertiveness. Earlier experiences with violence also increase the risk of victimization. To tackle this downward spiral, an assertiveness training in which psychomotor interventions are combined with kickboxing techniques was developed. The effects of the intervention will be studied using questionnaires and fMRI in both a pilot, a randomized clinical trial and a follow-up study

Negative body image is a frequent problem with potentially serious consequences, like the development of eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa. Unfortunately, current treatments show very limited effectiveness in modifying body image concerns. Clearly, there is an urgent need for more effective body image interventions. This project therefore explores a new, theory-informed approach to tackle body image concerns. The proposed study reflects a collaborative effort with a supra-regional eating disorder treatment center and is designed to test the efficacy of a novel unconscious evaluative conditioning procedure in which we use Continuous Flash Suppression to present own-body pictures outside awareness, and pair participants’ pictures with signs of positive social feedback to strengthen body-positive associations. Unconscious evaluative conditioning has the promise to outperform existing interventions because it prevents the disadvantageous (re)activation of negative body-associations that is evident during common body exposure and prevents discarding positive feedback as irrelevant for the body image. If this promise indeed comes to pass, the project would provide a very welcome contribution to the currently available interventions and would provide an important tool to alleviate the suffering of people with mental disorders in which negative body image is a core symptom such as Anorexia Nervosa.

Young people with a psychotic disorder often have difficulties with participating in society. Dont stop me now (DSMN) is aimed at stimulating participation through supervised sports. DSMN consists of three phases: individual sports together with a psychomotor therapist, psychomotor therapy and sports in the local community with a sports coach. We will investigate whether DSMN participants actually engage in more sports after the intervention. In addition, we will investigate whether DSMN has an effect on other outcome measures, such as self-confidence, self-stigma and social functioning. The effects of DSMN will be compared with the effects of standard treatment.

Resilience is a core theme in current society and sports. Recently, we developed a first prototype of software to collect and integrate psychological and physical data from athletes. We also applied novel analytic techniques to provide insights into the resilience of individual athletes. This take-off project will investigate the feasibility of translating our scientific knowledge and analyses into ready-to-use feedback for users. Partners in the sports field (e.g., professional soccer clubs) already indicated that a “dynamic resilience application” may revolutionize training and supervision of individual athletes. Our intention for the future is to generate an impact on the sports market.

Optimists are physically and mentally healthier and happier than pessimists. Where do individual differences in optimism come from? I investigate to what extent and how parents transmit their optimism to offspring. My studies increase understanding on the origins of optimism and may inform research on how to raise optimistic children.