The Daily Diary Study of Well-Being (PTSD-STOP):
The purpose of this study is to develop automated tools that can detect people’s mood based on their speech and facial expression in a video as well as physical and geographical activity. We also will use this information to predict future mood changes and well-being. Approximately 1,500 people will participate in this research.
The study team applies Artificial Intelligence (AI) to examine audio, video, and daily activity for patterns associated with PTSD over time. This approach will produce PTSD-STOP (PTSD Symptom Tracer and Outcome Prognosticator), an AI model with the capabilities of monitoring symptom severity objectively and forecasting symptom exacerbation and treatment response. Participants are invited to make brief video recordings and complete mini-surveys daily over a 3-month period. This will allow investigators to develop AI that tracks PTSD symptoms across language, speech, facial expression, and activity. Additionally, an AI is created to predict future symptoms from past patterns of behavior measured objectively. Clinical usefulness of PTSD-STOP will be tested by comparing it to traditional diagnostic methods in predicting clinical improvement, service utilization, severity of traumatization, and genetic risk. This study stands as the first initiative to utilize AI for monitoring PTSD symptoms over time. Overall, we propose to use innovative technologies to address problems that limit care of patients with PTSD. While the initial version of PTSD-STOP will serve as a research tool, it holds potential for further development into clinical applications. Ultimately, it will be possible to use PTSD-STOP with unobtrusively collected data (e.g., recordings of telehealth visits).
This study is a collaborative effort between the departments of Computer Science and Psychiatry, as well as the WTC Health Program. The investigators include Hansen Andrew Schwartz, PhD (Computer Science), Roman Kotov, PhD (Psychiatry), Dimitris Samaras (Computer Science), and Benjamin J. Luft, MD (WTC Health Program).
What is involved:
Every day for 90 days, our participants complete a 5-minute video diary talking about how their day went and answer survey questions about any stressors they may have experienced. This would require a one-time visit to Stony Brook Hospital to set up, but afterwards it can be completed on their own personal device at home at whatever time is most convenient each day. At the end of the three-month period, our participants are compensated $450.00 for their time.
Contact Information:
If you would like to know more about the study or how you can participate, give us a call at 631-638-0295 or email us at wtcdailystudysbu@gmail.com.
People:
Jonah Luby
Jonah is one of the coordinators for the PTSD-STOP project. He graduated from the University at Buffalo in 2022 with a bachelor’s in psychology and a minor in Public Health. He is currently completing his master’s degree in clinical psychology at Fort Hays State University, where he is working on a master’s thesis examining how occupation at the time of the World Trade Center attacks impacts PTSD and its associated symptoms. Jonah’s research interests are broadly related to understanding PTSD and psychopathology utilizing EMA methods, which he plans to pursue throughout a PhD program in the near future.
Caleigh Kilmurray
Caleigh is one of the coordinators for the PTSD-STOP project. In 2023 she graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a double major in Criminal Justice. She is currently in a gap year where she has been working as a waitress and bartender while also working 40 hours/week on PTSD-STOP. Caleigh is in the midst of applying to master’s programs in Forensic Psychology and plans to go on to receive her PhD in Clinical Psychology. Caleigh’s interests are psychopathology, criminal behavior, and forensic evaluation.
The Suffolk County Mental Health Project:
The Suffolk County Mental Health Project (SCMHP) is a longitudinal study that began in 1989 of people who were admitted for their first hospitalization for psychosis. At this baseline wave, 628 participants were enrolled. More than half were diagnosed with schizophrenia and 35% with depression or bipolar disorder, with the remainder having a mix of other psychotic disorders. The project was the first of its kind in the U.S. to involve all 12 existing inpatient programs in this county-wide endeavor. At the 20-year follow up, a neighborhood comparison group was introduced. Throughout the years, there have been many follow-ups, and the study is currently conducting its 35-year follow-up.
What's involved:
The in-person 35-year follow-up visit is quite comprehensive and takes around 7 hours to complete. We begin by taking participants' basic physical measures like height, weight, blood pressure, physical strength, blood sugar, and cholesterol. We then conduct interviews where we ask about participants' physical and mental health, how they've been doing at work, at home, with friends and relatives, and any problems they've experienced and/or any treatment they've had since the last interview. Participants are also asked to complete questionnaires and a cognitive battery where they solve some problems, like memorizing words, letters, or shapes, and solving puzzles. Finally, we record participants' brain activity (EEG) while they perform simple tasks.
Findings:
Social outcomes differed between participants in the study and the origins of these differences could be traced to childhood, when some warning signs, although subtle, could be observed (Velthorst et al. 2017). However, it’s not just social functioning that is affected when one is living with psychosis. Although some participants did very well, others continued to carry a heavy burden of symptoms (Kotov et al. 2017). The latter finding came as a surprise, because outcomes in European and developing countries have been more positive. While many factors contribute to the discrepancy, other countries have universal access to more integrated healthcare systems compared to the US system, which is fragmented and expensive.
The team of Stony Brook researchers continues to evaluate participants at the 35-year mark. “The openness and continued willingness of the participants to contribute to science time and time again has been truly remarkable,” said Kotov. “Their efforts have shed new light on serious mental illness and will guide health care in the future.”
The 20-Year Longitudinal Trajectories of Social Functioning in Individuals With Psychotic Disorders
People:
Marcela Gallardo
Marcela is one of the coordinators for the Suffolk County Project. She graduated from Stony Brook University in 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Biology. In the future, she would like to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology. Marcela is interested in studying psychotic disorders using neuroscience techniques.
Alexandra (Alex) Stein
Alex is one of the coordinators for the Suffolk County Project. She graduated from Colgate University in 2020 with a Bachelor's in Psychological Science and a minor in Philosophy. After playing professional volleyball in Germany and the UK, she earned a master’s in behavioral science from Durham University where she conducted research on leadership self-categorization and identity development. Alex plans to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology.
The Negative Valence Systems (NVS) Lab:
The HiTOP framework seeks to correct some limitations of current diagnostic classification systems including (1) the denial of care due to clients falling short of the diagnosis even though they experience the majority of distress as listed, (2) the blurred and inconsistent lines that current nosologies rely on that do not effectively account for the heterogeneity among symptoms in different psychopathologies, (3) the presence of comorbidities due to overlapping symptomatology that can make providing effective treatment challenging, and (4) the overreliance on discrete methods of categorizing psychopathology that miss the continuum that many of them lie on.
To facilitate this, the HiTOP framework incorporates quantitative methods of organizing symptoms that are present across many psychopathologies. This works by grouping similar symptoms together and organizing them under general syndromes, then further classifying them into subfactors or groups of syndromes that are similar or experienced across syndromes and finally ordering them into varying spectra (groups of common or closely related subfactors). This empirically derived quantitative method of classification allows psychopathological symptomology to be assessed as a degree to which it’s experienced rather than definitive all or none categories. Clinically, it will allow mental health professionals to understand their clients distress dimensionally and avoid diagnostic instability by doing away with the boundary lines between diagnoses. The framework also provides an opportunity for high-order care methods as opposed to a blanket treatment method that may or may not target all symptoms and distress. Outpatient participants are asked questions that assess all of the spectra as well as to what degree they may experience them, which is then used to understand its relationship to similar diagnoses in the DSM-5 and ICD-11.
The HiTOP system is the result of several years of quantitative nosology and factor analysis research pioneered by Roman Kotov, PhD along with several notable contributors to the field of dimensional diagnostics. The framework continues to be worked and fitted for appropriate clinical and research applications across several institutions including Stony Brook University, University of North Texas, and University at Buffalo.
What is involved:
Outpatient clients, 18 years and older, from Stony Brook Hospital are asked to participate in one in-person or online recorded interview. This comprehensive interview can take 3-4 hours after which, they are compensated $120.00 for their participation.
Contact Information:
If you’re interested in participating or would like to know more about the study, call 631-371-4749, or email NVS.Stonybrook@gmail.com. If you would like to read more about the HiTOP framework, view the current model, or get updates about the study’s progression, click here.
People:
Alexandra (Ally) Leitch
Ally is one of the current coordinators for the NVS lab. She recently graduated from Stony Brook University with her BA in Psychology with a minor in Philosophy. Her interests broadly include the psychology of addiction as well as potential rehabilitation methods for disorders such as PTSD and OCD.
Phillip Mayer
Phillip is one of the coordinators for the NVS lab. He received his BS in psychology from Stony Brook University in 2023. His interests include understanding the development of mood disorders as well as the relationship between psychopathology and physiology. Phillip is currently applying to law school with the intention of matriculating in Fall 2025. He hopes to combine his experience working in the field of psychology with a legal education in order to improve the bureaucratic framework of supports designed to increase access to healthcare, including mental health services.
Inayah (Bibi) Gruberg
Bibi is one of the current coordinators in the NVS lab. She received her BA in Psychology from SUNY Old Westbury in 2022, and her MA in Psychology from Stony Brook University in 2024. Her research interests broadly include psychopathological assessment tools and their efficacy as well as BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color) accessibility to adequate psychological care in low- and middle-income communities.