Ground-breaking mental health interventions for adolescents are urgently needed due to high rates of psychopathology, barriers to care, and recent crises in Israel. This project introduces a person-specific forward-prediction approach to deliver just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs) for transdiagnostic internalizing symptoms like emotional distress and maladaptive thinking. By moving beyond traditional clinic-based therapy, this scalable, ecological system aims to proactively interrupt emerging symptomatic states before they escalate into entrenched patterns of distress. The approach leverages Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA), passive smartphone sensor data, and wearable devices to create personalized predictive models of symptom occurrence. A core innovation is integrating an interpersonal conceptual framework—using attachment orientation (trait) and the Interpersonal Circumplex (momentary state)—to tailor the content and delivery of micro-interventions. As the interpersonal realm becomes the hallmark of this period, this theoretical framework ensures support is not only delivered precisely when needed, but also in a way that maximizes receptivity and clinical impact. Following the development of a robust and integrative data collection infrastructure and the refinement of the predictive modeling approach, the project is now entering active data collection with 70 distressed adolescents. These data will serve as a testbed for our prediction approach, allowing further improvements and identification of especially powerful predictors. Additionally, a pilot micro-randomized trial will assess the feasibility, safety, and initial impact of mechanism-guided brief interventions, setting the stage for a larger efficacy trial and real-world implementation.

Supervisor: Dr. Gal Lazarus