Personalized InterventionPersonalized Need-focused Single Session Intervention

The intervention approach taken in this RCT is focused on unmet psychological needs (predictability, belonging, competence, self-worth, autonomy, and playfulness). For each need, a specific 90-minute intervention has been developed.

The primary unmet need for each individual will be determined by a conditional entropy algorithm. Simply, the presence versus absence of subjective distress will be measured eight times per day for 30 days. Concurrently, the presence versus absence of need frustration will also be measured eight times per day for 30 days. Utilizing a k-fold cross-validated estimation, conditional entropy will be used to determine the need that best reduces the uncertainty in subjective distress (that is, best explains its presentation probabilistically).

At both sites, the experimental condition will consist of an algorithmically-chosen intervention. The choice will be made based on data collected during thirty days of ecological momentary assessment.

The intervention approach taken in this RCT is focused on unmet psychological needs (predictability, belonging, competence, self-worth, autonomy, and playfulness). For each need, a specific 90-minute intervention has been developed.

At the BIU site, the active control condition will consist of an intervention chosen randomly (out of the six mentioned above).

At the UCB site, the active control condition will consist of a standard intervention addressing emotion regulation difficulties.

All single-session interventions will be 90-minutes in length. At the conclusion of the intervention session, participants will receive suggestions for daily homework practice to complete and a flash drive with a copy of their session audio to review at their discretion. They will also meet with the therapist for a 10-minute remote check-in two weeks following the single session. All interventions include standard psychoeducational components. Both the standard intervention and the specific ones were designed to be broadly efficacious for depression and anxiety symptomatology. The psychosocial needs which serve as the focus of the interventions are derived from motivation and affect regulation models.