Research at the iMH lab focuses on multimodal approaches to the empirical assessment of anxiety and related disorders and symptomatology (e.g., depression, PTSD, stress, sleep) across the developmental spectrum. This includes studies using functional behavioral assessment of behavioral skill and anxiety–including self-report and physiological indicators of emotional distress (e.g., heart rate variability, electrodermal activity), and the assessment of daily emotional/behavioral functioning and functional impairment, sleep quality via sleep actigraphy, and stress via salivary cortisol over designated time-periods.

Our research also aims to improve the measurement and prediction of these conditions and their associated functional impairment. This includes the assessment of psychometric properties of established self-report questionnaires and the development of new questionnaires that improve the measurement of their intended constructs. This also includes studies on the ability of various assessments to predict the development of these conditions in the future. Further, we have recently begun work using Natural Language Processing and Artificial Intelligence to identify risk factors for psychopathology and related functional impairment based on provider clinical notes and electronic medical record data.

Our research also seeks to evaluate health technology intervention and dissemination initiatives with respect to efficacy feasibility, acceptability, accessibility, and usability. This includes the assessment of these important variables for computer-, web-, and mobile-facilitated interventions for anxiety, depression, PTSD, and related disorders.

Finally, our work focuses on the iterative, user-centered development and evaluation of new health technology solutions to improve access and quality of health care. This includes web-based provider trainings in evidence-based practice, mobile self-monitoring resources, mHealth and telemedicine-based stepped-care interventions, and web- and mobile-app based resources to augment and improve treatment in terms of provider skill and patient engagement and adherence to provider recommendations.