Universität Basel

Fakultät für
Psychologie

Masterprojekt

Studierende in unseren Masterprojekten erhalten eine Ausbildung in klinischen Forschungsmethoden, Theorie und Anwendung unter Verwendung evidenzbasierter Verhaltensgrundsätze. Dazu gehört auch die praktische Erfahrung, wie man Projekte strukturiert sowie Daten sammelt, bereinigt und analysiert. Als Teil eines größeren Teams diskutieren die Studierenden ihre Fortschritte in Teamsitzungen und bringen ihre eigenen Vorschläge und Kenntnisse in den Prozess ein.

Während des gesamten Semesters werden die Studierenden angeleitet, eine Forschungsfrage zu entwickeln, die sie für ihre Masterarbeit interessiert. Sie können erwarten, in einem freundlichen Team zu arbeiten, das sie ausbildet, und Betreuer, die an ihrem akademischen Wachstum und ihrer persönlichen Entwicklung interessiert sind, während sie gleichzeitig lernen, unabhängig zu arbeiten.

Zurzeit bieten wir sieben Masterprojekte an.

The aim of this project is to better understand the processes of change involved in psychotherapy as well as the active ingredients that contribute to change, resistance to change, and maintenance of change. We will examine this in both teens and adults in psychotherapy by working with therapists to capture the weekly change in their patients using state-of-the-art process-based assessments.

Relationships must thrive to foster a healthy and meaningful life and prosocial behavior is an important determinant of forming and maintaining these social bonds. However, even the strongest ties are not immune to adverse social interactions, such as social exclusion, which detrimentally affects mental health, behaviors, and potentially even friendships themselves. This study project aims at understanding the contextual factors contributing to the adverse effect of social exclusion. Several research questions can be formulated, for example: Does psychological flexibility buffer the negative effect of being socially excluded? Does the negative effect of social exclusion differ between friends and strangers? For which reasons do individuals show or refrain from prosocial behavior after experiencing social exclusion? To answer these questions, students will be able to use and analyze behavioral, self-report, and psychophysiological measures (i.e., heart rate variability).

Which types of patients improve in psychotherapy, and which ones do not respond or even drop out of treatment? Using a machine learning approach, this project aims at investigating predictors of successful or unsuccessful course of psychotherapy in a sample of in- and outpatients that received acceptance- and commitment therapy (ACT). The master theses will focus on identifying relevant predictors – including clinical variables (e.g., symptom severity, treatment history or number of comorbidities, treatment expectation) as well as person-specific variables (e.g., social support, personality, etc.) and on analyzing their predictive value with regard to different treatment outcomes.

Language is the central instrument used in psychotherapy. Furthermore, language is a behavioral marker of thoughts, emotions, and personality processes. In this project, Master's students are invited to investigate the relationship between language use and psychological factors in patients currently undergoing psychotherapy. Questions such as differences in language use between diagnoses, changes of language use during therapy, or the convergence of language behavior between therapist and patient (language style matching) can be investigated.

Master's students have the opportunity to gain an insight into real therapy sessions. The audio recordings are already available and will be transcribed into a text format using modern transcription software (MAXQDA). Subsequently, the frequencies of various word categories (emotion words, etc.) are calculated using the word counting program Linguistic Inquiry Word Counting System (LIWC). The Master's students gain valuable insight into therapy sessions and learn about a modern psychotherapy method - Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) - and its practical application.

In body dysmorphic disorder (BDD; intense and excessive preoccupation with one or more perceived blemishes of appearance, developing distress in sufferers due to the used or avoidance behaviors), specific body parts or regions may be affected. Although the prevalence of BDD is approximately 2%, it is often missed by practitioners and research interest has only increased in recent years.

In the context of the offered master theses, BDD will be investigated empirically with repeated contact with clinicians and patients. First, BDD the extant literature will be reviewed and synthesized in the form of a meta-analysis/systematic review. Second, BDD will be investigated in clinical practice. For this purpose, close cooperation with somatic institutions (e.g., dermatology, aesthetic medicine) will be used to identify challenges in the detection and treatment of BDD. Here, qualitative and quantitative surveys will be developed with affected individuals and health providers to better understand the disorder, its detection, and barriers to treatment. In a final step, treatment suggestions will be made based on the findings from steps 1 and 2 and piloted in a few patients and providers.

Psychological Flexibility is a fundamental component of mental health that also accounts explains a large part of why various interventions work. In this project we will identify problems (i.e., anger, anxiety, distress, behavioral health, etc.) that exist in the community by working with the community. That is, we will establish action groups with community groups and provide support as they work on their problem. The impact of the support will be empirically evaluated. The team will work collaboratively with similar action groups in other cities including the USA.

Standardized measures (i.e., symptom scales, questionnaires) are one of the central tools in psychological research, because they allow for data assessment that fulfills important quality criteria (objectivity, reliability, validity). However, the downside of such measures is that they might also be reductionistic. Qualitative data is a valuable additional source of information regarding how patients are feeling. Within a large sample of in- and outpatients, the master students will use a mixed methods approach to examine several (non-standardized/qualitative) patient-reported outcomes. Furthermore, the divergence or congruence between standardized outcomes and patient-reported outcomes will be subject of analysis.

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