TESC Colloquium – Glenn Kiekens

Dear all,

On September 14th ⁠Glenn Kiekens will kick-off the academic year with the first TESC colloquium of 2026/2027!

His talk is entitled “Beneath the Surface of Nonsuicidal Self-Injury: Using Experience Sampling to Understand Dynamic Risk and Inform Just-in-Time Support”

Abstract:

Risk for nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is typically assessed using retrospective questionnaires designed to identify who is at elevated risk. Yet, among adolescents and emerging adults who self-injure, thoughts, urges, and the perceived ability to resist NSSI can change rapidly. In this colloquium, I will synthesize a program of experience sampling research examining how we can move beyond static risk toward dynamic risk processes and clinically meaningful risk states, thereby informing a new generation of adaptive interventions. I will first draw on the DAILY project, a 28-day ecological momentary assessment study involving 125 treatment-seeking individuals. Findings show that the short-term course of NSSI thoughts, urges, self-efficacy, and behavior is heterogeneous and highly dynamic, with the risk of self-injury increasing toward the evening. Subsequent studies identify self-criticism and self-directed anger, identity–emptiness dynamics, and loneliness and subjective social appraisals as temporally proximal processes. We will then turn to patients’ self-reported benefits and challenges associated with using EMA during treatment and explore the perspectives of individuals who self-injure and mental health professionals regarding the utility and scope of ecological momentary interventions. Their perspectives informed a needs-based dynamic risk and intervention model that distinguishes low (“green”), moderate (“yellow”), and high (“red”) risk states, each associated with different needs and intervention aims. Rather than viewing real-time risk factors as isolated experiences, we will consider how they may form part of a broader dynamic risk system with ongoing multilevel hidden Markov modelling. Together, this work shows how experience sampling can move the field from capturing risk as it unfolds to identifying clinically meaningful states that can ultimately guide adaptive support in daily life.

Date:        Monday September 14

Time:        15:00-16:00

Place:       Please contact tesc@tilburguniversity if you would like to join (online)