About me

I am an assistant professor working at the scientific center for care and wellbeing (Tranzo), Tilburg University. In my research I focus on new digital media and online mental health (mis)information, specifically among vulnerable populations.

In my position as a postdoc researcher on the interdisciplinary MentalHealth4All project, I investigated the role of online health information to improve access to mental healthcare for migrants and refugees. Aside from the MentalHealth4All project, I am working on several other research projects on the role of new digital media in the mental health of vulnerable populations (e.g., MPOWER) and how digitalization is related to social inequality.

My work has been published in several journals such as the Journal of Medical Internet Research, Journal of Health Communication, and BMC Cancer, and received multiple awards.

My previous experiences resulted in my two current research lines:

1. New digital media & mental health

In this research line, I focus on the effects of several forms of new digital media (e.g., online short videos on social media, AI, apps) and the effects on mental health. For the studies belonging to this line, a person-specific approach is often employed to research individual differences in terms of media effects, mental health, or the relation between the two. In addition, the insights gained in these studies is used as input to develop mental health messages or interventions, in collaboration with mental healthcare organizations. For one of the projects within this line (MPOWER project), I co-supervise a PhD student who studies to what extent, under which circumstances, and for which adolescents mental health information in new social media messages (i.e., online short videos/reels) may be beneficial or detrimental in terms of their wellbeing. Other projects have focused on the mental health information needs of young adults, their motivations to use social media to fulfill those needs, and the effects of using social media and encountering mental health information on their wellbeing, but also on the effects of AI generated mental health messages and how adolescents/young adults interact with chatbots about their mental health. 

2. Digitalization in mental healthcare & inequality

Within this research line I build upon my experience from the MentalHealth4All project and aim for inclusive research practices, inclusive development and evaluation of mental health materials, and inclusive mental healthcare. This goes hand in hand with research on how the use of new digital media differs based on individual characteristics (e.g., ethnic background, socio-economic status, media/health literacy) an how we could use this information to develop digital mental health messages/interventions without increasing the digital divide. Current projects within this research line are studies on how the use of digital media for ones mental health differs based on individual characteristics and how this develops over time and studies into population-specific information needs and barriers of using digital media for ones mental health. 

Education:

– Research Master in Communication Science (GPA: 8) at the University of Amsterdam

– PhD on how online health information influences satisfaction, recall, informed decision making, and active participation in consultations among older cancer patients (November, 2021) at the Amsterdam School of Communication Science, ASCoR, University of Amsterdam