About the research group
Information about the research group Psychoneurobiology of Health and Disease
There is increasing evidence that psychological processes, including stress, influence the quality of life, disease outcomes, and effects of medical treatments in both healthy populations and somatic conditions. Our overarching goal is to understand and make optimal use of psychoneurobiological mechanisms that underlie health and chronic conditions. To this end, we combine innovative insights from different disciplines (e.g., psychology, medicine, biology, genetics, communication) in testing psychoneurobiological mechanisms of symptom perception, stress responsiveness, and adjustment to or progression of chronic disease, as well as in developing and implementing disease-generic personalized psychological or psychobiological interventions for healthy and patient populations (e.g., through e-health).
Examples of specific questions that our research group examines include:
How does stress affect chronic somatic symptoms and conditions (e.g. itch and pain)?
This research program encompasses a series of ambulatory, laboratory, and clinical studies in patients with, for example, chronic inflammatory conditions, examining the impact of stressors as well as stress vulnerability and stress resilience factors on physiological stress responses and disease outcomes, including quality of life, physical functioning, and disease severity. With the knowledge obtained from this research program, we aim to increase the knowledge of the role of stress mechanisms in somatic disease processes and to discover ways to diminish the impact of stress on these disease processes.
How can placebo effects be used to optimize health? How can psychological factors affect our immune and endocrine systems?
This research program encompasses a series of laboratory and clinical studies testing the optimal combination of expectancy learning techniques to induce placebo effects with regard to health. We also examine the ability to directly influence the functioning of our physiological stress systems (the autonomic nervous and neuroendocrine system) and our immune system by means of psychological mechanisms such as expectancies. With the knowledge obtained from this research program, we aim to substantially contribute to theoretical models and therapeutic applications to optimize current treatments for chronic somatic conditions, which could potentially lead to more effective treatment, fewer side effects, and a better quality of life of patients.
How effective are self-management or cognitive-behavioral interventions for chronic somatic conditions?
This research program encompasses a series of applied studies developing and testing the (cost-)effectiveness of disease-generic self-management or cognitive-behavioral interventions for chronic somatic conditions. Specific features of developed interventions include a screening procedure applied beforehand to offer interventions only to those patients who can profit, the potential to tailor interventions to the needs of the individual patient, and the application of new technologies to deliver interventions (e.g. e-health).
News and events
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Andrea Evers in the Media about Covid The more the virus appears to be contained, the greater the resistance to the Corona measures. How well can people follow the necessary measures to prevent the virus from spreading? What is the reason that people do not follow these guidelines and how can
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ERC Proof of Concept Grant for virtual communication tool Andrea Evers, professor of Health Psychology, has been awarded a Proof of Concept Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). This additional grant is awarded to previous ERC grant recipients
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Andrea Evers chair of the new lanced platform PGMP Today, 11 November 2020, the new Platform Health and Medical Psychology (PGMP) will be launched! The platform represents Dutch associations and networks that are active in Health and Medical Psychology.
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Andrea Evers member of Supervisory Board VU The Supervisory Board of the VU foundation has completed the appointment process for three new members, which will start in the course of 2021. Due to the expiry of the second (and therefore last) terms, three of the five current Supervisory Board members