BrainMap

Robert Balazsi

- UNIVERSITATEA BABES BOLYAI

Researcher | Teaching staff | Scientific reviewer

Expertise & keywords

Can good be stronger than bad? The protective role of positive emotions against loneliness and telomere erosion Call name: P 5.1 - Proiecte de Cercetare Exploratorie - Competiția 2023
PN-IV-P1-PCE-2023-1997 2025 - 2028

Role in this project: Key expert

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA BABES BOLYAI

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA BABES BOLYAI (RO)

Affiliation:

Project website: https://studiurezilienta.com/singuratate/

Abstract:

Loneliness is a negative emotion generated by the discrepancy between an individual’s desired and actual quality and quantity of social relations. Transitory feelings of loneliness serve adaptive purposes, but when loneliness is prolonged or severe, it is associated with mental and physical health problems and with higher mortality. Between 10% and a third of the world’s population feels chronically lonely, and research indicates that loneliness levels are on the rise, with young adults being a particularly vulnerable group. In light of these data, loneliness is described as a public health concern that requires immediate attention. As chronic loneliness may not only reflect underlying social problems, but also individual factors that lead to a failure to develop and maintain adequate relationships, it is fundamental for research to consider these factors. The project focuses on positive affect as a potential protective factor against loneliness and its consequences. Given the clear benefits of positive emotions for well-being, it is surprising that extremely few studies have addressed this topic. The project aims to fill this research gap by a longitudinal study that will allow us to examine the reciprocal influences between positive affect and loneliness, and their impact on depression, anxiety and telomere erosion in young adults. A second study will be the first to evaluate a prioritizing positivity-based behavioral activation intervention for reducing loneliness.

Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Social Anxiety in Adolescents: towards a Precision Treatment based on Idiographic Network Analysis Call name: P 5.1 - Proiecte de Cercetare Exploratorie - Competiția 2023
PN-IV-P1-PCE-2023-1950 2025 - 2027

Role in this project: Key expert

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA BABES BOLYAI

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA BABES BOLYAI (RO)

Affiliation:

Project website: https://sanatatemintalacopii.ro/proiecte/proiectul-sonet/

Abstract:

Social anxiety disorder (SoAD) is a prevalent mental health problem among adolescents that poses significant difficulties for youths functioning. The current treatments have low efficacy, only 22.3% of adolescents with a primary diagnosis of SoAD achieved remission. The main limitations of current psychological treatments for adolescents SoAD consists in: (a) a lack of personalization at an individual level in the context of high heterogeneity of manifestation and mechanism; (b) lack of a data approach to guide the treatment targets selection and (c) limited access to evidence-based mental health care. The solution to these caveats is to advance to precision treatments, personalized for each adolescent, using a data driven approach (idiographic network analysis) and online delivery. Therefore, the current proposal aims to (a) develop the first online Cognitive Behavioral precision treatment for adolescents with SoAD, based on network models and (b) test its usability, clinical efficacy, mechanisms of change as well as cost-effectiveness. Based on idiographic network analysis, conducted on longitudinal intensive data, we will identify the most central symptoms for each individual, that will further represent the target for intervention. Through this approach, changes in the structure and the connectivity of the individual network (estimated through EMA) from pre to post treatment will be estimated and will be analyzed in correlation with changes in symptoms/mechanism of SoAD.

Neural markers of emotion regulation in childhood maltreatment: Prospective associations with psychopathology Call name: P 4 - Proiecte de Cercetare Exploratorie, 2020
PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2020-2609 2021 - 2023

Role in this project:

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA BABES BOLYAI

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA BABES BOLYAI (RO)

Affiliation:

Project website: http://www.cognitive-neuroscience.ro/pn-iii-p4-id-pce-2020-2609ro

Abstract:

Childhood maltreatment (CM) is a major risk factor for virtually all common mental disorders, but the psychological and neural mechanisms underlying this relation are unknown. Emotion regulation has been recently singled out as a potential mechanism, and theories have argued that neural circuits underlying emotion regulation are particularly vulnerable to CM due to their protracted development. However, current evidence has focused on the subjective level, and studies on neural markers of emotion regulation in CM are long overdue. Furthermore, two major caveats that hamper progress in the field are related to the relative lack of prospective data in CM, emotion regulation and psychopathology, and the absence of studies on emotion regulation training in CM. The present project will directly address these empirical gaps, in a series of studies focusing on: (1) identifying neural markers of emotion regulation in CM, using dense-array electroencephalogram (EEG) and event-related potentials (ERPs); (2) examining the prospective relations between EEG/ERP markers of emotion regulation in CM and psychopathology; and (3) investigating the impact of emotion regulation training on EEG/ERP markers of emotion regulation in CM. These studies would bring unparalleled evidence for the hypothesis that emotion regulation is one of the mechanisms through which CM enhances risk for psychopathology, and open the perspective for a new field of intervention to protect mental health in CM.

Mechanisms of childhood bullying victimization: profiles and tailored approach to online intervention Call name: P 4 - Proiecte de Cercetare Exploratorie, 2020
PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2020-2417 2021 - 2023

Role in this project:

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA BABES BOLYAI

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA BABES BOLYAI (RO)

Affiliation:

Project website: https://sanatatemintalacopii.ro/proiecte/be-strong/

Abstract:

Bullying is a prevalent phenomenon among children and adolescents worldwide, that has a negative impact on victims’ of bullying mental health. Even though anti-bullying programs have been developed, existent research indicated that such programs have limited effectiveness.One major contributor to these results is the fact that such approaches are delivered in a universal manner, and do not take into consideration children’s unique profiles. The present project aims to contribute both to the fundamental and exploratory research, as it is the first proposal towards a personalized approach to bullying victimization, transcending the limitations of previous interventions that adopt a narrow rationale of one size fits all. Therefore, through the proposed project we aim to advance the knowledge regarding cognitive mechanisms involved in bullying victimization and bullying victimization interventions through rigorous investigation methods (experience sampling methods, randomized controlled trial). We will increase the scalability of evidence-based interventions for bullying victims, through the development and testing an online tailored intervention for Romanian children and adolescents. The present project will bring substantial contributions to the existent research on bullying victimization and will have significant implications to the national approach tacking bullying as its results can be integrated into the national anti-bullying strategy and disseminated to Romanian schools.

Testing the efficacy of an online REBT transdiagnostic intervention for internalizing problems in adolescents Call name: P 4 - Proiecte de Cercetare Exploratorie
PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2016-0861 2017 - 2019

Role in this project:

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA BABES BOLYAI

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA BABES BOLYAI (RO)

Affiliation: UNIVERSITATEA BABES BOLYAI (RO)

Project website: http://emad.granturi.ubbcluj.ro/

Abstract:

According to World Health Organization, mental health problems are the largest cause of the burden of disease among young people. Even though cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the first line of treatment recommended by clinical guidelines for most of the internalizing problems (anxious and depressive disorders) found in teenagers, major barriers in the dissemination of evidence-based treatment exist. The majority of evidence-based CBT protocols for mood and anxiety disorders in youth are diagnostic-specific and fail to offer data on the theoretical underpinnings of the disorder and/or of the treatments (i.e., theory/mechanisms of change). Therefore, to innovatively promote evidence-based treatments, we need to focus on transdiagnostic approaches by focusing on the theory and mechanisms of change underlying both disorders and the proposed treatments. In this context, our project aims to investigate a computerized, transdiagnostic online delivered Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) intervention for adolescents’ mood and anxiety disorders (REBTonAD). Furthermore, we also aim to investigate brain predictors (neural/brain biomarkers) of treatment response. Through investigating the biomarkers that reflect commonalities in the treatment of anxiety and mood disorders, we aim to guide treatment selection for anxious and mood disorders in adolescent populations and to develop a personalized treatment. More so, although Internet treatments seem to be promising, accessible cost-effective interventions for different patient groups, this project will add timely data on the cost-effectiveness of this computerized treatment for mood and anxiety disorders in adolescents. In addition to its scientific impact, we expect that transdiagnostic online REBTonAD will be a valuable tool for large-scale mental health efforts, considering its easy dissemination and personalized content.

Open School for Academic Self-Improvement. Research, Academic Writing and Career Management Call name: Joint Applied Research Projects - PCCA-2011 call, Type 1
PN-II-PT-PCCA-2011-3.1-0682 2012 - 2016

Role in this project:

Coordinating institution: UNIVERSITATEA BABES BOLYAI

Project partners: UNIVERSITATEA BABES BOLYAI (RO); INSTITUTUL NATIONAL DE CERCETARE DEZVOLTARE PENTRU TEHNOLOGII IZOTOPICE SI MOLECULARE I N C D T I M (RO)

Affiliation: UNIVERSITATEA BABES BOLYAI (RO)

Project website: http://www.econ.ubbcluj.ro/~rodica.lung/openres

Abstract:

Research management, research career development and academic writing have become in later days prerequisites for successful academic track records and/or research careers. Formal and informal support programs are already in place in many of the top universities worldwide. Nevertheless, in Romania, such an approach has not been yet prospected and tested. The project proposes to build and expand the research capacity at both undergraduate and graduate level, helping students and researchers not only to improve their research skills but also their capacity to manage and communicate research (through research management, career management and academic writing).An interdisciplinary group will be created at the end of the project implementation, which will have a comprehensive set of tested instruments, competencies and the necessary know-how for carrying out a Complex Research Competencies training program. Once developed and tested the open training program may become a cornerstone in the future academic and research career development of researchers, weather at the beginning of their career or more advanced ones. While keeping the open school concept, the project team will promote and propose that the program becomes a permanent offer for the academic community and to be included as a transversal skills development program for the various faculties within the Babes-Bolyai University. The partner in the project, INCDTIM Cluj, will continue to provide expertise in the hard sciences component of the program. If such decision is reached, the CRC training program will contribute to the creation, development and further advancement of the Romanian academic community, especially those at the beginning of their research career. This will create, on a long run, a pool of better prepared and trained candidates for research positions within the structures of the two partners.

FILE DESCRIPTION	DOCUMENT
List of research grants as project coordinator or partner team leader
Significant R&D projects for enterprises, as project manager
R&D activities in enterprises
Peer-review activity for international programs/projects