Program

The ultimate objective of the research program is to contribute to and enhance disease management care for patients with chronic medical conditions. Therefore the interdisciplinary research of CoRPS concentrates on risk factors, quality of life and clinical care of patients with chronic medical conditions. Underlying mechanisms of disease are studied from biological and psychological perspectives. Target groups are people with cardiovascular disorders, diabetes, depression, cancer and neurological disorders.

Themes
Each of the thematic areas of research focus on a central issue that is timely and of immediate relevance to the medical community. Eventually, the insights gathered by the research program of CoRPS will contribute to a significantly better disease management care for the medical conditions under study. The thematic areas of research are:

1. Risk assessment
   The central research question in this thematic area is: How can we best establish which medical patients are at an increased risk for poor health outcomes, despite state-of-the-art medical treatment? This research concentrates on risk assessment with reference to 'hard' medical endpoints such as mortality, recurrence of clinical events, and disease progression. Important examples of risk assessment are the diagnosis of depression and assessment of negative affect, because negative mood is known to play a role in the progression of disease and non-adherence to medical treatment. Another important area of risk assessment involves the role of personality factors. This research focuses on the prognostic and moderating role of Type D personality, Big-Two and Big-Five personality traits, trait anxiety and anxiety sensitivity, and emotion regulation styles such as emotional inhibition, repressive coping, or psychological mindedness.
   

2. Patient-based outcome assessment
   In addition to 'hard' medical endpoints, patient-based outcome assessment provides a more comprehensive evaluation of chronic medical conditions in terms of health-related quality of life and self-reported symptoms. The central research question here is: How can we best assess the impact of chronic conditions and the outcome of medical treatment as perceived and reported by patients themselves? Accumulating evidence indicates that health-related quality of life is an important outcome measure in many chronic somatic diseases. Among other things, research in this area focuses on the comparison of different ways to monitor patient-based outcomes, the role of clinical and psychological variables in the prediction of health-related quality of life, and personality factors that may modulate the effect of medical treatment on self-reported symptoms.
   

3. Mediating mechanisms
   While the first area of research wants to answer the question who is at risk for poor health outcomes, the second thematic area of research focuses on how we can conceptualize and understand the mechanisms that explain the fact that some patients are at higher risk for poor health outcomes as compared to others. Hence, the central research question in this thematic area is: "Which biological and behavioral mechanisms can explain why many patients do not respond optimally to state-of-the-art medical treatment?" Research is for example directed to the relation between personality characteristics and the activity of the immune system. But also behavioral mechanisms that can play an important role in the success or failure of medical treatment, are being studied.
   

4. Clinical care
   The third thematic area of research addresses the aim of CoRPS to contribute to a better disease management care for patients with chronic medical conditions. Accordingly, the central research question in this thematic area is: "What kind of biomedical and behavioral interventions are successful at improving prognosis, enhancing quality of life, and preventing disease onset?" CoRPS researchers want to contribute to evidence-based medicine. In line with the research outcome in the first two thematic fields, the researchers and scientist-practitioners of CoRPS will develop clinical interventions for specific target groups.
   

5. Medical statistics
   The fourth thematic area of research focuses on the enhancement of methodological and statistical approaches in the medical context. The central research question in this thematic area is: "How can we best study and analyze the complex nature of the interface between the human body and mind?'
   The complex nature of studies with a longitudinal design, repeated measurement, or experimental manipulation requires substantial methodological and statistical expertise. This includes the application of new methods for analyzing measurement scales as well as categorical and continuous data from longitudinal, experimental and biological research in the medical context.
   

Target groups
The core of the CoRPS research program is centered on a limited number of major medical conditions. Criteria for selecting these conditions include the following: (a) high level of disease burden in terms of frequency and impact of the medical condition; (b) relevance to the medical profession as expressed by both general practitioner and medical specialists; (c) feasibility of psychological research in terms of screening, intervention, and detection of disease mechanisms; (d) scientific merit both in the national and international context; (e) expertise of the researchers from Tilburg University and the hospitals participating in the research institute.

The CoRPS research program concentrates on the following groups of patients with chronic diseases:

A. Cardiovascular Disorders
B. Diabetes and Hypertension
C. Depression and Anxiety in the Medical Context
D. Cancer and Psycho-Oncology
E. Neurological Disorders