Decisions

This page records design choices so that the rationale for the final protocol remains transparent.

Current working decisions

Use validated psychopathology questionnaires as the starting point and add a brief person-specific perceived-causality assessment.

The primary scientific question is incremental value beyond conventional questionnaire information.

Working target: approximately 3–6 nodes, with the exact upper limit to be validated against burden and reliability.

Current preferred option: a hybrid approach combining questionnaire severity with participant-rated relevance.

Plan for the technical possibility of showing the individualized network immediately after assessment.

Exact PHQ version/subscales to be used.
Whether all three instruments are completed by all participants or distributed across blocks/participants.
Exact item-selection threshold/rule.
Exact causal-rating scale.
Whether edge presence and strength should be assessed separately.
Whether negative/inhibitory causal relations should be allowed.
Whether uncertainty should be rated.
Which PCN metrics will be confirmatory.
Follow-up interval(s).
Whether network feedback is observational or randomized.
Whether participant refinement is included in the first study.

Add dated entries below as choices are finalized.

Private Quartz repository established.
Project organized as an internal linked knowledge base before any public deployment.
Initial validation sample defined as students aged 18 years and older.
Initial instrument battery defined as SDQ 18+ self-report, PHQ, and HiTOP-BR.
Added Assessment/Instrument Battery v1.