Nadia Al-Dajani, PhD

Assistant Professor

Nadia Al-Dajani, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Louisville. Previously, Dr. Al-Dajani was Assistant Professor of Psychology at Miami University in Ohio. Dr Al-Dajani's research focuses on the identification of near-term risk factors of suicidal thoughts and behaviors, in order to better understand momentary suicide risk and to develop novel prevention/intervention methods. 

Education

• Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Michigan, Michigan Medicine, 2020-2022
• Ph.D. Clinical Psychology, University of Toronto Scarborough, 2020
• Predoctoral Internship, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, 2019-2020
• M.A. Clinical Psychology, University of Toronto Scarborough, 2015
• M.A. Experimental Psychology, University of Toronto, 2013
• B.A. Psychology Speciality, University of Toronto, 2012

Research Interests

My program of research is focused on identifying near-term risk factors of suicidal ideation. Using smartphone app technology, individuals are asked to respond to a series of short questionnaires about day-to-day risk factors (e.g., negative emotions, feelings of burdensomeness) and to indicate if they had experienced any suicidal thoughts. In the future, I aim to expand this line of inquiry by focusing on minoritized populations who face a unique constellation of risk factors. As a Palestinian woman who is aware of the unique stressors that minoritized individuals face, ones that have been neglected in research to date, I have a strong interest in identifying real-time risk factors that consider the unique stressors that minoritized individuals face in their day-to-day lives. Ultimately, my work aims to identify these momentary factors in order to develop an adaptive, real-time, intervention that reduces risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors. More specifically, I aim to develop a real-time intervention using smartphone apps that is adapted to each person’s unique set of risk factors.

Representative Publications

Al‐Dajani, N., Horwitz, A. G., & Czyz, E. K. (2022). Does coping reduce suicidal urges in everyday life? Evidence from a daily diary study of adolescent inpatients. Depression and anxiety, 39(6), 496-503.

Al-Dajani, N., & Czyz, E. K. (2022). Suicidal desire in adolescents: an examination of the interpersonal psychological theory using daily diaries. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 1-15.

Al-Dajani, N., & Uliaszek, A. A. (2021). The after-effects of momentary suicidal ideation: A preliminary examination of emotion intensity changes following suicidal thoughts. Psychiatry research, 302, 114027.

Czyz, E. K., Koo, H. J., Al-Dajani, N., Kentopp, S. D., Jiang, A., & King, C. A. (2022). Temporal profiles of suicidal thoughts in daily life: results from two mobile-based monitoring studies with high-risk adolescents. Journal of psychiatric research, 153, 56-63.

Czyz, E. K., Koo, H. J., Al-Dajani, N., King, C. A., & Nahum-Shani, I. (2021). Predicting short-term suicidal thoughts in adolescents using machine learning: developing decision tools to identify daily level risk after hospitalization. Psychological medicine, 1-10.

Horwitz, A., Czyz, E., Al-Dajani, N., Dempsey, W., Zhao, Z., Nahum-Shani, I., & Sen, S. (2022). Utilizing daily mood diaries and wearable sensor data to predict depression and suicidal ideation among medical interns. Journal of Affective Disorders, 313, 1-7.

Grants

• 2022 “The Interplay Between Risk and Protective Factors and Suicidal Thoughts: Examining Momentary Fluctuations to Improve Suicide Risk Detection.” Principal Investigator: Nadia Al-Dajani. American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Young Investigator Award.