ADAPT Lab

About Us

Welcome to the ADAPT Lab (Adaptive Designs for Affect, Physiology, and Translation Health), where we bridge the gap between clinical research and the complexities of everyday life. Led by Dr. Dusti Jones, our team is dedicated to understanding the intricate links between emotional, physical, and behavioral health.

Meet our team
Three red mountains above ADAPT Lab University of Utah sign
ADAPT Lab logo
ADAPT Lab Team
ADAPT Lab team

Our Mission

We believe that health doesn't just happen in a clinic, it happens in the real world. Our research focuses on how mental well-being and physical health interact to influence behavior. By identifying these patterns, we aim to develop innovative ways to support and improve health outcomes for individuals as they navigate their daily routines.

Our Approach

The cornerstone of our work is Ecologically Momentary Assessment (EMA). While traditional research often relies on retrospective surveys, EMA allows us to capture data in the moment. By observing behavior in its natural context, we gain a more accurate and nuanced understanding of the human experience.

To achieve this, every study in the ADAPT Lab utilizes:

Smartphone Technology

Leveraging the devices people already use to collect real-time data and provide support.

Wearable Devices

Tracking physiological and behavioral markers to understand the "why" behind health habits using smartwatches or other devices.

Real-Time Interventions

Using data-driven insights to provide support exactly when it is needed most.

Ongoing Studies

Email us about ongoing studies

Project CLEAR (Cessation through Linking Emotions and Adaptive Responses)

Project CLEAR is a 28-day survey study exploring how emotions and stress impact your motivation to quit smoking. Our goal is to collect ecological momentary assessment (EMA) surveys from participants twice daily, upon waking and right before bed. EMA surveys are used to capture in the moment feelings and emotions, as well as motivation to quit smoking that day. The project is still on going and we welcome interested participants to reach out to our study team.

Prompt AI: From Prompt to Practice: Co-designing AI video content for scalable digital health interventions

Currently, there is a gap in smoking cessation interventions for adults age 18-25 years old. For young adults, there is need to create engaging campaigns motivating them to quit smoking and tools to aid their quit journey. Prompt AI is a research project with the aim at filling the gap in targeted interventions for this age group. We will develop a framework on how to create short form videos for smoking cessation. Phase 1, we will interview experts in the field to understand smoking cessation strategies, video creation, and engagement on platforms such as social media. Phase 2, we will enroll participants to view our videos and asks them to grade the videos’ engagement, believability, and quality. If you would like to take part in this study, please reach out to our study team.

ALIGN-GLP1 (Assessing Lifestyle Interventions via Guided digital tools in GLP1 users)

This project is a systematic review examining how digital health interventions support lifestyle change among individuals using GLP-1 receptor agonists. It synthesizes evidence on mobile and digital approaches, including apps and remote coaching, that complement pharmacologic treatment by promoting diet, physical activity, and sustained behavior change.

Completed Studies and Publications

    RESIST Study (Resilience & Emotional States In Smoking Transitions - K12)

    Emotional processes, including regulation and day-to-day dynamics, play a key role in tobacco lapse, with more positive and stable emotional experiences serving as protective factors. This study identifies emotional patterns across two cessation trials and tests how digital intervention components can strengthen these processes to reduce lapse risk.

    1. Jones et al., 2024 Examining links between distinct affective states and tobacco lapse during a cessation attempt among African Americans: A cohort study. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38740389/
    2. Potter et al., 2025 Momentary predictors of lapse among African Americans during a quit attempt.  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39693676/
    3. Jones et al., 2025 Examining bi-directional associations between distinct affective states and tobacco lapse. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39740306/
    4. Potter et al., 2025 Correlates of nicotine patch adherence in daily life. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39577027/
    Persist Study (PERSISTent poverty: Emotional resilience, risk behaviors, and stigma in tobacco & alcohol use)

    The Persist Study is a pilot investigation of individuals who co-use alcohol and tobacco and live in economically disadvantaged communities, examining how resilience factors such as social support, positive emotions, and mindfulness influence daily substance use decisions.

    POEM Study (POsitive EMotions and Health Behaviors)

    The POEM Study examined how different patterns of positive and negative emotions relate to daily health behaviors, including sleep, diet, physical activity, and alcohol use, while also considering individual differences in personality, mindfulness, and emotional preferences.

    1. Jones et al., 2021 Daily associations between affect and alcohol consumption among adults: The importance of affective arousal. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32911354/
    2. Jones et al., 2022 Associations between positively valenced affect and health behaviors vary by arousal. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34355861/
    3. Jones et al., 2024 The relation between personality and affect intensity and dynamics: Do associations differ based on arousal? https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12144-023-04864-y
    EMBER Study (EMotions and Biomarkers of Early Aging and Resilience)

    The EMBER Study was a training grant project examining how emotions and emotion dynamics, particularly positive affect, influence inflammatory processes and cortisol. The study integrated multiple data sources to better understand biobehavioral pathways linking emotional functioning to early indicators of aging.

    1. Graham-Engeland et al., 2018 Negative and positive affect as predictors of inflammation: Timing matters. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30217538/
    2. Slavish et al., 2020 Positive affect and salivary markers of inflammation in young adults with and without chronic pain. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31222631/
    3. Jones et al., 2020 Affect variability and inflammatory markers in midlife adults. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32324001/
    4. Jones et al., 2021 Positive affect and peripheral inflammatory markers among adults: A narrative review. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33130406/
    5. Filipkowski et al., 2022 Stress responses to ostracism: Examining cortisol and affective reactivity to in-person and online exclusion. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33860689/
    6. Johnson et al., 2022 Intra-individual associations of perceived stress, affective valence, and affective arousal with momentary cortisol in a sample of working adults. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34156423/
    7. Graham-Engeland et al., 2022 Individuals with both higher recent negative affect and physical pain have higher levels of C-reactive protein. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35243409/
    8. Jones et al., 2024 Mean affect and affect variability may interact to predict levels of inflammatory markers. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36681360/
    CALM-Daily (College Adults’ Life with Mindfulness: DAILY emotional processes)

    The CALM-Daily Study is a randomized trial of first-year college students testing whether a one-week mindfulness meditation intervention influences emotional experiences in daily life, using repeated surveys and daily diary assessments.

    1. Jones et al., 2018 Clarifying the associations between mindfulness meditation and emotion: Daily high and low arousal emotions and emotional variability. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29992747/
    2. Jones et al., 2019 The effect of a short-term mindfulness meditation intervention on coping flexibility. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30929458/
    Methods and Study Design
    1. Lehman et al., 2015 Effectively analyzing change over time in laboratory research on stress and health: A multilevel modeling approach. https://compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/spc3.12202
    2. Smyth et al., 2021 The influence of EMA study design features on reported willingness to participate and perceptions of potential research studies. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34330860/
    3. Schlechter et al., 2023 Increasing the reach of evidence-based interventions for weight management and diabetes prevention among Medicaid patients: Study protocol for a pilot sequential multiple assignment randomized trial. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38011967/
    4. Smyth & Jones, 2025 Ambulatory methods in psychosocial and biobehavioral research. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2025-07948-009
    5. Zhang et al., 2025 Missing data in microrandomized trials: Challenges and opportunities. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41239132/
    6. Langford et al., 2026 Effects of ecological momentary assessment prompting schedule on affect measurement variability and predicting next day health behaviors. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42145270/
    7. Yu et al., 2026 Antecedents and consequences of different indicators of engagement with a digital intervention for tobacco cessation. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42259921/
    Emotion and Resilience
    1. Jones et al., 2017 Pessimism moderates negative emotion responses to naturally occurring stress. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092656616300575?via%3Dihub
    2. Jones et al., 2018 Is perceived growth associated with momentary indicators of health and well-being in individuals with asthma or rheumatoid arthritis? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29673088/
    3. Marini et al., 2020 Daily links between sleep and anger among spouses of chronic pain patients. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30285248/
    4. White et al., 2024 Cardiovascular risk, social vigilance, and stress profiles of male law enforcement officers versus civilians. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38586533/
    5. Kang et al., 2025 Higher loneliness is associated with greater positive and negative emotion instability in everyday life. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40659020/
    6. Kang et al., 2026 Loneliness moderates affective responses to uplifts in everyday life. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41498095/
    7. Kraft et al., 2026 Examining daily affect variability by individual differences among a diverse community sample. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42189520/