TY - JOUR AU - Kellerwessel, Klaus AU - Kovács, Asztrik AU - Ujhelyi, Adrienn TI - “Not the happiest words came to my mind”—Subjective experiences of AI-assisted self-representation among individuals with high risk of depression JF - EXPLORATION OF DIGITAL HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES J2 - EXPLOR DIGIT HEALTH TECH VL - 4 PY - 2026 SP - https://doi.org/10.37349/edht.2026.101180 SN - 2996-9409 DO - 10.37349/edht.2026.101180 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/36949122 ID - 36949122 AB - Aim: Diagnosing and treating major depressive disorder (MDD) remains a pressing global health challenge. Generative-AI tools, by lowering technical barriers and offering rapid visual feedback, may open new avenues for art-based assessment and intervention. Methods: In this exploratory qualitative pilot, we conducted reflexive thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with N = 10 young adults at elevated risk for depression who generated self-representative images in Midjourney during a 45-minute session. Participants were selected from a larger cohort described elsewhere; no quantitative analyses were conducted in the present paper. Results: Qualitative findings suggested therapeutic-like mechanisms that mirror—and in some cases amplify—those reported for traditional art therapy, including the experience of flow and spontaneity, a heightened sense of creative agency, and the safe externalization of difficult or extreme emotions. Some participants described abrupt “sentiment switches,” where joyful imagery was immediately followed by scenes of sudden, intrusive self-criticism. Importantly, the generative process also surfaced idiosyncratic “resource images” (e.g., nature motifs, hobbies, values, loved ones) that participants experienced as calming or empowering, hinting at personalised anchors for future interventions. Conclusions: In line with prior quantitative work showing that more negative prompt sentiment statistically relates to higher BDI scores, the present qualitative narratives offer an interpretive account of how such negativity may emerge during AI-assisted self-representation. However, the current study does not integrate datasets or perform mixed-methods triangulation and uses those prior findings solely for contextualization. We conclude that, with appropriate ethical safeguards, generative-AI image making may serve as a flexible, low-cost adjunct to existing diagnostic and art-therapeutic practices, offering clients and clinicians a shared visual language for exploring the multi-layered experience of depression. LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - JOUR AU - Sik, Domonkos AU - Szécsi, Judit AU - Rácz, József AU - Neogrády-Kiss, Márton AU - Demetrovics, Zsolt AU - Kaló, Zsuzsa AU - Kapitány-Fövény, Máté AU - Kovács, Asztrik TI - Structural Deprivation, Rural Segregation, and Substance Use—A Hungarian Case Study JF - INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTION J2 - INT J MEN HEALTH ADD VL - in press PY - 2025 PG - 34 SN - 1557-1874 DO - 10.1007/s11469-025-01521-2 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/36235370 ID - 36235370 N1 - Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem, Faculty of Social Sciences, Budapest, Hungary Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem, Budapest, Hungary Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem, Budapest, Hungary Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem, Budapest, Hungary National Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Budapest, Hungary Export Date: 18 December 2025; Cited By: 0; Correspondence Address: D. Sik; Faculty of Social Sciences, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Pázmány Péter Sétány 1/a, 1117, Hungary; email: sik.domonkos@tatk.elte.hu AB - New designer drugs are a major public health concern, particularly in disadvantaged, segregated communities. While the phenomenon is better understood in urban settings, it remains unexplored in rural areas. This gap explains our research rationale: an interdisciplinary survey was designed; the fieldwork took place in Hungary, in a segregated rural area ( n = 425), in 2022. The complex sociological-psychological-existential trap represented by rural segregation is characterized by the lack of prospects for change. As the individual’s attention is narrowed to the present, such a burdensome existence is managed through escapist strategies of substance use. Our research investigates whether substance use is a cause or a consequence of structural deprivation. K-means cluster analysis was used to differentiate between the idealtypical patterns of substance use (e.g. self-controlling vs. risk-taking) and abstinence (e.g. vulnerable vs. consistent); chi-square tests were used to map the structural background and trajectories leading from abstinence to substance use. LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - GEN AU - Rácz, József AU - Kovács, Asztrik TI - A kvalitatív módszer reneszánsza – új utak a pszichológiai kutatásban : workshop hallgatóknak PY - 2025 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/36428555 ID - 36428555 LA - Hungarian DB - MTMT ER - TY - GEN AU - Rácz, József AU - Kovács, Asztrik TI - A kvalitatív módszer reneszánsza – új utak a pszichológiai kutatásban : workshop oktatóknak PY - 2025 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/36428556 ID - 36428556 LA - Hungarian DB - MTMT ER - TY - CONF AU - Rácz, József AU - Szécsi, Judit AU - Sik, Domonkos AU - Demetrovics, Zsolt AU - Kapitány-Fövény, Máté AU - Koltai, Borbála Gabriella AU - Kaló, Zsuzsa AU - Kovács, Asztrik ED - Felvinczi, Katalin ED - Eisinger, Andrea TI - Az eszképizmus: Az eszképizmus típusai és jelentései az új pszichoaktív anyagokat használó egyének körében a magyarországi szegregált vidéki közösségekben T2 - A Magyar Addiktológiai Társaság XIV. Országos kongresszusa - előadáskivonatok PY - 2024 SP - 31 EP - 32 PG - 2 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/35575778 ID - 35575778 LA - Hungarian DB - MTMT ER - TY - THES AU - Kovács, Asztrik TI - The concept of the 'self' in qualitative psychology research PB - Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem (ELTE) PY - 2024 DO - 10.15476/ELTE.2023.072 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/36100180 ID - 36100180 LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - JOUR AU - Kovács, Asztrik AU - Ladányi, Bence AU - Farkas, Noémi AU - Stempel, Laura AU - Kiss, Dániel AU - Bittermann, Évi AU - Rácz, József TI - The recovery of homicidal people diagnosed with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder—An interpretative phenomenological analysis JF - FRONTIERS IN PSYCHIATRY J2 - FRONT PSYCHIATRY VL - 13 PY - 2023 PG - 11 SN - 1664-0640 DO - 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.951678 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/33615997 ID - 33615997 LA - English DB - MTMT ER - TY - CHAP AU - Kovács, Asztrik ED - Rácz, József ED - Karsai, Szilvia ED - Tóth, Veronika TI - A kvalitatív kutatások ismeretelméleti alapjai T2 - Kvalitatív pszichológia PB - ELTE Eötvös Kiadó CY - Budapest SN - 9789634895947 PY - 2023 SP - 17 EP - 29 PG - 13 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/34057218 ID - 34057218 LA - Hungarian DB - MTMT ER - TY - CHAP AU - Kovács, Asztrik ED - Rácz, József ED - Karsai, Szilvia ED - Tóth, Veronika TI - A kvalitatív pszichológiai kutatás adatgyűjtése T2 - Kvalitatív pszichológia PB - ELTE Eötvös Kiadó CY - Budapest SN - 9789634895947 PY - 2023 SP - 61 EP - 86 PG - 26 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/34057310 ID - 34057310 LA - Hungarian DB - MTMT ER - TY - CHAP AU - Kovács, Asztrik AU - Kassai, Szilvia AU - Rácz, József ED - Rácz, József ED - Karsai, Szilvia ED - Tóth, Veronika TI - Interpretatív fenomenológiai analízis. Az IPA (Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis) bemutatása és kutatási példa: kábítószer-használókból empatikus segítők TS - Az IPA (Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis) bemutatása és kutatási példa: kábítószer-használókból empatikus segítők T2 - Kvalitatív pszichológia PB - ELTE Eötvös Kiadó CY - Budapest SN - 9789634895947 PY - 2023 SP - 89 EP - 110 PG - 22 UR - https://m2.mtmt.hu/api/publication/34060834 ID - 34060834 LA - Hungarian DB - MTMT ER -