DYAD — Dyadic Inquiry, Analysis, and Design (RESEARCH PROGRAMME)

DYAD (Dyadic Inquiry, Analysis, and Design) is a pre-registered, multi-site research programme investigating brief structured dyadic encounters as a scalable, low-cost mechanism for building interpersonal belonging in higher education and beyond. The programme tests whether short structured conversations, primed by communication training (Nonviolent Communication or Reflective Listening), can shift felt safety and we-ness in stranger dyads — and whether those shifts hold across UK, Belgian, and international student samples. The programme is organised across four pillars. D — Dyadic Inquiry houses FRIEND, the qualitative feasibility study (UEL, 2025 — 2026). Y — Yoked Analysis houses the measurement and methodology spine: DESI-18 (psychometric instrument development and multi-site validation, 2025 — 2027) and LENS (six-layer analytic methodology, 2026 — 2028). A — Applied Design houses BUDDY, the NVC versus Reflective Listening feasibility RCT (NTU and VIVES, 2026 — 2028). D — Dissemination collects preprints, accepted manuscripts, and applied derivatives. All studies are pre-registered, openly archived, and coordinated under a single measurement and analytic framework. The encounter design is population-agnostic — findings are expected to transfer to care home residents, prison populations, family carers, and other groups facing enforced proximity or social isolation. Principal investigator: V. J. de Blauwe, NIHR Three Schools' Mental Health Programme Master's Scholar, Nottingham Trent University. ORCID 0009-0004-8975-6249. Programme DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/S8WF3. Licence CC BY 4.0.