Feasibility and Efficacy of a Digital Training Intervention to Increase Reward Sensitivity- Imager

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Stress
• Interventions: Other: Cognitive- behavioral imagery-based training

• Registration Number: NCT05623826
• Lead Sponsor: University of Zurich

Brief Summary

Development and feasibility test of an Ecological Momentary Intervention (EMI) - Imager, to promote and improve stress resilience, specifically to increase reward sensitivity.

Detailed Description

Aim of the current project is to develop and test Ecological Momentary Intervention (EMI) - Imager, to promote and improve stress resilience, specifically to increase reward sensitivity. EMIs are mostly smartphone-based applications that deliver interventions to people as they go about in their daily lives. The EMI developed and tested here is based on theoretical and empirical findings and consists of several items and a repeated training using various individual scenarios from participants' life that will be presented to participants via an app on their smartphones.

This study tests the feasibility and effects of the EMI on a change in (i) reward sensitivity, (ii) mental imagery, and (iii) indices of perceived stress. One hundred twenty healthy student participants, aged 18-29 will be included in the study. Participants will be screened first and included if they score 5 points or more on the Reward Sensitivity Subscale of Behavioral Avoidance/Inhibition (BIS/BAS) scales. This is necessary in order to avoid a ceiling effect. Then, participants will be randomly assigned to an experimental (reward sensitivity EMI) or two of the control conditions (control EMA or waitlist). The reward sensitivity EMI group will be taught about experiencing rewards in daily life and will be asked to apply the specific techniques to personal situations repeatedly. The control EMA group will use the same app consisting of Ecological Momentary Assessment only, and the waitlist group will not receive any mobile app.

The training will last seven consecutive days and the app will send (i) 10 prompts per day to ask about the current mood of the user in control EMA and experimental groups and (ii) three prompts per day resulting in a total of 21 reward training sessions only in the experimental group. Participants will be able to use a special button triggering the intervention or EMA by themselves too. After one week, participants will return to the lab, fill in questionnaires and participate in behavioral tasks.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2020-09-27
• Primary Completion: 2021-04-13
• Study Completion: 2021-04-13
• Study First Submitted: 2022-04-25
• Status Verified: 2022-11
• Study First Submitted QC: 2022-11-13
• Last Update Submitted: 2022-11-13
• Study First Posted: 2022-11-21
• Last Update Posted: 2022-11-21

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 137

Inclusion Criteria

• being a student
• having sufficient knowledge of the German language
• being a smartphone user
• score of 5 points or more in Reward Sensitivity Subscale of Behavioral Avoidance/Inhibition (BIS/BAS) scales

Exclusion Criteria

• having a mental illness or attending the psychotherapy

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Experimental	Cognitive- behavioral imagery-based training	Experimental (receiving EMA and Imager EMI)

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)	one week: Pre- to post-intervention/control	Self-reported anxiety symptoms, scale range \[20-80\], higher score = worse outcome
The Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire (SPSRQ)	one week: Pre- to post-intervention/control	Self-reported reward sensitivity, scale range \[0-24\], higher score = better outcome
Behavioural avoidance/inhibition (BIS/BAS) scales	one week: Pre- to post-intervention/control	Self-reported reward sensitivity, scale range \[0-15\], higher score = worse outcome
Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II)	one week: Pre- to post-intervention/control	Self-reported depressive symptoms, scale range \[0-63\], higher score = worse outcome
Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)	one week: Pre- to post-intervention/control	Self-reported level of stress, scale range \[0-40\], higher score = worse outcome

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Psychiatric University Hospital; 🇨🇭 Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland