The Effect of Attention Training on Symptoms and Emotion Regulation in Depressive Patients: Validation of the Online Contingent Attention Training (OCAT).
Overview
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Intervention
- Not specified
- Conditions
- Depression
- Sponsor
- University Ghent
- Enrollment
- 150
- Locations
- 3
- Primary Endpoint
- Changes in stress symptoms
- Status
- Enrolling By Invitation
- Last Updated
- last year
Overview
Brief Summary
Attention control for external information and cognitive control for internal information play a causal role in emotion regulation according to different theories and research. Prior research shows that an interactive attention control training in which participants learn to unravel scrambled sentences ("life is my a party mess") in a positive manner ("my life is a party") by receiving feedback on their eye movements while attending to the valenced words, can facilitate participants to be more able to re-interpret negative information in a positive manner. In the current study we want to test the effect of psycho-education in combination with a 10 day attention control training to see if this has a positive effect on depressive, anxiety and stress symptoms, emotion regulation and self-esteem in depressed patients. The study takes place in a psychiatric hospital (Alexianen Zorggroep Tienen) while participants are staying there to receive treatment.
Detailed Description
Attention control for external information and cognitive control for internal information play a causal role in emotion regulation according to different theories and empirical research. Former research in the lab of the investigators has shown positive effects of an interactive attention control training where participants learned to unscramble scrambled sentences ("life is my a party mess") in a positive way ("my life is a party") by getting eye-tracking feedback about attention for positive ("party") vs. negative information ("mess") when looking at the sentences. After the training, participants could better reinterpret negative pictures in a positive way. Attention- and cognitive control mechanisms prior to negative stressors (proactive control) and after negative stressors (reactive control) may play a role in the effects. Research suggests that low perceived control and negative expectations about future emotion regulation skills results in lower proactive control and a higher need of reactive control. Based on this, the assumption can be made that the effects of attention control training - targeting reactive control - could benefit from adding techniques that affect proactive control (i.e. psycho-education, additional short motivational video). In the present study this is investigated by testing a new 10 day attention control training to see if this has a positive effect on depressive, anxiety and stress symptoms, emotion regulation and self-esteem. Participants between 18 to 65 years of age are recruited during their admission in a psychiatric hospital (Alexianen Zorggroep Tienen). The attention control training is a new smartphone based application where participants are asked to unscramble scrambled sentences into grammatically correct sentences. Participants are randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a training condition with preceding psycho-education video (OCAT), a control condition with preceding psycho-education video (OCAT-sham), and a training condition with preceding psycho-education video and additional short motivational video before each training session (OCAT+). In the training conditions (OCAT and OCAT+), participants are asked to unscramble the scrambled sentences in a positive way. By swiping, participants can see parts of the sentences. This gives the investigators an image about the processing of the sentences. This procedure allows to measure how long participants attend to positive and negative words. In the training conditions participants receive feedback about the duration of processing positive and negative words. In the control group participants unscramble the sentences as fast as possible without feedback on emotional attention. Participants in the control condition only receive feedback about the speed by which the sentences are unscrambled. Before and after the 10 training sessions, attention of the participants is measured. Questionnaires on depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms, emotion regulation strategies, and self-esteem are administered before and after the training. Moreover, participants' credibility and expectancy towards the training will also be measured. There is also a follow-up measure 3 months after the training. All groups (training and control) watch a psycho-education video before the start of the training.
Investigators
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- •Diagnosis of depressive disorder
- •Admission to a psychiatric hospital (Alexianen PK, Tienen)
Exclusion Criteria
- •Current psychotic disorder
- •Current neurological impairments
- •Current alcohol addiction
- •Current treatment with antidepressants that has not yet been kept constant
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Changes in stress symptoms
Time Frame: pre-test (before starting the training), post-test (immediately after the training), follow-up (three months after the training)
Measured by the Depression and Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21), a self report questionnaire containing 21 items to measure the severity of a range of common symptoms for depression, anxiety and stress. Participants are required to indicate the presence of a symptom over the previous week. Each item of the questionnaire is scored from 0 (did not apply to me at all) to 3 (applied to me very much or most of the time). Higher scores indicate more symptoms. The questionnaire comprises three subscales (Depression, Anxiety, and Stress). For this specific outcome measure, the stress subscale will be used (7 items) to investigate the specific effects of the training on stress symptoms.
Changes in depression symptoms
Time Frame: pre-test (before starting the training), post-test (immediately after the training), follow-up (three months after the training)
Measured by the Depression and Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21), a self report questionnaire containing 21 items to measure the severity of a range of common symptoms for depression, anxiety and stress. Participants are required to indicate the presence of a symptom over the previous week. Each item of the questionnaire is scored from 0 (did not apply to me at all) to 3 (applied to me very much or most of the time). Higher scores indicate more symptoms. The questionnaire comprises three subscales (Depression, Anxiety, and Stress). For this specific outcome measure, the depression subscale will be used (7 items) to investigate the specific effects of the training on depressive symptoms.
Changes in anxiety symptoms
Time Frame: pre-test (before starting the training), post-test (immediately after the training), follow-up (three months after the training)
Measured by the Depression and Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21), a self report questionnaire containing 21 items to measure the severity of a range of common symptoms for depression, anxiety and stress. Participants are required to indicate the presence of a symptom over the previous week. Each item of the questionnaire is scored from 0 (did not apply to me at all) to 3 (applied to me very much or most of the time). Higher scores indicate more symptoms. The questionnaire comprises three subscales (Depression, Anxiety, and Stress). For this specific outcome measure, the anxiety subscale will be used (7 items) to investigate the specific effects of the training on anxiety symptoms.
Secondary Outcomes
- Self-Esteem(pre-test (before starting the training), post-test (immediately after the training), follow-up (three months after the training))
- Treatment Credibility and Expectancy(pre-test (before starting the training), post-test (immediately after the training))
- Changes in cognitive emotion regulation strategies(pre-test (before starting the training), post-test (immediately after the training), follow-up (three months after the training))
- Changes in emotional attention(pre-test (before starting the training), post-test (immediately after the training))