MedPath

Behavioral Adaptation to Negative Social Cues in Depressed Patients According to Personal History of Suicide Attempt- COMPASS

Not Applicable
Terminated
Conditions
History of Suicide Attempt
Depression
Interventions
Other: Waiting room task
Registration Number
NCT03898648
Lead Sponsor
University Hospital, Montpellier
Brief Summary

Social interactions are part of daily life. To decide to interact with someone or not is a routine for humans. To ensure the quality of interpersonal relationships, emotional cues must be taken into account to adapt optimally the investigator's behavior.

Difficulties in interpersonal relationships often trigger suicidal behavior. Suicide attempters are characterized by an impaired decision - making associated with difficulties in familial relationships.

To date, little data on emotional recognition and social decision- making in clinical population is available.

The study aims to compare behavioral response to negative social cues in 82 depressed patients according to their history of suicide attempt using a computerized neuropsychological task.

Detailed Description

To identify the nature of the mechanisms involved in social decisions, Mennella and coll. have developed a computerized task (waiting room task) in which the participant is asked to avoid or to approach individuals expressing negative emotional expressions, in this case: anger or fear. In practice, participants have to choose between two chairs to sit in a waiting room in which subjects expressing a neutral face or negative emotions are present. To make this choice they must press a specific keyboard button. In addition to that, in order to evaluate motivation, some of the trials are reversed, meaning that the choice made by the participant will result in the opposite result.

Using this task they have shown that: (1) anger is associated with more avoidance behavior than fear, (2) this behavior is goal- directed and, (3) the higher the level of impulsivity of the subjects, the less able they are to adapt their responses.

The proposed study will use this neuropsychological assessment, the waiting room task, to evaluate if depressed patients would avoid or approach individuals expressing negative facial emotions. The main objective is to compare behavioral adaptation to anger vs neutral cues among depressed patients with and without history of suicide attempt.

The study also aims to :

1. compare behavioral response to fear vs. neutral and anger vs. fear in depressed patients according to suicidal history ;

2. assess the modulation of behavioral adaptation by history of childhood maltreatment, level of impulsivity, anxiodepression and anhedonia;

3. correlate behavioral adaptation to negative cues (anger and fear) with decision-making performances using the Iowa Gambling Task.

The hypothesis is that depressed patients with a history of suicide attempt will exhibit anger specific hyper-responsiveness resulting in an increased avoidance behavior compared to subjects without suicidal history. It is expected that depressed suicide attempters will not have a different emotional reactivity compared to patients without suicidal history for another negative emotion, namely fear.

To that purpose, 82 depressed patients will be recruited in the study. Half of them will have a history of suicide attempt (suicide attempters) while the other half will have none (affective controls). Their participation will consist of an unique visit.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
TERMINATED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
66
Inclusion Criteria
  • Being between 18 and 65 years old
  • Meeting the DSM-5 criteria for a current major depressive disorder
  • For suicidal patients : having a lifetime history of suicide attempt
  • For affective controls : having no personal history of suicide attempt
  • Being able to understand the nature, purpose and methodology of the study
  • Having signed the informed consent
  • Being affiliated to a social security system
Exclusion Criteria
  • Current depressive episode with psychotic characteristics
  • Mental retardation or sever medical co-morbidity
  • Lifetime Diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder
  • Current manic or hypomanic episode
  • Sensory or cognitive disability
  • Pregnant or breastfeeding woman
  • Deprivation of liberty (by judicial or administrative decision)
  • Protection by law (guardianship or curatorship)
  • Exclusion period in relation to another protocol
  • Inability to understand, speak and write French

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Depressed patients with history of suicide attemptWaiting room taskDepressed patients with a lifetime history of suicide attempt will be evaluated regarding their behavioral adaptation toward negative social cues.
Depressed patients without any history of suicide attemptWaiting room taskDepressed patients without history of suicide attempt will be evaluated regarding their behavioral adaptation toward negative social cues.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Motivation to avoid anger during the emotional taskAt inclusion

Calculation of the proportion of avoidance vs. approach choices from people expressing anger

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Reaction time before clickingAt inclusion

Computerized measurement of reaction time before clicking to make the avoidant or approach choice

Change in the proportion of avoidant choices in reverse trials compared to normal trialsAt inclusion

Computerized calculation of the proportion of avoidance choices in reverse trials and comparison to the proportion calculated in normal trials.

Reaction time between first and second choices in reverse testsAt inclusion

Computerized measurement of reaction time between the first choice and the second choice during the reverse condition

Iowa Gambling Test scoreAt inclusion

Decision- making impairment assessment with the Iowa Gambling Task. In this task participants are asked to choose between four piles of cards allowing them to earn or lose money. - Among those piles, two are advantageous (little gain and little loss) while the other two are disadvantageous (bigger gain but bigger loss). The goal is to earn as much money as possible. Persistence to choose the disadvantageous piles is interpreted to reflect impulsivity.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Uhmontpellier

🇫🇷

Montpellier, France

© Copyright 2025. All Rights Reserved by MedPath