Affective Attentional Bias Training In Depression

NCT03106883 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: PSYC-188-16
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 40
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Biased attention toward negatively valenced information has been considered as a mechanism for risk and relapse in depression. Those with depression tend to focus their visual attention first, more frequently, and for longer periods of time, if it connotes negative (particularly sad) mood. To this end, investigators have recently discovered that this bias might be modifiable. However, the existing literature is mixed with regard to effectiveness. The investigators propose in this study a novel approach to modifying attention bias in depression by using real time feedback with eye tracking technology. The investigators will examine if, compared to a sham condition, rewarding attention toward positive stimuli results in improved mood and reductions in attention bias. Following three sessions of either sham training or active attentional bias training, the investigators hypothesize that participants in the active training condition will experience a) reductions in negative attentional bias, and b) to an improved mood state and increased quality of life, compared to those in the sham training condition.

Conditions

Depression

Keywords

Attention bias modification; Cognitive bias modification; Eye-tracking; Treatment

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Negative attentional bias

  The investigators will be measuring time spent looking at negative stimuli using an eye tracker to determine if there is a change in the bias towards negative information after 3 sessions of attention training intervention

  The post-training assessment is completed within one week of the pre-assessment (after 3 sessions of attention training)

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Overall mood

  The post-training assessment is completed within one week of the pre-assessment (after 3 sessions of attention training)

• Quality of life

  The post-training assessment is completed within one week of the pre-assessment (after 3 sessions of attention training)

Study Arms (2)

Affective training

EXPERIMENTAL

One happy and three sad faces selected from the NimStim Set of Facial Expressions Five five-minute blocks separate by 90-second rest periods

Behavioral: Affective training

Sham training

SHAM COMPARATOR

Neutral, non-affective, non-social photos of objects (i.e., cars) Five five-minute blocks separate by 90-second rest periods

Behavioral: Sham training

Interventions

Affective training BEHAVIORAL

3 sessions of active training using affective faces to modify the negative attention bias in depression

Affective training

Sham training BEHAVIORAL

3 sessions of sham attention training using non-affective stimuli

Sham training

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 65 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)
• Normal or corrected-to-normal vision

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Queen's University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Queen's University

Kingston, Ontario, K7L3N6, Canada

Location

Related Publications (14)

• Armstrong T, Olatunji BO. Eye tracking of attention in the affective disorders: a meta-analytic review and synthesis. Clin Psychol Rev. 2012 Dec;32(8):704-23. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2012.09.004. Epub 2012 Sep 20.

  PMID: 23059623 BACKGROUND

• Peckham AD, McHugh RK, Otto MW. A meta-analysis of the magnitude of biased attention in depression. Depress Anxiety. 2010 Dec;27(12):1135-42. doi: 10.1002/da.20755.

  PMID: 21049527 BACKGROUND

• Beevers CG, Clasen PC, Enock PM, Schnyer DM. Attention bias modification for major depressive disorder: Effects on attention bias, resting state connectivity, and symptom change. J Abnorm Psychol. 2015 Aug;124(3):463-75. doi: 10.1037/abn0000049.

  PMID: 25894440 BACKGROUND

• Gotlib IH, Krasnoperova E, Yue DN, Joormann J. Attentional biases for negative interpersonal stimuli in clinical depression. J Abnorm Psychol. 2004 Feb;113(1):121-35. doi: 10.1037/0021-843X.113.1.121.

  PMID: 14992665 BACKGROUND

• Hankin BL, Gibb BE, Abela JR, Flory K. Selective attention to affective stimuli and clinical depression among youths: role of anxiety and specificity of emotion. J Abnorm Psychol. 2010 Aug;119(3):491-501. doi: 10.1037/a0019609.

  PMID: 20677838 BACKGROUND

• Duque A, Vazquez C. Double attention bias for positive and negative emotional faces in clinical depression: evidence from an eye-tracking study. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2015 Mar;46:107-14. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2014.09.005. Epub 2014 Sep 22.

  PMID: 25305417 BACKGROUND

• Yang W, Ding Z, Dai T, Peng F, Zhang JX. Attention Bias Modification training in individuals with depressive symptoms: A randomized controlled trial. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2015 Dec;49(Pt A):101-11. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2014.08.005. Epub 2014 Sep 8.

  PMID: 25245928 BACKGROUND

• Ferrari GR, Mobius M, van Opdorp A, Becker ES, Rinck M. Can't Look Away: An Eye-Tracking Based Attentional Disengagement Training for Depression. Cognit Ther Res. 2016;40(5):672-686. doi: 10.1007/s10608-016-9766-0. Epub 2016 Mar 16.

  PMID: 27688520 BACKGROUND

• Mastikhina L, Dobson K. Biased attention retraining in dysphoria: a failure to replicate. Cogn Emot. 2017 Apr;31(3):625-631. doi: 10.1080/02699931.2015.1136270. Epub 2016 Jan 22.

  PMID: 26799308 BACKGROUND

• Platt B, Murphy SE, Lau JY. The association between negative attention biases and symptoms of depression in a community sample of adolescents. PeerJ. 2015 Oct 29;3:e1372. doi: 10.7717/peerj.1372. eCollection 2015.

  PMID: 26539335 BACKGROUND

• De Voogd EL, Wiers RW, Prins PJ, Salemink E. Visual search attentional bias modification reduced social phobia in adolescents. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2014 Jun;45(2):252-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2013.11.006. Epub 2013 Dec 6.

  PMID: 24361543 BACKGROUND

• Kruijt AW, Putman P, Van der Does W. The effects of a visual search attentional bias modification paradigm on attentional bias in dysphoric individuals. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2013 Jun;44(2):248-54. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2012.11.003. Epub 2012 Nov 28.

  PMID: 23266603 BACKGROUND

• Everaert J, Mogoase C, David D, Koster EH. Attention bias modification via single-session dot-probe training: Failures to replicate. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2015 Dec;49(Pt A):5-12. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2014.10.011. Epub 2014 Nov 4.

  PMID: 25468204 BACKGROUND

• Tottenham N, Tanaka JW, Leon AC, McCarry T, Nurse M, Hare TA, Marcus DJ, Westerlund A, Casey BJ, Nelson C. The NimStim set of facial expressions: judgments from untrained research participants. Psychiatry Res. 2009 Aug 15;168(3):242-9. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2008.05.006. Epub 2009 Jun 28.

  PMID: 19564050 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Depression

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior

Study Officials

• Christopher R Bowie, Ph.D. CPsych

  Queen's University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 15, 2017
• First Posted: April 11, 2017
• Study Start: January 30, 2017
• Primary Completion: March 15, 2018
• Study Completion: August 1, 2018
• Last Updated: August 28, 2018

Record last verified: 2018-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CA (1)