Training Mental Habits Study

NCT03205332 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 2015-146-1
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 121
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a chronic condition whose hallmark feature is excessive and uncontrollable worry (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Theories of GAD propose that specific cognitive biases are involved in the maintenance and etiology of chronic worry. One cognitive bias that plays a role in worrying is abstract thinking, or the tendency to "verbalize" thoughts and worries in a manner that is vague and lacking in detail. There is evidence that training depressed people to think more concretely improves depressive symptoms and depression-type thinking styles, and reduces emotional reactivity. Given that chronic worry and depression have commonalities (e.g., repetitive thinking styles, difficulties with problem-solving and attentional control, emotion dysregulation), concreteness training may help people who struggle with chronic worry. The main goals of this proof of concept experiment are 1) to test in individuals reporting chronic worry the effects of an active form of concreteness training that involves imagery practice (compared to a no training control condition) on frequency of worrying, problem solving quality, and worry-related processes; 2) to examine the degree to which concreteness training causes improvements in daily worry and negative affect during the 7 days of practice. The study design will provide us with an understanding on a more "macro" level of the potential short-term benefits and will at the same time allow us to see, on a more "micro" level, how training concreteness affects worry and mood on a day-to-day basis during a 7-day period. The findings from this study will inform relevant clinical literature about efficacious methods to reduce chronic worry.

Conditions

Generalized Anxiety; Worry

Keywords

Worry; Anxiety

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change in worry as measured by the Penn State Worry Questionnaire - Past Week

  this measure is administered at baseline, at post-test (1 week post baseline), at 1 week follow up and at 1 month follow up

Secondary Outcomes (12)

• Change in depressive symptoms as measured by the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale

  this measure is administered at baseline, at post-test (1 week post baseline), at 1 week follow up and at 1 month follow up

• Change in negative problem orientation as measured by the Negative Problem Orientation Questionnaire

  this measure is administered at baseline, at post-test (1 week post baseline), at 1 week follow up and at 1 month follow up

• Change in quality of problem-solving as measured by The Means-Ends Problem-Solving task

  this measure is administered at baseline, at post-test (1 week post baseline), at 1 week follow up and at 1 month follow up

• Change in problem solving style as measured by the Social Problem Solving Inventory Revised

  Administered at baseline, at post-test (1 week post baseline), at 1-week follow up and at 1-month follow up

• Change in attentional control as measured by the Attentional Control Scale

  this measure is administered at baseline, at post-test (1 week post baseline), at 1 week follow up and at 1 month follow up

Other Outcomes (6)

• Change in trait anxiety as measured by STICSA

  Administered at baseline, at post-test (1 week post baseline), at 1-week follow up and at 1 month follow up

• Change in mood/affect as measured by PANAS

  Administered at baseline, at post-test (1 week post baseline), at 1-week follow up and at 1-month follow up.

• Change in intolerance of uncertainty as measured by the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale

  Administered at baseline, at post-test (1 week post baseline), at 1-week follow up and at 1-month follow up

Study Arms (2)

Concreteness Training

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants receive 1 session of training in concrete processing during the pre-intervention visit. They are then asked to engage in 30 minutes of concreteness practice daily, for 7 days.

Behavioral: Concreteness Training

Control

NO INTERVENTION

Assessment only.

Interventions

Concreteness Training BEHAVIORAL

Concreteness 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:

• Penn State Worry Questionnaire (trait) score meeting threshold of 65 or higher.
• Endorsement of symptoms consistent with Generalized Anxiety Disorder on the MINI interview with a CSR equal to or greater than 4.
• If other symptoms are present, associated CSR is at least 1 point lower than the CSR associated with GAD symptoms

You may not qualify if:

• Having a current or past history of mania or psychosis, or endorsement of symptoms consistent with a substance use disorder in the past 12 months.
• Reporting of suicidal ideation, intent or plan.
• Participants are excluded if they are currently receiving psychological treatment or counseling unless this treatment is infrequent (meeting once monthly or less) or the participant has been receiving consistent weekly treatment for 12 weeks and still meets all other eligibility criteria.
• Psychotropic medication with a change in dose in the past 12 weeks. If they have recently discontinued a psychotropic medication, they will be included if it has been at least 1 month since discontinuation or 3 months in the case of fluoxetine.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Toronto Metropolitan University: lead
• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Psychology Research and Training Centre, Ryerson University

Toronto, Ontario, M5B 2K3, Canada

Location

Related Publications (3)

• Watkins ER, Baeyens CB, Read R. Concreteness training reduces dysphoria: proof-of-principle for repeated cognitive bias modification in depression. J Abnorm Psychol. 2009 Feb;118(1):55-64. doi: 10.1037/a0013642.

  PMID: 19222314 BACKGROUND

• Borkovec TD, Inz J. The nature of worry in generalized anxiety disorder: a predominance of thought activity. Behav Res Ther. 1990;28(2):153-8. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(90)90027-g.

  PMID: 2183759 BACKGROUND

• Stöber, J. & Borkovec, T.D. (2002). Reduced concreteness of worry in generalized anxiety disorder: Findings from a therapy study. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 26, 89 - 95.

  BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Generalized Anxiety Disorder; Anxiety Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Naomi Koerner, PhD

  Toronto Metropolitan University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Masking Details: Eligibility Assessor
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 28, 2017
• First Posted: July 2, 2017
• Study Start: June 12, 2015
• Primary Completion: October 28, 2019
• Study Completion: October 28, 2019
• Last Updated: March 16, 2020

Record last verified: 2019-12

Locations

CA (1)