Efficacy of an Autobiographical Memory Specificity and Savoring Training for the Reduction of Depressive Symptomatology

NCT05220618 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 1612004
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 42
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The effect of autobiographical memory specificity and savoring training on memory specificity, positive affect regulation, well-being and depression symptomatology

Conditions

Training Group; Control Group

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Autobiographical memory specificity. The Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT, Williams & Broadbent, 1986)

  AMT is the preferred measure to evaluate the degree of specificity of autobiographical memory. During the AMT application, nine verbal cue words of different valence (three positive, three negative and three neutral) will be presented to the participants to perform a recall task of specific personal memories (Dritschel et al., 2014). The specificity of the memories is scored by evaluators following specified criteria (Williams et al., 2007), and then, an overall estimate of the level of specificity of autobiographical memories can be calculated. The assessment will be conducted online, following previous works with the written version of the AMT (Takano et al., 2017). The spanish adaptation (Ros et al., 2018) has shown adequate psychometric properties in young and older populations.

  Screening for eligibility criteria; Change in AMT from pre- intervention (Day 0) to post-intervention (Day 15)

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Depressive symptomatology. The Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9; Kroenke, Spitzer & Williams, 2001, Spanish adaptation Diez-Quevedo et al., 2001)

  Change in PHQ-9 from pre- intervention (Day 0) to post-intervention (Day 15); Change in PHQ-9 from post- intervention (Day 15) to follow-up (Day 30)

• Savoring. Ways of Savoring Checklist (WOSC, Bryant & Veroff, 2007; Jose, Lim, & Bryant, 2012)

  Change in WOSC from pre- intervention (Day 0) to post-intervention (Day 15); Change in WOSC from post- intervention (Day 15) to follow-up (Day 30)

• Characteristics of positive memories recalled. (Continuous assessments)

  Daily mood and characteristics of positive memories during intervention (From Day 1 to day 15).

• Positive and negative affect. The Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS; Watson et al., 1988; Sandín et al., 1999)

  Screening for eligibility criteria; Change in PANAS from pre- intervention (Day 0) to post-intervention (Day 15); Change in PANAS from post- intervention (Day 15) to follow-up (Day 30)

• Well-being. Mental Health Continuum Scale (MHC: Keyes, 2004; Echevarría et al., 2010)

  Screening for eligibility criteria; Change in MHC from pre- intervention (Day 0) to post-intervention (Day 15); Change in MHC from post- intervention (Day 15) to follow-up (Day 30)

Study Arms (2)

PESCAR Training Group

EXPERIMENTAL

This group will receive an online two-week intervention to train the specificity and savoring of autobiographical memories. During the two-week intervention and the following two weeks, participants will complete continuous assessments (i.e. once a day) rate the their mood (positive and negative affect) as well as the level of positivity, specificity and savoring of positive memories recalled during practice session. For this study, we included continuous assessments to monitor essential project variables throughout the intervention (2 weeks; from Day 0 to Day 15) and then as a follow-up (2 weeks after; from Day 16 to Day 30).

Behavioral: Autobiographical Memory Specificity and Savoring Training: PESCAR

Control Group

NO INTERVENTION

This group will receive no intervention to train the specificity of autobiographical memories. During two weeks (from Day 0 to Day 15), participants will complete continuous assessments (i.e. once a day) to monitor their positive and negative affect.

Interventions

Autobiographical Memory Specificity and Savoring Training: PESCAR BEHAVIORAL

An autobiographical memory specificity and savoring training has been developed by authors, based on previous training within the frame of Cognitive Bias Modification Interventions (CBM-I; Barry et al., 2019; Hitchcock et al., 2017) and savoring interventions (Bryant et al., 2005; Hanson et al., 2023). The training group will receive a self-guided intervention, which consists of an initial session (lasting 20 minutes approximately) and two-week training, conducted online. Participants will be provided with an online platform for following the intervention in a self-guided modality. The first session aims to give information about autobiographical memory functioning, to train in specificity recall through concrete processing steps and to explain the functioning of the self-guided modality. Then, during the next two weeks, participants will use the online platform once a day for practising the recall of autobiographical memories during 10-15 min approximately.

PESCAR Training Group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 55 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Age between 18 and 55 (following Serrano et al., 2007 recommendations)
• Deficit in memory specificity: scores on Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) \< (or equal) 70%
• Diagnosis of mild to moderate depression: scores on Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9) between 5 to 14

You may not qualify if:

• being currently under psychological treatment
• present any medical illness or physical, psychological and/or cognitive incapacity that could impede the participation
• Not having the necessary technological means, i.e. access to a mobile phone with internet connection.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Valencia: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of Valencia

Valencia, Conunidad Valencia, 46003, Spain

Location

Related Publications (5)

• Takano K, Mori M, Nishiguchi Y, Moriya J, Raes F. Psychometric properties of the written version of the autobiographical memory test in a japanese community sample. Psychiatry Res. 2017 Feb;248:56-63. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2016.12.019. Epub 2016 Dec 16.

  PMID: 28013087 BACKGROUND

• Ros L, Romero D, Ricarte JJ, Serrano JP, Nieto M, Latorre JM. Measurement of overgeneral autobiographical memory: Psychometric properties of the autobiographical memory test in young and older populations. PLoS One. 2018 Apr 19;13(4):e0196073. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0196073. eCollection 2018.

  PMID: 29672583 BACKGROUND

• Barry TJ, Sze WY, Raes F. A meta-analysis and systematic review of Memory Specificity Training (MeST) in the treatment of emotional disorders. Behav Res Ther. 2019 May;116:36-51. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2019.02.001. Epub 2019 Feb 2.

  PMID: 30776658 BACKGROUND

• Hitchcock C, Werner-Seidler A, Blackwell SE, Dalgleish T. Autobiographical episodic memory-based training for the treatment of mood, anxiety and stress-related disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Psychol Rev. 2017 Mar;52:92-107. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2016.12.003. Epub 2016 Dec 21.

  PMID: 28086133 BACKGROUND

• Colombo, D., Suso-Ribera, C., Fernández-Álvarez, J., Cipresso, P., Garcia-Palacios, A., Riva, G., & Botella, C. (2020). Affect Recall Bias: Being Resilient by Distorting Reality. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 44(5), 906-918. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-020-10122-3

  BACKGROUND

Study Officials

• Rosa Baños, Full Professor

  University of Valencia

  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 of Psychology

Model Details: This is a pilot study with a mixed between-subject design (experimental condition that will receive the training, and control condition that will only receive the assessment) and within-subject (pre/post-training assessment and 2-week follow-up). Continuous assessments will also be used to longitudinally evaluate participants during the 14 days of training and the 14 days of follow-up.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 4, 2022
• First Posted: February 2, 2022
• Study Start: March 12, 2022
• Primary Completion: May 16, 2024
• Study Completion: August 16, 2024
• Last Updated: September 19, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-09

Locations

ES (1)