Promoting Positive Emotions in Adolescents Using Positive Events Training: An Indicated Approach

NCT07288541 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: G051625N
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 36
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

Research shows that high positive emotionality is an essential ingredient in building resilience in youngsters, especially those with a vulnerability to develop depressive symptomatology. It may empower them against actual depression and its various long-term adverse outcomes. One way to achieve positive emotions is via the recollection and anticipation of specific positive events. Therefore, to cultivate positive emotions in young people, a user-friendly group training program was developed, translated from basic research findings: Positive Event Training (PET). Through PET, adolescents learn to solidify positive memories and positive plans for the future. In this project, a comprehensive evaluation of PET's efficacy is conducted using a robust methodology with vulnerable youth.

Conditions

Emotional Distress; Anhedonia

Keywords

positive emotions; anhedonia; positive affect regulation; emotional distress; autobiographical thinking

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (10)

• Daily-life positive emotions measured via daily diary items at post-training (adapted from Kirtley et al., 2022)

  Mean value of four daily diary items (i.e., "How relaxed, content, enthusiast, good do you feel?"), rated on a 0 ("not at all") to 100 ("a lot") rating scale. Higher values represent, higher levels of positive emotions (min = 0, max = 100).

  Measured via nine days of daily diaries (2x/day) immediately after the training (i.e., four weeks after the baseline assessment)

• Daily-life positive emotions measured via daily diary items at follow-up (adapted from Kirtley et al., 2022)

  Mean value of four daily diary items (i.e., "How relaxed, content, enthusiast, good do you feel?"), rated on a 0 ("not at all") to 100 ("a lot") rating scale. Higher values represent, higher levels of positive emotions (min = 0, max = 100).

  Measured via nine days of daily diaries (2x/day) after two/three months of follow-up after the post-training assessment

• Daily-life anhedonia measured via daily diary items at post-training (adapted from Bogaert et al., 2023)

  Mean value of three daily diary items tapping into difficulties experiencing consummatory pleasure, anticipatory pleasure and motivational difficulties using a 0-100 Likert scale (0 = "not at all", 100 = "a lot"; items: "To what extent did you find it difficult to enjoy yourself?"; "To what extent did you look forward to doing enjoyable things? (reverse-scored), "Conditional: if 0-50 ("not at all - neutral"): Was this because there really weren't any enjoyable things to look forward to, or because they were there but you couldn't really look forward to them?; "How happy did you feel?" (reverse-scored)). Higher score reflects higher levels of anhedonia (min = 0, max = 100).

  Measured via nine days of daily diaries (2x/day) immediately after the end of the training (i.e., four weeks after the baseline assessment)

• Daily-life anhedonia measured via daily diary items at follow-up (adapted from Bogaert et al., 2023)

  Mean value of three daily diary items tapping into difficulties experiencing consummatory pleasure, anticipatory pleasure and motivational difficulties using a 0-100 Likert scale (0 = "not at all", 100 = "a lot"; items: "To what extent did you find it difficult to enjoy yourself?"; "To what extent did you look forward to doing enjoyable things? (reverse-scored), "Conditional: if 0-50 ("not at all - neutral"): Was this because there really weren't any enjoyable things to look forward to, or because they were there but you couldn't really look forward to them?; "How happy did you feel?" (reverse-scored)). Higher score reflects higher levels of anhedonia (min = 0, max = 100).

  Measured via nine days of daily diaries (2x/day) after two/three months of follow-up after the post-training assessment

• Daily-life dampening measured via daily diary items at post-training (adapted from Gérardy et al., in preparation; simplified to better fit target group of adolescents)

  Mean value of four daily life items to measure mental strategies to reduce the intensity and/or frequency of positive emotions, using a 0-100 Likert scale (0 = "not at all", 100 = "a lot"; items: "To what extent did you think, "This pleasant feeling won't last"?"; "To what extent did you think, "I don't deserve to feel good"?"; To what extent did you think, "Something might go wrong that will make my good/pleasant feeling go away"?; "To what extent did you think about how difficult it would be if your good/pleasant feeling suddenly disappeared?"). Higher score reflects higher levels of dampening (min = 0, max = 100).

  Measured via nine days of daily diaries (2x/day) immediately after the end of the training (i.e., four weeks after the baseline assessment)

• Daily-life dampening measured via daily diary items at follow-up (adapted from Gérardy et al., in preparation; simplified to better fit target group of adolescents)

  Mean value of four daily life items to measure mental strategies to reduce the intensity and/or frequency of positive emotions, using a 0-100 Likert scale (0 = "not at all", 100 = "a lot"; items: "To what extent did you think, "This pleasant feeling won't last"?"; "To what extent did you think, "I don't deserve to feel good"?"; To what extent did you think, "Something might go wrong that will make my good/pleasant feeling go away"?; "To what extent did you think about how difficult it would be if your good/pleasant feeling suddenly disappeared?"). Higher score reflects higher levels of dampening (min = 0, max = 100).

  Measured via nine days of daily diaries (2x/day) after two/three months of follow-up after the post-training assessment

• Daily-life savoring measured via daily diary items at post-training (adapted from Gérardy et al., in preparation; simplified to better fit target group of adolescents)

  Mean value of two daily life items tapping into the the engagement in attending to, appreciating and enhancing positive experiences, using a 0-100 Likert scale (0 = "not at all", 100 = "a lot"; items: "To what extent did you allow the good/pleasant feeling to be there and simply let it be?", "To what extent did you try to really focus your attention on the good/pleasant feeling in order to fully experience it and truly enjoy it?"). Higher scores reflect a higher tendency to savor (min = 0, max = 100).

  Measured via nine days of daily diaries (2x/day) immediately after the end of the training (i.e., four weeks after the baseline assessment)

• Daily-life savoring measured via daily diary items at follow-up (adapted from Gérardy et al., in preparation; simplified to better fit target group of adolescents)

  Mean value of two daily diary items tapping into the the engagement in attending to, appreciating and enhancing positive experiences, using a 0-100 Likert scale (0 = "not at all", 100 = "a lot"; items: "To what extent did you allow the good/pleasant feeling to be there and simply let it be?", "To what extent did you try to really focus your attention on the good/pleasant feeling in order to fully experience it and truly enjoy it?"). Higher scores reflect a higher tendency to savor (min = 0, max = 100).

  Measured via nine days of daily diaries (2x/day) after two/three months of follow-up after the post-training assessment

• Daily-life emotional distress measured via daily diary items at post-training (derived from Bogaert et al., 2023)

  Mean value of three daily diary items to measure anxiety, stress and depressed feelings, using a 0-100 Likert scale (0 = "not at all", 100 = "a lot"; items: "How anxious did you feel?"; "How depressed (down) did you feel?"; "How stressed did you feel?"). A higher score reflects higher levels of emotional distress (min = 0, max = 100).

  Measured via nine days of daily diaries (2x/day) immediately after the end of the training (i.e., four weeks after the baseline assessment)

• Daily-life emotional distress measured via daily diary items at follow-up (derived from Bogaert et al., 2023)

  Mean value of three daily diary items to measure anxiety, stress and depressed feelings, using a 0-100 Likert scale (0 = "not at all", 100 = "a lot"; items: "How anxious did you feel?"; "How depressed (down) did you feel?"; "How stressed did you feel?"). A higher score reflects higher levels of emotional distress (min = 0, max = 100).

  Measured via nine days of daily diaries (2x/day) after two/three months of follow-up after the post-training assessment

Secondary Outcomes (28)

• Episodic future thinking features measured via the Episodic Future Thinking Test (EFT-T; Hallford et al., 2019), and single item rating scales per generated event at post-training

  Measured immediately after the end of the training (i.e., four weeks after the baseline assessment)

• Episodic future thinking features measured via the Episodic Future Thinking Test (EFT-T; Hallford et al., 2019), and single item rating scales per generated event at follow-up

  Measured after two/three months of follow-up after the post-training assessment

• Autobiographical memory features measured via the Autobiographical Memory (AM) Test (AMT; Raes, Williams, & Hermans, 2009) and single item rating scales per generated event at post-training

  Measured via self-report scales immediately after the end of the training (i.e., four weeks after the baseline assessment)

• Autobiographical memory features measured via the Autobiographical Memory (AM) Test (AMT; Raes, Williams, & Hermans, 2009) and single item rating scales per generated event at follow-up

  Measured after two/three months of follow-up after the post-training assessment

• Positive Affect subscale of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule Scales (PANAS; Watson et al., 1988) at post-training

  Measured immediately after the end of the training (i.e., four weeks after the baseline assessment)

Other Outcomes (1)

• Open questions measuring the engagement with the training material, implementation in daily life and general experiences related to the training

  Measured after the training (i.e., 4 weeks after the end of the baseline assessment) and at follow-up (i.e., two/three months after the post-training assessment)

Study Arms (1)

Positive Events Training (PET)

EXPERIMENTAL

Behavioral: Positive Events Training (PET)

Interventions

Positive Events Training (PET) BEHAVIORAL

Positive Event Training or PET is a group-based training program combining Memory Specificity Training (MEST; Raes, 2007) and Future Event Specificity Training (FEST; Dutch version of Hallford et al. (2020): Changing the Future: An initial test of Future Specificity Training).

Positive Events Training (PET)

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 12 Years - 16 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• years (age)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• KU Leuven: lead
• Research Foundation - Flanders (Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek): collaborator

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Anhedonia

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• Filip Raes

  KU Leuven

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Filip Raes

CONTACT

+32 16 32 58 92; filip.raes@kuleuven.be

Liesbeth Bogaert

CONTACT

liesbeth.bogaert@kuleuven.be

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Prof. dr. Filip Raes

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 21, 2025
• First Posted: December 17, 2025
• Study Start: December 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): January 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): January 1, 2027
• Last Updated: December 17, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share