The Effect of Attention Bias Modification Training on Reducing Depressive Symptoms

NCT ID: NCT01628016

Last Updated: 2020-08-14

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 77 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2011-09-30
• Study Completion Date: 2013-07-31

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to test whether attention bias modification training is an effective neurobehavioral therapy to improve depressive symptoms.That is whether attention bias modification training is superior to placebo in reducing depressive symptoms over 1 year after training.

Detailed Description

Attentional bias has been theorized to play a critical role in the onset and maintenance of depression. Attentional bias modification training (ABMT), an experimental paradigm that uses training to induce adaptive attentional bias, was developed to test the causal model and this has therapeutic implications in depression.To test the effect of ABMT on treatment of depressive symptoms, a randomized, double-blind, placebo and blank controlled trial is conducted in college students who are experiencing mild-to-severe symptoms of depression.

Conditions

Depressive Symptoms

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: TRIPLE

Study Groups

Attentional bias modification training

1. Attention bias modification training (ABMT) is a modified dot probe task, in which a probe always appears in the location of neutral stimulus after the two stimuli (i.e. one is the depressive cue and the other is neutral) were simultaneously presented. In the ABMT,the probability that a probe appears in the location of neutral is 90%, and correspondingly,in the location of depressive stimuli is 10%.

2. ABMT intervention: Participants complete 8 sessions of attention bias modification training (ABMT) during a two-week period. Each session consists of 218 trials, and the time to complete a training session is 12 minutes (4 sessions a week, roughly one session every other day with for each session).

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

a word dot-probe task for training procedure

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

In the word dot-probe task for training procedure of attention bias modification, 90% of the targets appeared at the neutral word position and 10% at the sad word position.In the placebo condition, the targets appeared with equal probability in the sad (50%) and neutral (50%) word positions.All participants in ABM and placebo conditions received eight 12-min training sessions over a 2-week period.During each session, participants completed 216 word dot-probe trials.

Placebo training

Participants complete 8 sessions of placebo training(PT) during a two-week period. Placebo training is a classic dot probe task, in which a probe appears after either of the locations that the two stimuli (i.e. one is the depressive cue and the other is neutral) were presented, with the same frequencies. In the PT condition, each session also consists of 218 trials, and the time to complete a PT session is approximately 10 minutes as well.

Group Type: PLACEBO_COMPARATOR

a word dot-probe task for training procedure

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

In the word dot-probe task for training procedure of attention bias modification, 90% of the targets appeared at the neutral word position and 10% at the sad word position.In the placebo condition, the targets appeared with equal probability in the sad (50%) and neutral (50%) word positions.All participants in ABM and placebo conditions received eight 12-min training sessions over a 2-week period.During each session, participants completed 216 word dot-probe trials.

blank control

Participants only complete assessment at each point time.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

a word dot-probe task for training procedure

In the word dot-probe task for training procedure of attention bias modification, 90% of the targets appeared at the neutral word position and 10% at the sad word position.In the placebo condition, the targets appeared with equal probability in the sad (50%) and neutral (50%) word positions.All participants in ABM and placebo conditions received eight 12-min training sessions over a 2-week period.During each session, participants completed 216 word dot-probe trials.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• A score of 14 or higher on the Beck Depression Inventory-II

Exclusion Criteria

1. a current episode of MDD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or organic mental disorder;

2. any concurrent psychotherapy;

3. any concurrent psychotropic medication.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 16 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Hunan Normal University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Wenhui Yang

Department of Psychology

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Wenhui Yang, Ph.D

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Department of Psychology, Hunan Normal University

Locations

Department of Psychology, Hunan Normal University

Changsha, Hunan, China

Countries

China

References

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.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 25245928 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

XJK011AXL002

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id