Emotion Recognition Training in Antisocial Violent Offenders With Psychopathic Traits

NCT ID: NCT03382808

Last Updated: 2017-12-26

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

UNKNOWN

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

80 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2017-04-01

Study Completion Date

2019-12-31

Brief Summary

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Impaired recognition of affective facial expressions has been conclusively linked to antisocial and psychopathy. However, little is known about the modifiability of this deficit. This study aims to investigate whether and under which circumstances the proposed perceptual insensitivity can be addressed with a brief implicit training approach.

Detailed Description

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Conditions

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Psychopathy Violent Aggressive Behavior Emotional Problem

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

DOUBLE

Participants Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

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SEE Training

The training sequence comprises four weekly sessions using a modified dote-probe paradigm (fearful vs. neutral expression).

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

SEE Training

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants are first presented with a fixation cross which indicates the beginning of a trial and is immediately followed by a bilateral presentation of a neutral and a fearful image (face) of the same model identity. The fearful expression is always replaced by an arrow pointing to the left or the right which remaines active until the participant indicates via button-press which direction the arrow is pointing to. The model identity, the position of the fearful cue and the arrow probe direction are pseudo-randomized across trials with no more than three identical sequential occurrences on each parameter. Each session consists of 360 trials in total, with 120 distinct trial types and three repetitions. Participants are trained with neutral and 75% fearful expressions only in the first session; the intensity of the fearful cue is successively decreased by 15% at every subsequent session.

GAZE Training

The GAZE training sequence comprises four weekly sessions using a modified dote-probe paradigm (averted vs. directed gaze).

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

GAZE Training

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants are first presented with a fixation cross, which indicates the beginning of a trial and is immediately followed by a bilateral presentation of a direct gaze-image (neutral face) and an image of a neutral face (same model identity) displaying deviated gaze. The averted gaze-face is always replaced by an arrow pointing to the left or the right which remaines active until the participant indicates via button-press which direction the arrow is pointing to. The model identity, the position of the fearful cue and the arrow probe direction are pseudo-randomized across trials with no more than three identical sequential occurrences on each parameter. Each session consists of 360 trials in total, with 120 distinct trial types and three repetitions. Participants are trained with direct and 100% averted gaze images only in the first session; the intensity of the deviated gaze cue is successively decreased by 20% at every subsequent session.

Interventions

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SEE Training

Participants are first presented with a fixation cross which indicates the beginning of a trial and is immediately followed by a bilateral presentation of a neutral and a fearful image (face) of the same model identity. The fearful expression is always replaced by an arrow pointing to the left or the right which remaines active until the participant indicates via button-press which direction the arrow is pointing to. The model identity, the position of the fearful cue and the arrow probe direction are pseudo-randomized across trials with no more than three identical sequential occurrences on each parameter. Each session consists of 360 trials in total, with 120 distinct trial types and three repetitions. Participants are trained with neutral and 75% fearful expressions only in the first session; the intensity of the fearful cue is successively decreased by 15% at every subsequent session.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

GAZE Training

Participants are first presented with a fixation cross, which indicates the beginning of a trial and is immediately followed by a bilateral presentation of a direct gaze-image (neutral face) and an image of a neutral face (same model identity) displaying deviated gaze. The averted gaze-face is always replaced by an arrow pointing to the left or the right which remaines active until the participant indicates via button-press which direction the arrow is pointing to. The model identity, the position of the fearful cue and the arrow probe direction are pseudo-randomized across trials with no more than three identical sequential occurrences on each parameter. Each session consists of 360 trials in total, with 120 distinct trial types and three repetitions. Participants are trained with direct and 100% averted gaze images only in the first session; the intensity of the deviated gaze cue is successively decreased by 20% at every subsequent session.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Confirmed ASPD diagnosis
* PCL-Score available
* arrested for committing violent crimes

Exclusion Criteria

* Insufficient knowledge of the German language
* Diagnosed with schizophrenia
* Substance abuse
* Neurological disease (e.g. epilepsy)
* Mental retardation
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

65 Years

Eligible Sex

MALE

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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German Research Foundation

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

University Hospital Tuebingen

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Michael Schönenberg, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University Hospital Tuebingen

Locations

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University of Tübingen

Tübingen, Baden Würrtemberg, Germany

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

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Germany

Central Contacts

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Michael Schönenberg, PhD

Role: CONTACT

Phone: 004970712978355

Email: [email protected]

Martin Hautzinger, Prof.

Role: CONTACT

Facility Contacts

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Michael Schönenberg, PhD

Role: primary

References

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Schonenberg M, Christian S, Gausser AK, Mayer SV, Hautzinger M, Jusyte A. Addressing perceptual insensitivity to facial affect in violent offenders: first evidence for the efficacy of a novel implicit training approach. Psychol Med. 2014 Apr;44(5):1043-52. doi: 10.1017/S0033291713001517. Epub 2013 Jul 1.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 23809680 (View on PubMed)

Gibbon S, Khalifa NR, Cheung NH, Vollm BA, McCarthy L. Psychological interventions for antisocial personality disorder. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2020 Sep 3;9(9):CD007668. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD007668.pub3.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 32880104 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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SCHO 1448/3-1

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id