Decision-making Impairments in OCD: An Integrated Behavioral Economics Model

NCT ID: NCT03420495

Last Updated: 2020-03-18

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 69 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2018-05-03
• Study Completion Date: 2019-11-15

Brief Summary

The investigators are examining whether conditions of ambiguity during decision-making may prime intolerance of uncertainty beliefs (i.e., difficulties coping with ambiguity, unpredictability, and the future) and lead to impaired performance when individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are making uncertain decisions compared to non-psychiatric controls.

Detailed Description

The primary aims of this study are to examine the extent to which individuals with OCD avoid decisions that involve ambiguity through the use of self-report and behavioral measures. Specifically, the investigators will examine how individuals with OCD minimize risk at the expense of monetary profit under conditions of ambiguity (relative to risky but unambiguous options) compared to non-psychiatric controls utilizing a series of judgment and decision-making (JDM) tasks.

Conditions

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NON_RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: DIAGNOSTIC
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

OCD Group

Meet Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) criteria for principal OCD. These participants will complete clinician interviews, self-report questionnaires, and receive the Decision-Making Tasks Intervention.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Decision-Making Tasks

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

All participants will receive a structured diagnostic assessment and complete self-report questionnaires about cognitive factors, decision-making styles, and anxiety/mood symptoms. They then will be guided through three judgment and decision-making (JDM) paradigms (the Risk and Ambiguity Task, the Beads Task, and the Balloon Analogue Risk Task), each of which each has been modified to differ by whether the likelihood of potential adverse outcomes is provided (or whether it remains ambiguous).

Non-psychiatric Control Group

No current DSM-5 diagnosis. These participants will also complete clinician interviews, self-report questionnaires, and receive the Decision-Making Tasks Intervention.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Decision-Making Tasks

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

All participants will receive a structured diagnostic assessment and complete self-report questionnaires about cognitive factors, decision-making styles, and anxiety/mood symptoms. They then will be guided through three judgment and decision-making (JDM) paradigms (the Risk and Ambiguity Task, the Beads Task, and the Balloon Analogue Risk Task), each of which each has been modified to differ by whether the likelihood of potential adverse outcomes is provided (or whether it remains ambiguous).

Interventions

Decision-Making Tasks

All participants will receive a structured diagnostic assessment and complete self-report questionnaires about cognitive factors, decision-making styles, and anxiety/mood symptoms. They then will be guided through three judgment and decision-making (JDM) paradigms (the Risk and Ambiguity Task, the Beads Task, and the Balloon Analogue Risk Task), each of which each has been modified to differ by whether the likelihood of potential adverse outcomes is provided (or whether it remains ambiguous).

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Adults (age 18+)
• Meet DSM-5 criteria for principal OCD (OCD group) or no current DSM-5 diagnosis (NPC group).
• Sufficient fluency of English to understand study procedures and questionnaires
• Ability to provide informed consent.
• Comfortable and capable of using a computer to complete computer-based decision-making tasks.

Exclusion Criteria

• Color-blindness (which prevents completion of certain tasks)
• Acute psychosis, bipolar disorder, substance use disorder, or suicidality. All other diagnostic comorbidities will be permitted to foster the accrual of a clinically relevant sample.
• Serious neurological disorder or impairment (e.g., brain damage, blindness), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), intellectual disability, or autism.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Obsessive Compulsive Foundation

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Massachusetts General Hospital

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Ryan Jane Jacoby

Ryan Jane Jacoby, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist, OCD and Related Disorders Program

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Ryan J Jacoby, Ph.D.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Massachusetts General Hospital

Locations

Massachusetts General Hospital

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

2017P002668

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id