The Effects of Attention Training on Emotion Regulation and Stress Related Complaints During COVID-19

NCT ID: NCT04367636

Last Updated: 2022-11-28

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: TERMINATED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 49 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2020-09-30
• Study Completion Date: 2021-04-20

Brief Summary

Attention control for external information and cognitive control for internal information play a causal role in emotion regulation according to different theories and empirical research. Former research in the lab of the investigators has shown positive effects of an interactive attention control/interpretation training, in which participants learned to unscramble scrambled sentences ("life is my a party mess") in a positive way ("my life is a party") by getting eye-tracking feedback about attention for positive ("party") vs. negative information ("mess"). After the training, participants could better reinterpret negative photos in a positive way. Attention- and cognitive control mechanisms prior to negative stressors (proactive control) and after negative stressors (reactive control) seem to play a role in this. Moreover, research has shown that low perceived control and negative expectations about future emotion regulation skills results in lower proactive control and a higher need of reactive control. Based on this, the assumption can be made that the effects of attention control training - targeting reactive control - could benefit from adding techniques that affect proactive control (e.g. psycho-education). In the present study this is investigated by testing a new two weeks attention control training to see if this has a positive effect on stress related complaints, depressive symptoms and emotion regulation. Given that the current COVID-19 pandemic is perceived as very stressful by a lot of people, the training could help here. Participants between 18 to 65 years of age are recruited during this corona crisis. The attention control training is a new smartphone based application. Participants have to unscramble scrambled sentences into grammatically correct sentences. In the training condition, participants are asked to unscramble the scrambled sentences in a positive way. By swiping, participants can see part of the sentences. This gives the investigators an image about the processing of the sentences. This procedure allows to measure how long participants attend to positive and negative words. In the training condition participants get feedback about the duration they process positive and negative words. In the control group participants unscramble the sentences as fast as possible without feedback on emotional attention. Participants only get feedback about the speed at which sentences are unscrambled. Before and after the 10 training sessions, attention of the participants is measured to see the effects of the training. Questionnaires on depressive and anxiety complaints, emotion regulation strategies, well-being and stress are administered before and after the training. There is also a follow-up measure 2 months after the training. Both groups (training and control) watch a psycho-education video before the start of the training.

Conditions

Rumination; Anxiety; Stress; Depressive Symptoms

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Active Comparator: PSE + OCAT-sham

Psycho-education video + an active placebo training, consisting of 10 sessions of ±15 minutes each (during an intervention period of two weeks), will be administered. The training task is an undirected scrambled sentences task with online contingent feedback.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Behavioral: OCAT-sham

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Placebo version of the online contingent attention training preceded by psycho-education movieclip.

psycho-education video

Intervention Type: OTHER

Both groups get to see a psycho-education video before the smartphone training starts.

Experimental: PSE + OCAT

Psycho-education video + an attention training, consisting of 10 sessions of ±15 minutes each (during an intervention period of two weeks), will be administered. The training task is a positively directed scrambled sentences task with online contingent feedback.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Behavioral: OCAT

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Online contingent attention training preceded by psycho-education movieclip.

psycho-education video

Intervention Type: OTHER

Both groups get to see a psycho-education video before the smartphone training starts.

Interventions

Behavioral: OCAT-sham

Placebo version of the online contingent attention training preceded by psycho-education movieclip.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Behavioral: OCAT

Online contingent attention training preceded by psycho-education movieclip.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

psycho-education video

Both groups get to see a psycho-education video before the smartphone training starts.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Android smartphone

Exclusion Criteria

• severe depressive complaints

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 65 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

University Ghent

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Rudi De Raedt, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University Ghent

Ernst Koster, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University Ghent

Locations

Ghent University

Ghent, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium

Countries

Belgium

Other Identifiers

EC/2019/0841

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id