A Cognitive-behavioral Intervention of Rumination for Perfectionists
NCT ID: NCT05385289
Last Updated: 2023-02-08
Study Results
The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.
Basic Information
Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.
COMPLETED
NA
13 participants
INTERVENTIONAL
2022-03-14
2022-11-24
Brief Summary
Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.
A randomized, concurrent, multiple-baseline single-case design will be applied.
Related Clinical Trials
Explore similar clinical trials based on study characteristics and research focus.
Cognitive-Behavior Therapy for Insomnia
NCT00869934
Rumination Focus Cognitive Behavior Therapy
NCT03507114
Combination of Neurostimulation and Psychotherapy to Stop Worrying
NCT06369532
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia in Chronic Spinal Pain
NCT03482856
A Pilot Study of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Rumination Disorder (CBT-RD)
NCT03062696
Detailed Description
Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.
Perfectionism is a central transdiagnostic phenomenon involved in the maintenance of multiple psychological disorders (e.g., anorexia nervosa, obsessive compulsive disorder, chronic fatigue, and depression). After decades of research focusing on scales development or relying exclusively on correlational studies, the experimental investigation of the processes underlying perfectionism is just emerging. On a theoretical basis, two processes related to emotional information processing seem particularly relevant: rumination and autobiographical memory. The objective of this study is to investigate with a randomized, concurrent, multiple-baseline single-case design the contribution of these processes to perfectionists' psychological vulnerability.
Rumination is defined as a mental process characterized by repetitive, prolonged, and recurrent thinking about one's concerns and one's experience. The control theory suggests that individuals engage in rumination when perceiving a discrepancy between their goals and their current condition, and stay in this mode of thinking until the goal is either attained or abandoned. Based on this theoretical background, recent research suggests that rumination could be one of the processes explaining the perfectionistic vulnerability to psychological distress, by perseveringly focusing on the discrepancy between high and demanding standards and the actual performance. However, only few study has experimentally manipulated this process, thus precluding from any causal inference.
Autobiographical memories are "memories about personal experiences that go beyond the mere factual description of the event to include personal beliefs, emotions, and thoughts". One feature of those memories is the specificity level defined as "the extent to which retrieved autobiographical memories are specific or not (i.e., memory of a particular event that happened at a particular time and place that lasted no more than one day). Difficulty with retrieving such specific memories is called overgeneral autobiographical memory".
The perfectionism cognition theory aims to clarify how autobiographical memory and working memory might be affected by perfectionist tendencies. It especially postulates retroactive loops between (a) repetitive thinking, (b) an overdeveloped memory for mistakes, failures, and stressful experiences, and (c) a hypervigilance and cognitive bias toward related cues that signal the possibility of failure, mistakes, and negative social evaluation. These authors suggested that perfectionists are characterized by deficits in attentional capacity and working memory during times of stress. This promising cognitive approach has partially been supported. For example, a recent meta-analysis states that perseverative cognitions (i.e., worry and rumination) mediate the relationship between perfectionism and distress in non-clinical samples. However, empirical evidence of an experimental nature is still needed, in particular for the postulated autobiographical memory and working memory biases.
To overcome those limitations, the present study will manipulate rumination with a clinical intervention, to block its mediational role on the relationship between perfectionism and psychological distress (here operationalized by mood state and anxio-depressive symptoms). Moreover, this study aims to go further than identifying a true mediator: its aims to explain the mechanism "through which change come about", namely through a concreteness training to overcome overgeneral mode of processing. Indeed, even if the main focus of the study is to identify mediators that may statistically account for the relationship between perfectionism and psychological distress, a ideal purpose is to propose a therapeutic intervention that may target mechanisms of change underlying hypothesized mediator.
Conditions
See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.
Study Design
Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.
RANDOMIZED
PARALLEL
The initial sample size was based on Shadish \& Sullivan's (2011) study reporting that the median and modal number of participants in single-case designs is three. Therefore, recruiting 6 participants allowed for a direct intrasubject replication (i.e., a "replication of the experimental effect within the design") while ensuring that three participants were retained despite possible dropout. Moreover, using two waves of six participants (resulting in a total sample of 12 participants) allowed for a direct inter-subject replication (i.e., "repeating the same study but with additional individuals"). Those two replications were used to demonstrate that changes on target behaviors systematically arrives after the intervention introduction, hence controlling for external variables.
TREATMENT
NONE
AMT raters will be not involved in any other aspect of the study procedures. The memories will also be presented to the raters in a randomized order, so that there was no possibility of guessing who completed them or when.
Study Groups
Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.
First wave with 6 participants
Once selected, an individual online information session will be scheduled with each selected participant to explain the project and its practical implications. At this time, six of the twelve participants will be provided a link to complete online measures as the A-baseline phase, to constitute their own non-intervention control condition on the target behavior (i.e., rumination) and on positive and negative emotions. The other six participants will be entered into a 3-week waiting list period with a sequential introduction, to provide another non-intervention control condition.
The A-baseline phase length will include at least 5 measures and most 10 measures, resulting in 10 potential starting point for the B-experimental phase. This range will be determined to estimate autocorrelation and its associated bias.
A cognitive-behavioral approach of rumination as intervention for overgeneral mode of processing in perfectionism
The B-experimental phase consists in a 6-session intervention targeting rumination and lasting for 3 weeks. The intervention was derived from 3 manuals: Rumination-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Depression (Watkins, 2016), Overcoming Perfectionism (Shafran et al., 2010), and Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Perfectionism (Egan et al., 2014). Participants will attend 2 sessions per week at home. Each week will end with an individual 30 minutes-debriefing session with an experimenter, to ascertain understanding of session content and homework.
Intervention sessions will be given in paper format to participant after the A-baseline-phase. A paper diary was also provided for homework, in addition to the session content caneva. Each session contains (a) theoretical content on ruminations linked to perfectionism, (b) exercises to create alternative habits to ruminations, and (c) homework to become aware of ruminations and to experiment with alternatives.
Second wave with 6 other participants
After three weeks, the six participants on the waiting list will also begin the same A-baseline phase as the six participants of the first wave.
A cognitive-behavioral approach of rumination as intervention for overgeneral mode of processing in perfectionism
The B-experimental phase consists in a 6-session intervention targeting rumination and lasting for 3 weeks. The intervention was derived from 3 manuals: Rumination-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Depression (Watkins, 2016), Overcoming Perfectionism (Shafran et al., 2010), and Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Perfectionism (Egan et al., 2014). Participants will attend 2 sessions per week at home. Each week will end with an individual 30 minutes-debriefing session with an experimenter, to ascertain understanding of session content and homework.
Intervention sessions will be given in paper format to participant after the A-baseline-phase. A paper diary was also provided for homework, in addition to the session content caneva. Each session contains (a) theoretical content on ruminations linked to perfectionism, (b) exercises to create alternative habits to ruminations, and (c) homework to become aware of ruminations and to experiment with alternatives.
Interventions
Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.
A cognitive-behavioral approach of rumination as intervention for overgeneral mode of processing in perfectionism
The B-experimental phase consists in a 6-session intervention targeting rumination and lasting for 3 weeks. The intervention was derived from 3 manuals: Rumination-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Depression (Watkins, 2016), Overcoming Perfectionism (Shafran et al., 2010), and Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Perfectionism (Egan et al., 2014). Participants will attend 2 sessions per week at home. Each week will end with an individual 30 minutes-debriefing session with an experimenter, to ascertain understanding of session content and homework.
Intervention sessions will be given in paper format to participant after the A-baseline-phase. A paper diary was also provided for homework, in addition to the session content caneva. Each session contains (a) theoretical content on ruminations linked to perfectionism, (b) exercises to create alternative habits to ruminations, and (c) homework to become aware of ruminations and to experiment with alternatives.
Eligibility Criteria
Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.
Inclusion Criteria
* Reporting significant levels of (1) perfectionism, (2) abstract and evaluative repetitive thinking, and (3) anxio-depressive symptoms.
Exclusion Criteria
* Being under 18 years old.
18 Years
ALL
No
Sponsors
Meet the organizations funding or collaborating on the study and learn about their roles.
Université Catholique de Louvain
OTHER
Responsible Party
Identify the individual or organization who holds primary responsibility for the study information submitted to regulators.
Principal Investigators
Learn about the lead researchers overseeing the trial and their institutional affiliations.
Locations
Explore where the study is taking place and check the recruitment status at each participating site.
Université catholique de Louvain
Louvain-la-Neuve, Brabant Wallon, Belgium
Countries
Review the countries where the study has at least one active or historical site.
Other Identifiers
Review additional registry numbers or institutional identifiers associated with this trial.
2022/17JAN/016
Identifier Type: -
Identifier Source: org_study_id
More Related Trials
Additional clinical trials that may be relevant based on similarity analysis.