A Novel Conditioning Approach to Counter Loneliness in Adults

NCT ID: NCT06521099

Last Updated: 2025-08-21

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 136 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2025-08-19
• Study Completion Date: 2026-06-30

Brief Summary

This study aims to test the efficacy of a 6-session conditioning paradigm by investigating the conditioning-induced change in the socio-affective processing, loneliness, depressive symptoms, and neural correlates of lonely adults.

Detailed Description

Potential participants will first be invited to complete a loneliness questionnaire online. Lonely adults will then be invited to undergo further screening. At baseline prior to the intervention training sessions, participants will first complete tests and questionnaires on loneliness, mood and depressive symptoms in addition to other socio-affective measures, and they will also be invited to receive resting-state functional MRI scanning in a 3T MRI scanner. Participants will then be allocated to one of the two intervention arms (the evaluative conditioning, and the control) in a randomized fashion with approximately half in each group. They will then complete the pre-conditioning phase of the allocated intervention arm, and their ratings on the stimuli presented during this phase will be assessed. In the conditioning phase, they will be invited to attend 6 sessions. After completing the conditioning phase, participants will be invited to complete the post- conditioning phase, providing ratings on the stimuli like the pre-conditioning phase. Immediately after, and also 3 months after, participants will be invited to complete again tests and questionnaires on loneliness, mood and depressive symptoms in addition to other socio-affective measures, and they will also be invited to receive resting-state functional MRI scanning in a 3T MRI scanner.

Conditions

Loneliness

Study Design

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

Study Groups

Evaluative conditioning group with positive stimuli

Participants will be exposed to social stimuli paired with positive stimuli across multiple sessions.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Evaluative Conditioning with positive stimuli

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

In the pre-conditioning phase, participants will be exposed to pictures that vary in their emotional (negative, positive) and social (non-social, social) content. For each picture, they are required to indicate their immediate perceived valence (between negative to positive), degree of social motivation (between none to high) on Likert-scales. In the conditioning phase, emotional social pictures will be selected and paired with non-social positive stimuli for trials in random order, for 6 sessions across 3 weeks. In the post-conditioning phase, participants will be asked to evaluate the valence of the stimuli again similar to that in pre-conditioning phase.

Control group with neutral stimuli

Participants will be exposed to social stimuli paired with neutral stimuli across multiple sessions.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Conditioning with neutral stimuli

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

In the pre-conditioning phase, participants will be exposed to pictures that vary in their emotional (negative, positive) and social (non-social, social) content. For each picture, they are required to indicate their immediate perceived valence (between negative to positive), degree of social motivation (between none to high) on Likert-scales. In the conditioning phase, emotional social pictures will be selected and paired with with neutral non-social stimuli for trials in random order, for 6 sessions across 3 weeks. In the post-conditioning phase, participants will be asked to evaluate the valence of the stimuli again similar to that in pre-conditioning phase.

Interventions

Evaluative Conditioning with positive stimuli

In the pre-conditioning phase, participants will be exposed to pictures that vary in their emotional (negative, positive) and social (non-social, social) content. For each picture, they are required to indicate their immediate perceived valence (between negative to positive), degree of social motivation (between none to high) on Likert-scales. In the conditioning phase, emotional social pictures will be selected and paired with non-social positive stimuli for trials in random order, for 6 sessions across 3 weeks. In the post-conditioning phase, participants will be asked to evaluate the valence of the stimuli again similar to that in pre-conditioning phase.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Conditioning with neutral stimuli

In the pre-conditioning phase, participants will be exposed to pictures that vary in their emotional (negative, positive) and social (non-social, social) content. For each picture, they are required to indicate their immediate perceived valence (between negative to positive), degree of social motivation (between none to high) on Likert-scales. In the conditioning phase, emotional social pictures will be selected and paired with with neutral non-social stimuli for trials in random order, for 6 sessions across 3 weeks. In the post-conditioning phase, participants will be asked to evaluate the valence of the stimuli again similar to that in pre-conditioning phase.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• No histories of learning impairment, major psychiatric disorders or neurological disorders other than depression
• Normal intelligence
• At least primary school education

Exclusion Criteria

• On medication or treatments within 2 weeks prior to the beginning of the study that would affect the individual's brain, cognitive and affective functions

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 55 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

The University of Hong Kong

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Education University of Hong Kong

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

WONG Man Lok Nichol

Assistant Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Nichol ML Wong, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Education University of Hong Kong

Locations

The University of Hong Kong

Hong Kong, , Hong Kong

Site Status: RECRUITING

Countries

Hong Kong

Central Contacts

Nichol ML Wong, PhD

Role: CONTACT

nmlwong@eduhk.hk

852-29487431

Facility Contacts

Nichol ML Wong, PhD

Role: primary

nmlwong@eduhk.hk

852-29487431

References

Wong NML, Lee TMC. Evaluating the effects of a conditioning training paradigm on loneliness, socio-affective processing, and brain connectivity: a study protocol of a two-arm randomised controlled trial. BMC Psychol. 2025 Aug 27;13(1):975. doi: 10.1186/s40359-025-03342-3.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 40866945 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

E2022-2023-0082

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id