Training Mental Habits Study
Condition: Generalized Anxiety; Worry
MeSH terms: Anxiety Disorders
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a chronic condition whose hallmark feature is excessive
      and uncontrollable worry (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Theories of GAD propose
      that specific cognitive biases are involved in the maintenance and etiology of chronic worry.
      One cognitive bias that plays a role in worrying is abstract thinking, or the tendency to
      "verbalize" thoughts and worries in a manner that is vague and lacking in detail. There is
      evidence that training depressed people to think more concretely improves depressive symptoms
      and depression-type thinking styles, and reduces emotional reactivity. Given that chronic
      worry and depression have commonalities (e.g., repetitive thinking styles, difficulties with
      problem-solving and attentional control, emotion dysregulation), concreteness training may
      help people who struggle with chronic worry. The main goals of this proof of concept
      experiment are 1) to test in individuals reporting chronic worry the effects of an active
      form of concreteness training that involves imagery practice (compared to a no training
      control condition) on frequency of worrying, problem solving quality, and worry-related
      processes; 2) to examine the degree to which concreteness training causes improvements in
      daily worry and negative affect during the 7 days of practice. The study design will provide
      us with an understanding on a more "macro" level of the potential short-term benefits and
      will at the same time allow us to see, on a more "micro" level, how training concreteness
      affects worry and mood on a day-to-day basis during a 7-day period. The findings from this
      study will inform relevant clinical literature about efficacious methods to reduce chronic
      worry.
    

Detailed description: 
      The main goals of this proof of concept experiment are 1) to test in individuals reporting
      chronic worry the effects of an active form of concreteness training that involves imagery
      practice (compared to a no training control condition) on frequency of worrying, problem
      solving quality, and worry-related processes; 2) to examine the degree to which concreteness
      training causes improvements in daily worry and negative affect during the 7 days of
      practice. Participants are recruited from the community via advertisements. Following a
      telephone screen, participants attend a baseline visit during which they complete the MINI
      interview. Those who continue to be eligible complete the outcome measures and are randomly
      assigned to either the experimental condition or the control condition. Participants assigned
      to the experimental condition receive training in concrete processing and learn how to
      complete the daily experience sampling diary. Participants assigned to the control condition
      do not receive training and learn how to complete the daily experience sampling diary. All
      participants then complete their assigned activities for 7 days. They then return to the lab
      to complete the outcome measures at post-test, 1 week follow up and 1 month follow up.
      Participants are then debriefed.
    

Intervention name(s): Concreteness Training
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Worry; Anxiety