Positive Valence System Enhancement Treatment for Anxiety and Depression: Clinical Efficacy and Neural Changes
Condition: Anxiety Disorders and Symptoms; Depression
MeSH terms: Depression; Depressive Disorder; Anxiety Disorders
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The proposed project aims to test the efficacy and neural correlates of a behavioral
      treatment program comprised of positive activity interventions in a sample of individuals
      seeking treatment for anxiety or depression. Participants will be randomly assigned to an
      immediate or delayed treatment condition, and will be compared on measures of positive and
      negative emotions, brain responses to reward and punishment/loss, subjective well-being, and
      symptoms at baseline and post-treatment.
    

Detailed description: 
      Current treatment approaches for anxiety and depression emphasize the reduction of negative
      emotions and distress as the central goal of treatment. However, these conditions are also
      characterized by low levels of positive emotions, which, although fundamental for life
      satisfaction and well-being, have traditionally not been a focus of treatment. The proposed
      project aims to test the efficacy of an integrated treatment regimen designed to modulate
      functioning of core component processes of the positive emotion system. Specifically, we will
      implement positive emotion enhancement procedures, previously tested and validated in
      non-clinical samples (Huffman et al., 2011; Lyubomirsky et al., 2005), in a broad community
      sample of n=30 individuals seeking treatment for anxiety or depression. Participants will be
      randomly assigned to a multi-session positive valence system targeted treatment (n=15) or a
      waitlist control group (n=15). Participants will be assessed at baseline and post-treatment
      and compared on measures of positive and negative emotions, brain responses to reward and
      punishment/loss, subjective well-being, and symptoms. Aim 1 will test the hypothesis that
      participants assigned to the positive emotion enhancement intervention will display greater
      increases in positive affect and enhanced activity in neural systems that regulate responses
      to reward (e.g., nucleus accumbens) relative to participants in the waitlist control group.
      Aim 2 will explore whether the effects of the positive emotion system treatment generalize to
      parallel measures of the negative emotion system (i.e., negative affect and neural reactivity
      to aversive outcomes). We will also explore the effects of the intervention on subjective
      well-being and life satisfaction, and will examine the relationship between changes in
      subjective emotions and neural indices of positive and negative valence functioning with
      changes in well-being and life satisfaction.
    

Intervention name(s): Positive Valence System Treatment
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Clinician-administered one-hour treatment sessions focused on presenting rationale and instructions for completing positive activity exercises (e.g., gratitude, acts of kindness) between sessions.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Treatment