Clinical trial NCT03460574: Targeting Cognitive Immunization in Depression
Official title: How Can Change of Dysfunctional Expectations in Major Depression be Enhanced? An Experimental Study Targeting Cognitive Immunization
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Major Depressive Disorder
Lead sponsor: Philipps University Marburg
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2018-03-09
Enrollment: 135
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: Parallel Assignment Participants are assigned to one of four experimental groups in parallel for the duration of the study
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Research has shown that people suffering from MDD tend to maintain dysfunctional expectations despite experiences that disconfirm expectations. Recently, it has been shown that this persistence of expectations is due to maladaptive information processing involving "cognitive immunization". This experimental study aims at testing three different strategies to inhibit cognitive immunization, in order to enhance expectation change.

Detailed description: It appears adaptive to change one's expectations when continuously gaining expectation-disconfirming experiences; however, research has shown that people suffering from MDD have difficulty in changing their expectations after experiences that disconfirm expectations. Recently, the investigators have shown that this persistence of expectations is due to maladaptive information processing involving "cognitive immunization", defined as a cognitive reappraisal of expectation-disconfirming experiences in such a way that the individual's expectations are maintained. In view of psychotherapeutic interventions aiming to modify patients' dysfunctional expectations, effective strategies to inhibit cognitive immunization strategies need to be identified. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare different immunization-inhibiting strategies with regard to their effectivity in enhancing expectation change. For this purpose, the investigators use a standardized experimental paradigm, which was developed and validated in a previous study.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* current diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder
* at least 18 years old
* sufficient German language knowledge

Exclusion Criteria:

- none

Primary outcomes:
measure: Performance Expectations Scale - generalized
timeFrame: Directly prior to the performance test and directly after completing the performance test
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Performance Expectations Scale - task-specific
timeFrame: Directly prior to the performance test and directly after completing the performance test
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Bad Arolsen
country: Germany
facility: Schoen Klinik Bad Arolsen
state: Hessen
Study officials:
affiliation: Philipps University Marburg
name: Tobias Kube, M. Sc.
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Kube T, Rief W, Gollwitzer M, Glombiewski JA. Introducing an EXperimental Paradigm to investigate Expectation Change (EXPEC). J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2018 Jun;59:92-99. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2017.12.002. Epub 2017 Dec 12.