Clinical trial NCT05771636: Mental Imagery and Psychological Well-being
Official title: Can Mental Imagery Increase Behavioral Activation ?
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: NA
Conditions: Depression
Anhedonia
Lead sponsor: University of Liege
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2023-03-16
Enrollment: 120
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 65
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: This study aims to investigate the effects of mental imagery practice on depression, behavioral activation, psychological well-being and other processes involved in depression such as anhedonia.

We use a multiple baseline design in addition to a pre-post and follow-up standardized assessment design.

Detailed description: The purpose of this study is to determine if daily practice of mental imagery improves psychological variables such as motivation, behavioral activation, depression, mood, optimism, anhedonia, and psychological well-being, and if it's combination with activity planning is more effective than activity planning alone. This study will analyze the effect of 2 mental imagery conditions (planned activity imagery, best possible self) and a control condition of activity planning alone, administered to a general population over a 2-week period.

Our hypotheses are an improvement for both experimental conditions (planned activities imagery and best possible self imagery) of mood, behavioral activation, depressive symptomatology, optimism, psychological well-being, cognitive and behavioral avoidance, and anhedonia, compared to the control condition. Several studies have been able to show the effect of either imagery condition on certain variables (notably behavioral activation and mood for the planned activity imagery as well as optimism and mood for the best possible self), but the interest of our study is to assess the effect of each of the proposed protocols on a broader range of variables. This will allow us to determine the specific effect of each protocol as well as to compare their effectiveness.

In this study we will recruit 120 participants, randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (1) mental imagery of planned activities, (2) mental imagery of best possible self, (3) planned activity control group. All participants will be asked to complete a series of standardized assessments in 4 steps (at the first meeting, at the second meeting 15 days later, and a follow-up at 1 and 3 months post-intervention). The questionnaires will assess depression, behavioral activation, mood, optimism, imagery skills, anhedonia, and psychological well-being.

In each group, participants will have to think about 4 activities to be implemented within the next two weeks, and answer about 10 questions about the chosen activities (rated from 0 to 10 on a visual analogical scale). These questions evaluate, among other things, the motivation, the anticipated effort, the anticipated pleasure, and the degree of avoidance related to each activity using a visual analog scale. This questionnaire will be completed at the first meeting and also after the completion of each activity, at home. The protocol is identical for each condition except for the content of the imagery exercise or no imagery exercise for the control condition. The participants in the experimental conditions will be instructed to repeat the 5-minute imagery exercise at home every day for 2 weeks and report in a booklet everyday their rating of the imagery exercise (vividness, difficulty and their mood after the exercise).

At a second meeting 2 weeks later, all participants will be asked to complete the standardized assessments again and report whether or not the planned activities were completed, as well as conduct a semi-structured interview about their experience, the feasibility and difficulty of the task. Participants will then receive a follow-up survey by e-mail at 1 and 3 months post-intervention, in which they will again be asked to complete the selected standardized questionnaires. The booklets in which they reported the questionnaires about their planned activities (all conditions) and the ratings of imagery exercise (for experimental conditions) will be brought back on that meeting.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* At least some symptoms of depression (minimal score of 8 on the depression subscale of the HADS)

Exclusion Criteria:

* Not ongoing psychotherapy at the time of the study

Primary outcomes:
measure: Depressive symptomatology
timeFrame: Baseline
measure: Depressive symptomatology
timeFrame: Two weeks after beginning of treatment (end of treatment)
measure: Depressive symptomatology
timeFrame: 1 month after end of treatment
measure: Depressive symptomatology
timeFrame: 3 months after end of treatment
measure: Behavioral activation
timeFrame: Baseline
measure: Behavioral activation
timeFrame: Two weeks after beginning of treatment (end of treatment)
measure: Behavioral activation
timeFrame: 1 month after end of treatment
measure: Behavioral activation
timeFrame: 3 months after end of treatment
measure: LOT
timeFrame: Baseline
measure: LOT
timeFrame: Two weeks after beginning of treatment (end of treatment)
measure: LOT
timeFrame: 1 month after end of treatment
measure: LOT
timeFrame: 3 months after end of treatment
measure: PANAS
timeFrame: Baseline
measure: PANAS
timeFrame: Two weeks after beginning of treatment (end of treatment)
measure: PANAS
timeFrame: 1 month after end of treatment
measure: PANAS
timeFrame: 3 months after end of treatment
measure: Anhedonia
timeFrame: Baseline
measure: Anhedonia
timeFrame: Two weeks after beginning of treatment (end of treatment)
measure: Anhedonia
timeFrame: 1 month after end of treatment
measure: Anhedonia
timeFrame: 3 months after end of treatment
measure: Well-being
timeFrame: Baseline
measure: Well-being
timeFrame: Two weeks after beginning of treatment (end of treatment)
measure: Well-being
timeFrame: 1 month after end of treatment
measure: Well-being
timeFrame: 3 months after end of treatment
measure: Mental Imagery ability
timeFrame: Baseline
measure: Mental Imagery ability
timeFrame: Two weeks after beginning of treatment (end of treatment)
measure: Mental Imagery ability
timeFrame: 1 month after end of treatment
measure: Mental Imagery ability
timeFrame: 3 months after end of treatment
Secondary outcomes:
measure: self concordant motivation
timeFrame: Baseline
measure: Motivation to do this activity
timeFrame: Baseline
measure: Motivation to do this activity
timeFrame: Right before doing the activity (during the two weeks intervention, reporting in the booklet, at home)
measure: Positive anticipation of the activity
timeFrame: Baseline
measure: Positive anticipation of the activity
timeFrame: Right before doing the activity (during the two weeks intervention, reporting in the booklet, at home)
measure: Anticipated pleasure resulting in the activity
timeFrame: Baseline
measure: Anticipated pleasure resulting in the activity
timeFrame: Right before doing the activity (during the two weeks intervention, reporting in the booklet, at home)
measure: Anticipated satisfaction resulting in the activity
timeFrame: Baseline
measure: Anticipated satisfaction resulting in the activity
timeFrame: Right before doing the activity (during the two weeks intervention, reporting in the booklet, at home)
measure: Anticipated Gratification resulting in the activity
timeFrame: Baseline
measure: Anticipated Gratification resulting in the activity
timeFrame: Right before doing the activity (during the two weeks intervention, reporting in the booklet, at home)
measure: Anticipated difficulty to do the activity
timeFrame: Baseline
measure: Anticipated difficulty to do the activity
timeFrame: Right before doing the activity (during the two weeks intervention, reporting in the booklet, at home)
measure: Avoidance of the activity
timeFrame: Baseline
measure: Avoidance of the activity
timeFrame: Right before doing the activity (during the two weeks intervention, reporting in the booklet, at home)
measure: Importance of the activity
timeFrame: Baseline
measure: Importance of the activity
timeFrame: Right before doing the activity (during the two weeks intervention, reporting in the booklet, at home)
measure: Difficulty to find time to do the activity
timeFrame: Baseline
measure: Difficulty to find time to do the activity
timeFrame: Right before doing the activity (during the two weeks intervention, reporting in the booklet, at home)
measure: Perceived difficulty after doing the activity
timeFrame: Right after doing the activity (during the two weeks intervention, reporting in the booklet, at home)
measure: Perceived mood after doing the activity
timeFrame: Right after doing the activity (during the two weeks intervention, reporting in the booklet, at home)
measure: Perceived pleasure after doing the activity
timeFrame: Right after doing the activity (during the two weeks intervention, reporting in the booklet, at home)
measure: Perceived satisfaction after doing the activity
timeFrame: Right after doing the activity (during the two weeks intervention, reporting in the booklet, at home)
measure: Perceived gratification after doing the activity
timeFrame: Right after doing the activity (during the two weeks intervention, reporting in the booklet, at home)
measure: Difficulty of the mental imagery exercise
timeFrame: Everyday at home during the two weeks intervention period, right after doing the imagery exercise (reporting in the booklet, at home)
measure: Mood after doing the mental imagery exercise
timeFrame: Everyday at home during the two weeks intervention period, right after doing the imagery exercise (reporting in the booklet, at home)
measure: Vividness of the mental imagery exercise
timeFrame: Everyday at home during the two weeks intervention period, right after doing the imagery exercise (reporting in the booklet, at home)
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Liège
country: Belgium
facility: Université de Liège
Study officials:
References: