Clinical trial NCT04367636: The Effects of Attention Training on Emotion Regulation and Stress Related Complaints During COVID-19
Official title: The Effects of Attention Training on Emotion Regulation and Stress Related Complaints During COVID-19: Validation of a New Online Treatment
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: TERMINATED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Rumination
Anxiety
Stress
Depressive Symptoms
Lead sponsor: University Ghent
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2020-04-29
Enrollment: 49
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: SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Brief summary: Attention control for external information and cognitive control for internal information play a causal role in emotion regulation according to different theories and empirical research. Former research in the lab of the investigators has shown positive effects of an interactive attention control/interpretation training, in which participants learned to unscramble scrambled sentences ("life is my a party mess") in a positive way ("my life is a party") by getting eye-tracking feedback about attention for positive ("party") vs. negative information ("mess"). After the training, participants could better reinterpret negative photos in a positive way. Attention- and cognitive control mechanisms prior to negative stressors (proactive control) and after negative stressors (reactive control) seem to play a role in this. Moreover, research has shown that low perceived control and negative expectations about future emotion regulation skills results in lower proactive control and a higher need of reactive control. Based on this, the assumption can be made that the effects of attention control training - targeting reactive control - could benefit from adding techniques that affect proactive control (e.g. psycho-education). In the present study this is investigated by testing a new two weeks attention control training to see if this has a positive effect on stress related complaints, depressive symptoms and emotion regulation. Given that the current COVID-19 pandemic is perceived as very stressful by a lot of people, the training could help here. Participants between 18 to 65 years of age are recruited during this corona crisis. The attention control training is a new smartphone based application. Participants have to unscramble scrambled sentences into grammatically correct sentences. In the training condition, participants are asked to unscramble the scrambled sentences in a positive way. By swiping, participants can see part of the sentences. This gives the investigators an image about the processing of the sentences. This procedure allows to measure how long participants attend to positive and negative words. In the training condition participants get feedback about the duration they process positive and negative words. In the control group participants unscramble the sentences as fast as possible without feedback on emotional attention. Participants only get feedback about the speed at which sentences are unscrambled. Before and after the 10 training sessions, attention of the participants is measured to see the effects of the training. Questionnaires on depressive and anxiety complaints, emotion regulation strategies, well-being and stress are administered before and after the training. There is also a follow-up measure 2 months after the training. Both groups (training and control) watch a psycho-education video before the start of the training.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Android smartphone

Exclusion Criteria:

* severe depressive complaints

Primary outcomes:
measure: Changes in depression-, anxiety- and psychosomatic stress symptoms
timeFrame: pre-test (before starting the training), post-test (immediately after the training), follow-up (two months after the training)
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Changes in rumination.
timeFrame: pre-test (before starting the training), post-test (immediately after the training), follow-up (two months after the training)
measure: Changes in cognitive emotion regulation strategies.
timeFrame: pre-test (before starting the training), post-test (immediately after the training), follow-up (two months after the training)
measure: Changes in emotional attention
timeFrame: pre-test (before starting the training), post-test (immediately after the training)
Other outcomes:
measure: How variables related to COVID-19 and the quarantine affect the life of participants
timeFrame: pre-test (before starting the training)
measure: Changes in depressive complaints
timeFrame: pre-test (before starting the training), post-test (immediately after the training), follow-up (two months after the training)
measure: Changes in symptoms of anxiety
timeFrame: pre-test (before starting the training), post-test (immediately after the training), follow-up (two months after the training)
measure: Changes in well-being
timeFrame: pre-test (before starting the training), post-test (immediately after the training), follow-up (two months after the training)
measure: Changes in perceived stress
timeFrame: pre-test (before starting the training), post-test (immediately after the training), follow-up (two months after the training)
measure: Treatment Credibility and Expectancy
timeFrame: post-test (immediately after the training)
measure: Perceived pleasantness of the training
timeFrame: post-test (immediately after the training)
Locations:
city: Gent
country: Belgium
facility: Ghent University
state: Oost-Vlaanderen
Study officials:
affiliation: University Ghent
name: Rudi De Raedt, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: University Ghent
name: Ernst Koster, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: