Clinical Trial Details
— Status: Completed
Administrative data
NCT number |
NCT04997356 |
Other study ID # |
2637 |
Secondary ID |
|
Status |
Completed |
Phase |
N/A
|
First received |
|
Last updated |
|
Start date |
August 12, 2021 |
Est. completion date |
May 15, 2023 |
Study information
Verified date |
December 2023 |
Source |
Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) |
Contact |
n/a |
Is FDA regulated |
No |
Health authority |
|
Study type |
Interventional
|
Clinical Trial Summary
The primary objective of the present protocol is to evaluate the effectiveness of real HBMT
versus placebo on reducing HAB and aggression.
The secondary objectives of the present protocol are:
1. Investigate the role of individual difference variables on HAB, interpersonal
aggression, and effects of HBMT.
2. Collect vocal recording data to inform the development of algorithms to predict
emotional stress from changes in speech.
Description:
Aggression refers to causing harm to someone who is motivated to avoid that harm (Anderson &
Bushman, 2002). Many Soldiers report heightened levels of anger and display elevated rates of
aggressive behavior following combat deployments (Adler et al., 2011; Jakupcak et al., 2007;
Novaco & Chemtob, 2015; Orth & Wieland, 2006; Thomas et al., 2010). Treating and addressing
anger and aggression in combat Veterans can improve Soldier health as well as promote force
readiness and lethality. One key predictor of anger and aggression when responding to the
actions of other people is the extent to which the victim believes that the provocateur acted
in an intentionally hostile manner (e.g., being shoved on purpose) versus not intending to be
hostile (e.g., being shoved by mistake; De Castro, Veerman, Koops, Bosch, & Monshouwer,
2002). This is called "hostile attributional bias" (HAB). Interpretation and attribution
biases toward perceiving threats and danger are elevated in individuals with posttraumatic
stress symptoms (Bonyea, Johnson, and Lang, 2017).
In the present study, the investigators test the effectiveness of a computer-based training
called Hostile Bias Modification Training (HBMT) to reduce HAB and aggressive behavior in
response to an ambiguous provocation (ambiguously hostile comments). Volunteers will complete
a real or placebo version of a computer training designed to reduce HAB, then receive and
react to either unambiguously hostile or ambiguously hostile feedback. The feedback is in
regards to an essay the volunteer was asked to write as part of the study. The investigators
predict that receiving the real (vs. placebo) computer training will reduce HAB in response
to the ambiguous feedback, but not the unambiguous feedback. Volunteers will then partake in
a second computer task, which involves a reaction time competition against the same
confederate where the loser receives a penalty in the form of a short, unpleasant, acoustic
tone delivered via headphones. The volunteer is told they can set the volume and duration of
unpleasant acoustic tones that would be administered to the confederate. Aggression is
operationalized as setting higher volumes and/or longer durations for tones. This will allow
us to measure how aggressive volunteers are in response to ambiguous provocations and
determine if the computer training is effective in reducing aggression to ambiguous
provocations and if reduced HAB is the underlying mechanism of this effect. Finally,
volunteers will complete a set of personality measures so we can determine if the effects of
the computer training are contingent on individual differences. If successful, this research
would add validity to a potential intervention to help people suffering from anger and
aggression management issues to reduce their symptoms.
The investigators are also using this experiment as an opportunity to collect vocal pattern
data to inform the development of algorithms to predict emotional stress from changes in
vocal patterns. As such, voice recordings of volunteers reading standardized scripts will be
made at three points in the study.