Efficacy of an Autobiographical Memory Specificity Training for the Reduction of Depressive Symptomatology

Control Group Clinical Trial

— PESCAR  

Official title:

Efficacy of an Autobiographical Memory Specificity Training for the Reduction of Depressive Symptomatology

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Not yet recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT05220618
• Other study ID #: 1612004
• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: March 12, 2022
• Est. completion date: March 12, 2023

Study information

• Verified date: November 2021
• Source: University of Valencia
• Contact: María Folgado, PhD candidate
• Phone: 645722322
• Email: maria.folgado[@]uv.es
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The effect of Autobiographical Memory Specificity Training on memory specificity, positive affect and depression symptomatology

Description:

The general objective of this study is to analyze the efficacy of an online-delivered Autobiographical Memory Specificity Training to increase memory specificity, positive affect and to reduce depression symptomatology. It will be tested in two conditions (training group vs. control group) with low-to-moderate depressive symptomatology. It is hypothesized that the training group (over control group) will increase the specificity and positive affect of autobiographical memories, and this will lead to a reduction of depressive symptomatology.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Enrollment: 42
• Est. completion date: March 12, 2023
• Est. primary completion date: March 7, 2023
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 55 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age between 18 and 55 (following Serrano et al., 2007 recommendations)
• Deficit in memory specificity: scores on Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) < (or equal) 70%
• Diagnosis of mild to moderate depression: scores on Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9) between 5 to 14

Exclusion Criteria:

• being currently under psychological treatment
• present any medical illness or physical, psychological and/or cognitive incapacity that could impede the participation
• Not having the necessary technological means, i.e. access to a mobile phone with internet connection.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Control Group

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Autobiographical Memory Specificity Training PESCAR
An autobiographical memory specificity training has been developed by authors, based on previous training within the frame of Cognitive Bias Modification Interventions (CBM-I; Barry et al., 2019; Hitchcock et al., 2017). The training group will receive a self-guided intervention, which consists of an initial session (lasting 30 minutes approximately) and two-week training, conducted online. Participants will be provided with an online platform for following the intervention in a self-guided modality. The first session aims to give information about autobiographical memory functioning, to train in specificity recall through concrete processing steps and to explain the functioning of the self-guided modality. Then, during the next two weeks, participants will use the online platform once a day for practising the recall of autobiographical memories during 15-20 min approximately.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
n/a

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Valencia

References & Publications (5)

Barry TJ, Sze WY, Raes F. A meta-analysis and systematic review of Memory Specificity Training (MeST) in the treatment of emotional disorders. Behav Res Ther. 2019 May;116:36-51. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2019.02.001. Epub 2019 Feb 2. — View Citation

Colombo, D., Suso-Ribera, C., Fernández-Álvarez, J., Cipresso, P., Garcia-Palacios, A., Riva, G., & Botella, C. (2020). Affect Recall Bias: Being Resilient by Distorting Reality. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 44(5), 906-918. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-020-10122-3

Hitchcock C, Werner-Seidler A, Blackwell SE, Dalgleish T. Autobiographical episodic memory-based training for the treatment of mood, anxiety and stress-related disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Psychol Rev. 2017 Mar;52:92-107. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2016.12.003. Epub 2016 Dec 21. Review. — View Citation

Ros L, Romero D, Ricarte JJ, Serrano JP, Nieto M, Latorre JM. Measurement of overgeneral autobiographical memory: Psychometric properties of the autobiographical memory test in young and older populations. PLoS One. 2018 Apr 19;13(4):e0196073. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0196073. eCollection 2018. — View Citation

Takano K, Mori M, Nishiguchi Y, Moriya J, Raes F. Psychometric properties of the written version of the autobiographical memory test in a japanese community sample. Psychiatry Res. 2017 Feb;248:56-63. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2016.12.019. Epub 2016 Dec 16. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Autobiographical memory specificity. The Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT, Williams & Broadbent, 1986)	AMT is the preferred measure to evaluate the degree of specificity of autobiographical memory. During the AMT application, nine verbal cue words of different valence (three positive, three negative and three neutral) will be presented to the participants to perform a recall task of specific personal memories (Dritschel et al., 2014). The specificity of the memories is scored by evaluators following specified criteria (Williams et al., 2007), and then, an overall estimate of the level of specificity of autobiographical memories can be calculated. The assessment will be conducted online, following previous works with the written version of the AMT (Takano et al., 2017). The spanish adaptation (Ros et al., 2018) has shown adequate psychometric properties in young and older populations.	Screening for eligibility criteria; Change in AMT from pre- intervention (Day 0) to post-intervention (Day 15)
Secondary	Depressive symptomatology. The Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9; Kroenke, Spitzer & Williams, 2001, Spanish adaptation Diez-Quevedo et al., 2001)	PHQ-9 is a nine-item self-report measure of depressive symptoms. Participants answer the statements using a four-point Likert scale (0= Not at all to 3=Nearly every day) (Kroenke, Spitzer & Williams, 2001). The Spanish version has shown comparable diagnostic validity to the original English version, presenting levels of 88% of sensitivity and 88% of specificity (Diez-Quevedo et al., 2001).	Change in PHQ-9 from pre- intervention (Day 0) to post-intervention (Day 15); Change in PHQ-9 from post- intervention (Day 15) to follow-up (Day 30)
Secondary	Savoring. Ways of Savoring Checklist (WOSC, Bryant & Veroff, 2007; Jose, Lim, & Bryant, 2012)	An abbreviated 19-item os WOSC assess the use of thoughts and behaviours that facilitate savoring by amplifying positive feelings (11 items; for example, "I thought about sharing the memory of this later with other people") and the use of thoughts and behaviours that inhibit savoring by dampening positive emotions (eight items; for example, "I told myself why I didn't deserve this good thing"). Participants indicated to what extent statements described their thoughts and behaviours during positive experiences over the past week (1 = definitely doesn't apply, 7 = definitely applies). Previous studies have reported good psychometric properties with as = .85-.86 (Smith and Hanni, 2019).	Change in WOSC from pre- intervention (Day 0) to post-intervention (Day 15); Change in WOSC from post- intervention (Day 15) to follow-up (Day 30)
Secondary	Proportion of positive and negative memories recalled. (Ecological momentary assessment, EMA)	EMA involves repeated sampling of subjects' behaviours and experiences in real time and in their natural environments. EMA procedure aims to minimise recall bias, maximise ecological validity and allow the study of micro-processes that influence behaviour. Previous studies have demonstrated the utility and validity of this assessment strategy in a variety of clinical and subclinical contexts (Colombo et al., 2020a, b).For this study, participants will receive a notification (only once a day) on their smartphones asking about the ratio of positive to negative memories they have recalled during the day. This measure will be taken once a day, everyday during intervention (14 days: From Day 1 to day 15) and at follow-up (14 days; from Day 16 to Day 30))	Average proportion of positive and negative memories recalled during intervention (From Day 1 to day 15).
Secondary	Positive and negative affect. The Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS; Watson et al., 1988; Sandín et al., 1999)	A self-report measure consisting of two sub-scales that assess the person's positive and negative affect. Each scale is composed of 10 items, giving a total of 20 items on a 5-point Likert scale (1=not at all/very mild; 5=extreme). The PANAS is established as a scale to measure changes in mood with excellent psychometric properties in the general population in its Spanish version (Sandín et al., 1999). In addition, its reliability and validity has recently been evaluated in the assessment of people with emotional disorders. It has shown good to excellent internal consistency in both subscales (Cronbach's alpha for positive affect = 0.91; Cronbach's alpha for negative affect = 0.87).	Screening for eligibility criteria; Change in PANAS from pre- intervention (Day 0) to post-intervention (Day 15); Change in PANAS from post- intervention (Day 15) to follow-up (Day 30)
Secondary	Well-being. Mental Health Continuum Scale (MHC: Keyes, 2004; Echevarría et al., 2010)	MHC-LF is a multidimensional measure, composed of 14 items measuring emotional (3 items), social (5 items) and psychological (6 items) well-being. It assesses the frequency with which they felt a certain way during the last month. Psychometric analyses of the Spanish validation (Echevarría et al., 2010) showed that it was a scale with good psychometric properties.	Screening for eligibility criteria; Change in MHC from pre- intervention (Day 0) to post-intervention (Day 15); Change in MHC from post- intervention (Day 15) to follow-up (Day 30)