Primary objective 1: Does repeated relevant checking in general lead to automatization in OCD patients? Primary objective 2: If automatization as a result of repeated relevant checking occurs, do OCD patients differ from other anxiety disorder…
ID
Source
Brief title
Condition
- Anxiety disorders and symptoms
Synonym
Research involving
Sponsors and support
Intervention
Outcome measures
Primary outcome
The main study parameters are check duration at pre-test and post-test, and
reaction times on the RIR task, as well as the measures at pre-test and
post-test on the checking task, and the difference between pre- and post-test,
in participants* ratings of memory vividness, memory detail and confidence in
memory. The final three measures will be determined from VAS-scale indications.
Secondary outcome
In order to test whether between-group differences are specifically related to
OCD and not to patients being more anxious/depressed in general, we will
measure depression (BDI), anxiety (BAI) and OCD (OCI-R and Y-BOCS) severity
scores.
Patients* medication will be recorded before the beginning of the experiment.
While it is not expected that medication has an influence on the experimental
results, recording the information leaves the option open to control for
medication if need be.
Background summary
Patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) engage in perseverative
behaviour in order to reduce obsessive uncertainty. Previous studies have
demonstrated perseverative checking to be a counterproductive strategy to
increase certainty. This helps to explain why OCD persists. The current study
wants to investigate which mechanisms play a role in this perseverative
behaviour -> uncertainty cascade. Since perseverative checking, as a result of
repetition and familiarity, is alleged to lead to automatic processing, and OCD
patients typically have a tendency to distrust and control their automatic
processes, it is suggested that familiarity induced automatization might be
responsible for the detrimental effects of repeated checking on meta-memory.
Theory suggests that defamiliarization will block automatization and could
thereby reduce the negative meta-memory effects. The proposed study is the
first to investigate 1) if repeated checking actually leads to automatization,
2) if defamiliarization leads to de-automatization and 3) if defamiliarization,
by causing de-automatization, will lead to a reduction of the negative effects
of repeated checking on meta-memory.
Study objective
Primary objective 1: Does repeated relevant checking in general lead to
automatization in OCD patients? Primary objective 2: If automatization as a
result of repeated relevant checking occurs, do OCD patients differ from other
anxiety disorder patients and healthy controls in the speed with which they
execute automatic processes? Primary objective 3: Does defamiliarization lead
to de-automatization? Primary objective 4: Does defamiliarization reduce the
negative effects of repeated relevant checking on memory certainty, vividness
and detail in general? Primary objective 5: If defamiliarization reduces the
negative effects of repeated relevant checking on memory certainty, vividness
and detail, do OCD patients differ from other anxiety disorder patients and
healthy controls in the amount of meta-memory confidence?
Study design
The study is a 3 x 3 randomized, single-blind, mixed intervention study.
Intervention
The intervention consists of either 15 relevant checking trials, 15 irrelevant
checking trials or 15 relevant checking trials with perceptually modified
stimuli at post-test
Study burden and risks
Participation in this study will not put the participant at risk for any harm
or danger. The burden of this study is very minimal; the participant will only
be asked to fill out some questionnaires and participate in a computerized
checking task and a partially simultaneously administered Rapid Interval
Repetition task, in which participants have to respond to randomly presented
harmless tones. Benefits of the study are that it can provide new insight into
the mechanism behind obsessive-compulsive perseveration, so that potentially,
treatment may be better tailored.
Heidelberglaan 1
Utrecht 3584 CS
NL
Heidelberglaan 1
Utrecht 3584 CS
NL
Listed location countries
Age
Inclusion criteria
Patients will be included when they have a DSM-IV diagnosis of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or another anxiety disorder diagnosis. Patients are allowed to use SSRI drugs, but not benzodiazepines because these have a negative effect on ones reaction speed.
Healthy controls will be age/education matched with the patients included in the study.
Exclusion criteria
Subjects will be excluded from the study if they have color vision deficiency (color blindness); if they are insufficiently proficient in the Dutch language; if they are addicted to alcohol or drugs; if they are under 18 years of age; and/or if they present with symptoms from the psychotic spectrum. Patients who use benzodiazepine drugs will be excluded.
Healthy controls will also be excluded when they have any current psychiatric disorder.
Design
Recruitment
Followed up by the following (possibly more current) registration
No registrations found.
Other (possibly less up-to-date) registrations in this register
No registrations found.
In other registers
| Register | ID |
|---|---|
| CCMO | NL40081.041.12 |