The Role of Expectations in the Pharmacological Treatment of Depression - An Experimental Investigation

November 6, 2018 updated by: Winfried Rief, Philipps University Marburg Medical Center
The study aimes at identifying whether positive expectations have an impact on the way depressive participants experience emotions in the form of sadness.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

94

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Hessen
      • Gießen, Hessen, Germany, 35390
        • Justus Liebig University Giessen
      • Marburg, Hessen, Germany, 35032
        • Philipps University Marburg

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • major depression (mild to moderate)
  • fluent in German language

Exclusion Criteria:

  • bipolar disorder, psychotic disorder, substance dependence
  • cardiovascular disease, severe kidney or liver disease, epilepsy
  • change of psychotropic medication intake within the last four weeks
  • allergic to capsaicin
  • allergic to sesame oil
  • students in medicine, pharmacy, or psychology in their third year or older
  • completed studies in medicine, pharmacy or psychology

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Other: No-treatment control group
Participants do not receive the nasal spray. Participants watch a film sequence that is supposed to induce sadness.
All groups watch the film sequence that is supposed to induce sadness.
Experimental: Positive placebo group
Participants receive a placebo nasal spray. However, they are told that it protects from experiencing negative emotions. Participants watch a film sequence that is supposed to induce sadness.
The placebo nasal spray consists of sesame oil and does not contain any active drug.
All groups watch the film sequence that is supposed to induce sadness.
Placebo Comparator: Placebo control group
Participants receive a placebo nasal spray and are told that it is a placebo. Participants watch a film sequence that is supposed to induce sadness.
The placebo nasal spray consists of sesame oil and does not contain any active drug.
All groups watch the film sequence that is supposed to induce sadness.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Sadness
Time Frame: Directly after watching the film sequence, no follow-up assessments
Items of PANAS-X
Directly after watching the film sequence, no follow-up assessments

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Winfried Rief, Professor, Philipps University Marburg Medical Center

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

November 1, 2017

Primary Completion (Actual)

September 30, 2018

Study Completion (Actual)

September 30, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 14, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 14, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

June 19, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

November 7, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 6, 2018

Last Verified

November 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2017-12k

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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