Stress Sensitivity and Reward Responsivity in Depression (CAN-BIND-04)

Stress Sensitivity and Reward Responsivity: An Integration of Two Endophenotypes in Major Depression

The goal of this project is to learn more about the different ways in which people process information that is stressful and rewarding, and how abnormalities in these two processes are related to depression.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Depressed

Detailed Description

Participants will participate in two 3-hour sessions separated by a week at Providence Care, Mental Health Services, and a third, 1.5-hour session at the Queen's MRI Facility. At the first session participants will complete a packet of questionnaires about their mood and take part in an interview about their mood, medications, drug use, and any other symptoms, as well as an interview about their relationships with their parents and any experiences of abuse. At the second session participants will participate in a stress test, which involves giving a speech to a panel. The investigators will also collect saliva samples to look at stress hormones. Participants will also complete a task on the computer that involves looking at cartoon faces and making decisions about them. At the third session, the investigators take images of of participant's brain using a magnetic resonance scanner.

Participants are invited to participate in a 6-month follow-up for this study, which would involve the same procedure as outline above.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 219

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Ontario
    • Kingston, Ontario, Canada, K7L 3N6
      • Queen's University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Community sample

Description

For Depressed Participants:

Inclusion Criteria:

• Outpatients aged 18-65
• Currently suffering from unipolar depression
• Fluency in English, sufficient to complete the interviews and self-report questionnaires

Exclusion Criteria:

• Clinical diagnosis of bipolar disorder, psychotic disorders, current alcohol/substance dependence, or significant medical comorbidity
• Treatment-resistant (defined as failing more than 3 trials of anti-depressant medication)
• History of neurological insult (e.g., concussion), neurological disease, seizure disorder
• Smokers
• Pregnant women
• Endocrine disorders
• High suicidal risk, defined by clinician judgement

For Healthy Control Participants:

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adults aged 18-65
• No history of Axis I disorders according to DSM-IV-TR criteria, as determined by the SCID
• No first-degree relatives diagnosed with bipolar disorder
• Fluency in English, sufficient to complete the interviews and self-report questionnaires

Exclusion Criteria:

• History of neurological insult (e.g., concussion), neurological disease, seizure disorder
• Smokers
• Pregnant women
• Endocrine disorders

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Depressed Participants; No intervention
Healthy Control Participants; No intervention

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Stress Sensitivity: Salivary Hormone and Stress Challenge Test (TSST)	Participants are required to give a speech and an arithmetic test in front of a panel. Saliva samples are collected at 8 points throughout the test.	2 hours after beginning of Time B Appointment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire (MASQ)	Self-report scale of general distress (GD), anhedonic depression (AD), and anxious arousal (AA) symptoms	Administered at first baseline appointment and covers past 2 weeks
Reward Responsivity: Probabilistic Reward Task	Computerized task that requires participants to choose between two stimuli and develop a response bias to the more frequently rewarded stimulus.	Administered at second baseline appointment
Snaith Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS and SHAPS-C)	Self-report of anhedonia symptoms	Administered at first baseline appointment and covers past 2 weeks prior to interview

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Dr. Kate Harkness
• Collaborators: University Health Network, Toronto; McGill University; University of Calgary; Harvard University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Kate Harkness, PhD, Queens University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 1, 2015
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 31, 2018
• Study Completion (Actual): December 31, 2018

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 13, 2016
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 13, 2016
• First Posted (Estimate): June 14, 2016

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 28, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 26, 2019
• Last Verified: August 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavioral Symptoms; Depression
• Other Study ID Numbers: PSYC-154-14

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED