The Link Between Mental Imagery and the Reduction of Fear in Imaginal Extinction
31 octobre 2019 mis à jour par: Uppsala University
Imaginal exposure is a widely used psychological treatment technique.
Imaginal extinction is an experimental analogue of imaginal exposure, that allows the study of this treatment technique under controlled circumstances (Agren, Björkstrand, & Fredrikson, 2017).
During imaginal extinction, experimentally induced fear is diminished through repeated exposure to mental imagery of the feared (conditioned) stimulus.
However, it is not known to what extent fear reduction depends on the mental imagery produced during this procedure.
A better understanding of the mechanisms driving the effects of imaginal exposure and the factors moderating fear reduction could have significant clinical utility, by suggesting mechanistically informed ways to improve this treatment.
Aperçu de l'étude
Statut
Complété
Les conditions
Intervention / Traitement
Description détaillée
The study takes part over three consecutive days, with fear conditioning to visual stimuli on day 1, imaginal extinction on day 2, and a fear reinstatement procedure, again to visual stimuli, on day 3. Skin conductance is used to measure fear responses.
Participants' are randomized to receive conditioning, extinction and reinstatement with either complex or simple stimuli. During imaginal extinction, imagery of each experimental stimulus is prompted through different verbal instructions.
Type d'étude
Interventionnel
Inscription (Réel)
60
Phase
- N'est pas applicable
Contacts et emplacements
Cette section fournit les coordonnées de ceux qui mènent l'étude et des informations sur le lieu où cette étude est menée.
Lieux d'étude
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Uppsala, Suède
- Uppsala University, Departement of Psychology
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Critères de participation
Les chercheurs recherchent des personnes qui correspondent à une certaine description, appelée critères d'éligibilité. Certains exemples de ces critères sont l'état de santé général d'une personne ou des traitements antérieurs.
Critère d'éligibilité
Âges éligibles pour étudier
18 ans et plus (Adulte, Adulte plus âgé)
Accepte les volontaires sains
Oui
Sexes éligibles pour l'étude
Tout
La description
Inclusion Criteria:
Age 18 or over
Fluent in Swedish
Willing and able to provide informed consent and complete study procedures
Exclusion Criteria:
Current psychiatric disorder
Use of psychotropic medication within 6 months prior to study start
Receiving psychological treatment within 6 months prior to study start
Current neurological condition
Plan d'étude
Cette section fournit des détails sur le plan d'étude, y compris la façon dont l'étude est conçue et ce que l'étude mesure.
Comment l'étude est-elle conçue ?
Détails de conception
- Objectif principal: Science basique
- Répartition: Randomisé
- Modèle interventionnel: Affectation parallèle
- Masquage: Seul
Armes et Interventions
Groupe de participants / Bras |
Intervention / Traitement |
|---|---|
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Expérimental: Simple stimuli
Two perceptually simple stimuli are used during all experimental phases (geometrical figures).
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Day 1. Participants are exposed to two different visual stimuli.
One of these stimuli is paired with a mild electric shock (i.e.
conditioned stimuli).
Day 2 (24 hours after Day 1).
Participants are exposed to mental imagery of the stimuli used during fear conditioning.
Imagery is prompted through different verbal instructions presented in a pseudo-randomized order.
No shocks are delivered.
Prior to imaginal extinction, participants receive task specific training.
Day 3 (48 h after day1).
Participants are exposed to the same stimuli used during fear conditioning (day 1) and imaginal extinction (day 2).
Two unsignaled shocks are delivered at the beginning of the experiment, prior to the presentation of the first visual stimulus.
No further shocks are delivered.
This procedure allows the study of long term effects of imaginal extinction.
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Expérimental: Complex stimuli
Two complex stimuli are used in all experimental phases.
Stimuli consist of photographs of real objects of the same size and shape as the simple stimuli, but include perceptually more complex patterns, details and colors.
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Day 1. Participants are exposed to two different visual stimuli.
One of these stimuli is paired with a mild electric shock (i.e.
conditioned stimuli).
Day 2 (24 hours after Day 1).
Participants are exposed to mental imagery of the stimuli used during fear conditioning.
Imagery is prompted through different verbal instructions presented in a pseudo-randomized order.
No shocks are delivered.
Prior to imaginal extinction, participants receive task specific training.
Day 3 (48 h after day1).
Participants are exposed to the same stimuli used during fear conditioning (day 1) and imaginal extinction (day 2).
Two unsignaled shocks are delivered at the beginning of the experiment, prior to the presentation of the first visual stimulus.
No further shocks are delivered.
This procedure allows the study of long term effects of imaginal extinction.
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Que mesure l'étude ?
Principaux critères de jugement
Mesure des résultats |
Description de la mesure |
Délai |
|---|---|---|
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Skin conductance response (SCR)
Délai: Day 1
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SCR is used as a measure of physiological fear responses.
Differences in fear responses are used to assess fear learning during fear acquisition and to explore main effects and interactions between fear learning, stimulus complexity and capacity for mental imagery.
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Day 1
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Skin conductance response (SCR)
Délai: Day 2 (24 h after day1)
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SCR is used as a measure of physiological fear responses.Differences in fear responses are used to assess fear reduction during imaginal extinction, and to explore main effects and interactions between fear reduction, stimulus complexity and capacity for mental imagery.
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Day 2 (24 h after day1)
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Skin conductance response (SCR)
Délai: Day 3 (48 h after day 1)
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SCR is used as a measure of physiological fear responses.Differences in fear response are used to assess return of fear during reinstatement, and to explore main effects and interactions between return of fear, stimulus complexity and capacity for mental imagery.
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Day 3 (48 h after day 1)
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Mesures de résultats secondaires
Mesure des résultats |
Description de la mesure |
Délai |
|---|---|---|
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Fear ratings
Délai: Day 1
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Ratings of subjective fear during the experimental procedure.
Scale: 0 -100 (no fear at all - extreme fear)
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Day 1
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State-Trait Anxiety Inventory
Délai: Day 1
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This is a self-rated questionnaire measuring trait anxiety.
Higher scores indicate higher level of trait-anxiety (range 20-80)
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Day 1
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Difficulties in emotion regulation scale
Délai: Day 1
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This is a self-rated questionnaire measuring difficulties in emotion regulation.
Higher scores indicate higher level of difficulties in emotion regulation (range 36-180)
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Day 1
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Fear ratings
Délai: Day 2 (24 h after day 1)
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Ratings of subjective fear during the experimental procedure.
Scale: 0 -100 (no fear at all - extreme fear)
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Day 2 (24 h after day 1)
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Vividness of mental imagery during imaginal extinction
Délai: Day 2 (24 h after day 1)
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Scale: 1-5; no image at all - image as clear and vivid as real life
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Day 2 (24 h after day 1)
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The Plymouth Sensory Imagery Questionnaire
Délai: Day 2 (24 h after day 1)
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This is a self-rated questionnaire measuring vividness of mental imagery across different sensory modalities.
Higher scores indicate higher level of vividness.
(range 0-70)
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Day 2 (24 h after day 1)
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The Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire
Délai: Day 2 (24 h after day 1)
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This is a self-rated questionnaire measuring vividness of visual mental imagery.
Only eyes open section is administered.
Higher scores indicate higher level of vividness (range 0-80)
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Day 2 (24 h after day 1)
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Spontaneous use of imagery scale
Délai: Day 2 (24 h after day 1)
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This is a self-rated questionnaire measuring spontaneous use of imagery.
Higher scores higher levels use of spontaneous use of imagery (range 12- 60)
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Day 2 (24 h after day 1)
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Expectancy ratings
Délai: Day 2 (24 h after day 1)
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After the imaginal extinction procedure, participants are asked to rate to what extent they believed that electric shocks would be delivered during the procedure on a scale ranging from 0 - 100 %
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Day 2 (24 h after day 1)
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Fear ratings
Délai: Day 3 (48 h after day 1)
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Ratings of subjective fear during the experimental procedure.
Scale: 0 -100 (no fear at all - extreme fear)
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Day 3 (48 h after day 1)
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Expectancy ratings
Délai: Day 3 (48 h after day 1)
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After the reinstatement procedure, participants are asked to rate to what extent they believed that electric shocks would be delivered during the procedure on a scale ranging from 0 - 100 %
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Day 3 (48 h after day 1)
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Autres mesures de résultats
Mesure des résultats |
Description de la mesure |
Délai |
|---|---|---|
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Task compliance
Délai: Day 1
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Questions asking participants to rate to what extent they followed the instructions during the experimental procedure on a scale ranging from 0 - 100 %.
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Day 1
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Task compliance
Délai: Day 2 (24 h after day 1)
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Questions asking participants to rate to what extent they followed the instructions during the experimental procedure on a scale ranging from 0 - 100 %.
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Day 2 (24 h after day 1)
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Task compliance
Délai: Day 3 (48 h after day 1)
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Questions asking participants to rate to what extent they followed the instructions during the experimental procedure on a scale ranging from 0 - 100 %.
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Day 3 (48 h after day 1)
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Collaborateurs et enquêteurs
C'est ici que vous trouverez les personnes et les organisations impliquées dans cette étude.
Parrainer
Publications et liens utiles
La personne responsable de la saisie des informations sur l'étude fournit volontairement ces publications. Il peut s'agir de tout ce qui concerne l'étude.
Dates d'enregistrement des études
Ces dates suivent la progression des dossiers d'étude et des soumissions de résultats sommaires à ClinicalTrials.gov. Les dossiers d'étude et les résultats rapportés sont examinés par la Bibliothèque nationale de médecine (NLM) pour s'assurer qu'ils répondent à des normes de contrôle de qualité spécifiques avant d'être publiés sur le site Web public.
Dates principales de l'étude
Début de l'étude (Réel)
25 février 2019
Achèvement primaire (Réel)
30 octobre 2019
Achèvement de l'étude (Réel)
30 octobre 2019
Dates d'inscription aux études
Première soumission
13 juin 2019
Première soumission répondant aux critères de contrôle qualité
13 juin 2019
Première publication (Réel)
18 juin 2019
Mises à jour des dossiers d'étude
Dernière mise à jour publiée (Réel)
4 novembre 2019
Dernière mise à jour soumise répondant aux critères de contrôle qualité
31 octobre 2019
Dernière vérification
1 octobre 2019
Plus d'information
Termes liés à cette étude
Autres numéros d'identification d'étude
- 2019-00524
Plan pour les données individuelles des participants (IPD)
Prévoyez-vous de partager les données individuelles des participants (DPI) ?
OUI
Délai de partage IPD
Data will be available upon publication.
Type d'informations de prise en charge du partage d'IPD
- PROTOCOLE D'ÉTUDE
- CIF
Informations sur les médicaments et les dispositifs, documents d'étude
Étudie un produit pharmaceutique réglementé par la FDA américaine
Non
Étudie un produit d'appareil réglementé par la FDA américaine
Non
Ces informations ont été extraites directement du site Web clinicaltrials.gov sans aucune modification. Si vous avez des demandes de modification, de suppression ou de mise à jour des détails de votre étude, veuillez contacter register@clinicaltrials.gov. Dès qu'un changement est mis en œuvre sur clinicaltrials.gov, il sera également mis à jour automatiquement sur notre site Web .