Chatbot Intervention Effects on Emotional Arousal in Anhedonia
Effects of a Chatbot-Based Intervention on Subjective Arousal and Neural Reactivity to Emotional Video Stimuli in Individuals With Anhedonia
Aperçu de l'étude
Statut
Les conditions
Intervention / Traitement
Description détaillée
Anhedonia represents a core characteristic of depression and is characterized by reduced experience of pleasure. It is closely related to decreased motivation, altered reward processing, changes in affective responsiveness, and alterations in intrinsic brain network function. Anhedonia is not specifically targeted by currently available pharmacological interventions. Initial evidence indicates that an increased willingness to change and implementation of change in daily life can alleviate anhedonia.
The present study aims to examine whether a Motivational Interviewing-based AI chatbot can lead to changes in affective arousal responses in college students with elevated anhedonia and depressive symptoms. Affective arousal is included because anhedonia may involve altered emotional reactivity and reduced subjective responses to affective stimuli, in addition to reduced pleasure. The emotional video task allows the study to assess subjective arousal responses and neural responses to positive, neutral, and negative affective stimuli. To this end, eligible participants with a total score of 22 or higher on the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale and a score of 14 or higher on the Beck Depression Inventory will undergo a randomized, between-subjects, active-control intervention study. Participants will be assigned to either a Motivational Interviewing-based chatbot group or an active control chatbot group for 1 week. Pre- and post-intervention assessments will include self-report questionnaires and an affective arousal video task during functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine psychological, behavioral, and neural effects of the intervention.
Type d'étude
Inscription (Estimé)
Phase
- N'est pas applicable
Contacts et emplacements
Coordonnées de l'étude
- Nom: Benjamin Becker, Dr
- Numéro de téléphone: (852) 3917-5097
- E-mail: bbecker@hku.hk
Lieux d'étude
-
-
Sichuan
-
Chengdu, Sichuan, Chine
- Recrutement
- University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
-
Contact:
- Benjamin Becker, Dr
- Numéro de téléphone: (852) 3917-5097
- E-mail: bbecker@hku.hk
-
-
Critères de participation
Critère d'éligibilité
Âges éligibles pour étudier
- Adulte
Accepte les volontaires sains
La description
Inclusion Criteria:
- 18-40 years
- Right-handed
- Normal or corrected normal visual acuity
- Participants must show elevated anhedonia and depressive symptoms at screening, defined as a total score of 22 or higher on the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale and a score of 14 or higher on the Beck Depression Inventory
Exclusion Criteria:
- History of major central nervous system disorders, such as epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, stroke, or brain tumors.
- History of severe mental illness, including schizophrenia spectrum disorders, bipolar disorder, or other psychotic disorders.
- History of substance or alcohol use disorder or substance or alcohol misuse within the past 12 months that may affect study participation or outcome assessment.
- Individuals currently at high risk of suicide, severe self-harm, or experiencing an acute psychiatric crisis.
- Individuals who are currently using psychiatric medications or have undergone psychotherapy within the past 4 weeks that may significantly affect mood, motivation, or reward processing.
- Severe vision or hearing impairments that cannot be corrected and would interfere with task performance.
- Contraindications to MRI scanning, including metallic implants, pacemakers, severe claustrophobia, or other conditions incompatible with MRI.
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding.
Plan d'étude
Comment l'étude est-elle conçue ?
Détails de conception
- Objectif principal: Science basique
- Répartition: Randomisé
- Modèle interventionnel: Affectation parallèle
- Masquage: Double
Armes et Interventions
Groupe de participants / Bras |
Intervention / Traitement |
|---|---|
|
Expérimental: Motivational Interviewing-based AI chatbot group
Motivational Interviewing-based AI chatbot intervention
|
The experimental chatbot is designed to use principles of Motivational Interviewing to support participants in exploring their personal values, motivation for change, and daily behavioral goals related to pleasure, engagement, and reward-seeking.
During the intervention period, participants will interact with the chatbot regularly through brief text-based conversations.
The chatbot will provide empathic, non-judgmental responses, encourage reflection on current difficulties, and help participants identify small, feasible actions that may increase daily engagement and positive experiences.
It will not provide diagnosis, crisis counseling, or medical treatment.
|
|
Comparateur actif: Active control chatbot group
Active control nature-story chatbot intervention
|
Participants will interact with a chatbot matched in format and frequency of use.
This chatbot will provide neutral nature-related stories or general natural history content.
It will be designed to maintain participant engagement while avoiding therapeutic techniques, motivational interviewing strategies, behavioral activation guidance, or personalized mental health advice.
This active control condition will help control for nonspecific effects of chatbot interaction, attention, expectancy, and digital engagement.
|
Que mesure l'étude ?
Principaux critères de jugement
Mesure des résultats |
Description de la mesure |
Délai |
|---|---|---|
|
Subjective Affective Arousal in Response to Video Stimuli
Délai: Baseline before the first chatbot interaction and Week 1 after completion of the chatbot intervention.
|
Participants will view positive, neutral, and negative video stimuli before and after the intervention and report their subjective arousal after each video.
Mean arousal ratings will be calculated separately for each emotional condition, and pre-to-post changes will be compared across positive, neutral, and negative video conditions
|
Baseline before the first chatbot interaction and Week 1 after completion of the chatbot intervention.
|
Mesures de résultats secondaires
Mesure des résultats |
Description de la mesure |
Délai |
|---|---|---|
|
Activity in Brain Systems Supporting Affective Arousal Processing
Délai: Baseline before the first chatbot interaction and Week 1 after completion of the chatbot intervention.
|
Participants will undergo task-based BOLD fMRI while viewing positive, negative, and neutral emotional videos.
Neural responses within predefined brain systems involved in arousal and valence processing will be estimated using a general linear model.
Beta contrast estimates will then be derived for positive versus neutral, negative versus neutral, and positive versus negative conditions.
These estimates will be used to evaluate changes from baseline to post-intervention.
|
Baseline before the first chatbot interaction and Week 1 after completion of the chatbot intervention.
|
Collaborateurs et enquêteurs
Dates d'enregistrement des études
Dates principales de l'étude
Début de l'étude (Estimé)
Achèvement primaire (Estimé)
Achèvement de l'étude (Estimé)
Dates d'inscription aux études
Première soumission
Première soumission répondant aux critères de contrôle qualité
Première publication (Réel)
Mises à jour des dossiers d'étude
Dernière mise à jour publiée (Réel)
Dernière mise à jour soumise répondant aux critères de contrôle qualité
Dernière vérification
Plus d'information
Termes liés à cette étude
Mots clés
Autres numéros d'identification d'étude
- BAM_lab_MI_02
Plan pour les données individuelles des participants (IPD)
Prévoyez-vous de partager les données individuelles des participants (DPI) ?
Description du régime IPD
Informations sur les médicaments et les dispositifs, documents d'étude
Étudie un produit pharmaceutique réglementé par la FDA américaine
Étudie un produit d'appareil réglementé par la FDA américaine
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 .