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Emotional Reactivity in Severe Alcohol Use Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder Using Eye-tracking, Physiological, and Interoceptive Measures (ERAD) (ERAD)

3 novembre 2026 aggiornato da: Université Catholique de Louvain

Emotional Reactivity in Severe Alcohol Use Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder: a Multidimensional Approach Combining Dynamic Emotional Stimuli, Eye Tracking, Pupillometry, Electrodermal and Cardiac Activity, and Biological Measures of Stress and Interoception

The goal of this observational study is to investigate emotional recognition and emotional reactivity in individuals with severe Alcohol Use Disorder (sAUD), Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), comorbid sAUD and depressive symptoms (sAUD+DS), and healthy controls.

The main questions this study aims to answer are:

  • Do individuals with sAUD, MDD, sAUD+DS, and healthy controls exhibit different patterns of emotional recognition and emotional reactivity in response to dynamic emotional stimuli?
  • How are emotional recognition and emotional reactivity related to each other?
  • How are these emotional processes associated with psycho-affective, socio-emotional, stress-related, interoceptive, and disorder-specific factors?
  • Do emotional recognition and emotional reactivity predict clinical outcomes at 6- and 12-month follow-up assessments?

Participants will:

  • Complete two experimental sessions involving dynamic emotional facial expression and emotional scene tasks
  • Provide emotion identification, subjective emotional ratings (type, intensity, and valence), and and self-reported bodily sensations using an emotional body map (InteroMap)
  • Undergo eye-tracking, pupillometry, electrodermal activity, and cardiac activity recordings during emotional tasks
  • Complete questionnaires assessing psycho-affective, socio-emotional, stress-related, and disorder-specific factors
  • Provide saliva and hair samples for cortisol assessment
  • Participate in follow-up clinical assessments at 6 and 12 months

Researchers will compare emotional recognition and emotional reactivity profiles across the sAUD, MDD, sAUD+DS, and healthy control groups, and evaluate their predictive value for future clinical outcomes.

Panoramica dello studio

Stato

Reclutamento

Condizioni

Intervento / Trattamento

Descrizione dettagliata

Severe Alcohol Use Disorder (sAUD) and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) are among the most prevalent and debilitating mental health disorders, often co-occurring and exacerbating each other's symptoms, which complicates the clinical course and increases the risk of relapse of both disorders. Although their comorbidity is well-established, the mechanisms linking these disorders remain unclear.

Impaired emotional processing is a crucial component of this understanding. Deficits in emotional recognition (i.e., the ability to accurately identify and interpret emotions expressed by others) and responses (i.e., self-report, behavioral, and physiological reactions to emotional stimuli) contribute to significant difficulties in daily functioning and social interactions, as well as to the risk of relapse in these two psychiatric conditions.

Despite they offered crucial insights on the understanding of emotional processing in sAUD and MDD, previous studies presented several key limits hampering the evolution of this research field as (1) they used non-ecological stimulations, namely static pictures or isolated auditory cues, neglecting the multimodal and complex nature of emotional stimuli in everyday life; (2) they predominantly focused on behavioral data or a single measurement modality, offering limited information regarding the physiological correlates of these deficits or the potential of multidimensional analyses; (3) none of them included a group of patients with comorbid sAUD and depressive symptoms, leaving the combined or additive effects of these conditions unexamined; (4) predictive approaches remain largely underexplored.

ERAD addresses these gaps by investigating emotional recognition and emotional reactivity in individuals with sAUD (n=70), MDD (n=70), and sAUD+DS (n=70) compared to healthy controls (n=70), using two complementary experimental paradigms: (1) a dynamic emotional facial expression recognition task with congruent emotional prosody, and (2) an emotional induction task based on dynamic emotional scenes. This multidimensional approach integrates: the identification of emotions expressed by others (basic emotions), self-reported emotional experiences (intensity and valence), measures of visual exploration (eye-tracking), autonomic nervous system responses (pupillometry, electrodermal activity, and cardiac activity), biological stress markers (cortisol), and interoceptive measures assessed through emotional body maps (InteroMap).

ERAD aims to provide a transdiagnostic understanding of emotional processes and their predictive value for future clinical outcomes in sAUD, MDD, and their comorbidity, with potential implications for targeted and personalized prevention and treatment strategies.

Tipo di studio

Osservativo

Iscrizione (Stimato)

280

Contatti e Sedi

Questa sezione fornisce i recapiti di coloro che conducono lo studio e informazioni su dove viene condotto lo studio.

Contatto studio

Backup dei contatti dello studio

Luoghi di studio

    • Belgium
      • Brussels, Belgium, Belgio, 1200
        • Reclutamento
        • Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc
        • Contatto:

Criteri di partecipazione

I ricercatori cercano persone che corrispondano a una certa descrizione, chiamata criteri di ammissibilità. Alcuni esempi di questi criteri sono le condizioni generali di salute di una persona o trattamenti precedenti.

Criteri di ammissibilità

Età idonea allo studio

Da 18 anni a 70 anni (Adulto, Adulto più anziano)

Accetta volontari sani

Sì

Sessi ammissibili allo studio

Tutto

Metodo di campionamento

Campione non probabilistico

Popolazione di studio

For patients:

  • Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc (gastro-hepatology unit and the Institute of Psychiatry (IPI)) Bruxelles
  • Hôpital Psychiatrique du Beau-Vallon Namur
  • Grand Hôpital de Charleroi
  • Cliniques Saint-Pierre Ottignies

For healthy controls:

• Faculté de Psychologie de l'Université Catholique de Louvain

Descrizione

Inclusion Criteria:

All participants must:

  • Be aged 18 to 70 years, fluent in French, and able to provide written informed consent.
  • Have normal or corrected-to-normal vision, without ocular conditions that could interfere with eye-tracking or pupillometry data quality.

Patients with severe Alcohol Use Disorder (sAUD)

  • Meet DSM-5 criteria for severe Alcohol Use Disorder.
  • Be tested during the third week of abstinence.
  • Have no history of neurological, endocrinal, or infectious disease, diagnosed anxiety or depressive disorder, or other substance use disorder (except tobacco).

Patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)

  • Meet DSM-5 criteria for a current Major Depressive Episode.
  • Have no history of neurological disease, severe alcohol use disorder, other substance use disorder (except tobacco), or other psychiatric disorders (e.g., bipolar disorder, schizophrenia).

Patients with severe Alcohol Use Disorder and Depressive Symptoms (sAUD+DS)

  • Meet the same inclusion criteria as the sAUD group.
  • Present moderate to severe depressive symptoms persisting after withdrawal, confirmed by a clinical diagnosis using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI).

Healthy Controls (HC)

  • Recruited from the general population, matched to patients for age, sex, and education.
  • Have no current or past psychiatric or neurological disorder.
  • Present subclinical levels of alcohol consumption (AUDIT score <7 for men, <6 for women) and depressive symptoms (BDI-II score <10).

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Cognitive impairment, uncorrected visual deficits, or any condition preventing understanding of instructions or reliable task performance (e.g., major attention or comprehension difficulties);
  • Ophthalmological conditions that could compromise eye-tracking or pupillometry data quality;
  • Dermatological conditions or excessive sweating that may interfere with electrodermal and cardiac activity recording;
  • Cardiac conditions or devices that could affect ECG recording (e.g., pacemaker, defibrillator, severe uncontrolled arrhythmias), or use of medications strongly influencing heart rate.
  • Acute intoxication or withdrawal state at the time of testing;
  • Current diagnosis of psychotic disorder, bipolar disorder, or neurological disease;
  • Pregnancy;
  • Ongoing participation in another interventional or clinical study that could interfere with behavioral or physiological measures;
  • For healthy controls: use of psychotropic medication or history of substance use disorder.

Piano di studio

Questa sezione fornisce i dettagli del piano di studio, compreso il modo in cui lo studio è progettato e ciò che lo studio sta misurando.

Come è strutturato lo studio?

Dettagli di progettazione

  • Modelli osservazionali: CASE_CONTROL
  • Prospettive temporali: PROSPECTIVE

Coorti e interventi

Gruppo / Coorte
Intervento / Trattamento
severe Alcohol Use Disorder (sAUD)

Standardized experimental protocol including: (1) completion of questionnaires assessing psycho-affective, socio-emotional, stress-related, and disorder-specific factors; (2) exposure to dynamic emotional facial expressions and emotional scenes to assess emotional recognition and reactivity; (3) recording of eye-tracking, pupillometry, electrodermal activity, and cardiac activity responses; (4) assessment of bodily sensations using an emotional body map; (5) salivary and hair cortisol collection; and (6) follow-up clinical assessments at 6 and 12 months. Procedures are identical across all study groups.

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)

Standardized experimental protocol including: (1) completion of questionnaires assessing psycho-affective, socio-emotional, stress-related, and disorder-specific factors; (2) exposure to dynamic emotional facial expressions and emotional scenes to assess emotional recognition and reactivity; (3) recording of eye-tracking, pupillometry, electrodermal activity, and cardiac activity responses; (4) assessment of bodily sensations using an emotional body map; (5) salivary and hair cortisol collection; and (6) follow-up clinical assessments at 6 and 12 months. Procedures are identical across all study groups.

Comorbid sAUD and Depressive Symptoms (sAUD+DS)

Standardized experimental protocol including: (1) completion of questionnaires assessing psycho-affective, socio-emotional, stress-related, and disorder-specific factors; (2) exposure to dynamic emotional facial expressions and emotional scenes to assess emotional recognition and reactivity; (3) recording of eye-tracking, pupillometry, electrodermal activity, and cardiac activity responses; (4) assessment of bodily sensations using an emotional body map; (5) salivary and hair cortisol collection; and (6) follow-up clinical assessments at 6 and 12 months. Procedures are identical across all study groups.

Healthy Controls (HC)

Standardized experimental protocol including: (1) completion of questionnaires assessing psycho-affective, socio-emotional, stress-related, and disorder-specific factors; (2) exposure to dynamic emotional facial expressions and emotional scenes to assess emotional recognition and reactivity; (3) recording of eye-tracking, pupillometry, electrodermal activity, and cardiac activity responses; (4) assessment of bodily sensations using an emotional body map; (5) salivary and hair cortisol collection; and (6) follow-up clinical assessments at 6 and 12 months. Procedures are identical across all study groups.

Cosa sta misurando lo studio?

Misure di risultato primarie

Misura del risultato
Misura Descrizione
Lasso di tempo
Multidimensional assessment of emotional recognition and emotional reactivity to dynamic emotional stimuli
Lasso di tempo: Throughout the entire study, during approximately 22 months

Participants are exposed to dynamic emotional stimuli (facial expressions and emotional scenes). Five dimensions are measured: (1) Emotional recognition, facial expression task only: accuracy rate and reaction time ; (2) Self-report: ratings of emotion type, intensity and valence ; (3) Behavioral: eye-tracking indices such as gaze patterns, number and duration of fixations, and saccades within areas of interest ; (4) Physiology: pupillometry (pupil size variations), electrodermal activity (skin conductance responses), and cardiac activity (heart rate, heart rate variability, and cardiac deceleration) ; (5) Interoception, emotional scene task only: self-reported bodily sensations on a body map.

All measures are compared between the four groups.

Throughout the entire study, during approximately 22 months

Misure di risultato secondarie

Misura del risultato
Misura Descrizione
Lasso di tempo
Relationships between emotional recognition and emotional reactivity (self-reported, behavioral and physiological)
Lasso di tempo: Throughout the entire study, during approximately 22 months

Within each group, associations are examined between emotional recognition (facial expression task: accuracy rate and reaction time) and measures of emotional reactivity to dynamic emotional stimuli (self-reported emotional ratings ; eye-tracking measures ; pupil size variations; skin conductance responses; and cardiac activity).

The consistency between subjective ratings and objective responses is also assessed for each emotion, to identify congruence or discrepancy.

Associations are compared between each patient group and healthy controls.

Throughout the entire study, during approximately 22 months
Associations of emotional recognition and reactivity with psycho-affective, socio-emotional, stress, interoceptive and disorder-specific factors
Lasso di tempo: Throughout the entire study, during approximately 22 months

Within each group, associations are examined between emotional processing (emotional recognition and emotional reactivity, as defined in the primary outcome measures) and: (1) psycho-affective factors (depressive and anxiety symptoms, BDI/STAI; rumination, RSS); (2) socio-emotional abilities (emotion regulation strategies, DERS; interpersonal problems, IIP); (3) stress markers (salivary and hair cortisol levels); (4) interoceptive abilities; (5) disorder-specific characteristics (duration of current or past depressive or alcohol use disorder).

The role of these factors as mediators or moderators is also tested in the relationships between emotional processing and depressive severity (BDI) or alcohol consumption (AUDIT).

Associations are compared between each patient group and healthy controls.

Throughout the entire study, during approximately 22 months
Prediction of clinical status at 6 and 12 months by baseline emotional recognition and reactivity
Lasso di tempo: Throughout the entire study, during approximately 22 months

Baseline emotional recognition and emotional reactivity (as defined in the primary outcome measures) are tested as predictors of clinical status at 6 and 12 months in participants with sAUD, MDD and sAUD+DS.

Clinical status is assessed during follow-up phone calls and includes: (1) relapse; (2) alcohol consumption (AUDIT); (3) presence and severity of depressive symptoms (BDI).

Throughout the entire study, during approximately 22 months

Collaboratori e investigatori

Qui è dove troverai le persone e le organizzazioni coinvolte in questo studio.

Sponsor

Collaboratori

Studiare le date dei record

Queste date tengono traccia dell'avanzamento della registrazione dello studio e dell'invio dei risultati di sintesi a ClinicalTrials.gov. I record degli studi e i risultati riportati vengono esaminati dalla National Library of Medicine (NLM) per assicurarsi che soddisfino specifici standard di controllo della qualità prima di essere pubblicati sul sito Web pubblico.

Studia le date principali

Inizio studio (Effettivo)

2 novembre 2026

Completamento primario (Stimato)

1 settembre 2028

Completamento dello studio (Stimato)

1 settembre 2028

Date di iscrizione allo studio

Primo inviato

3 novembre 2026

Primo inviato che soddisfa i criteri di controllo qualità

3 novembre 2026

Primo Inserito (Effettivo)

9 novembre 2026

Aggiornamenti dei record di studio

Ultimo aggiornamento pubblicato (Effettivo)

9 novembre 2026

Ultimo aggiornamento inviato che soddisfa i criteri QC

3 novembre 2026

Ultimo verificato

1 novembre 2026

Maggiori informazioni

Termini relativi a questo studio

Altri numeri di identificazione dello studio

  • B4032025000122
  • 2025/11DEC/520 (Altro identificatore: Comité d'éthique hospitalo-facultaire Saint-Luc - UCLouvain)

Piano per i dati dei singoli partecipanti (IPD)

Hai intenzione di condividere i dati dei singoli partecipanti (IPD)?

NO

Informazioni su farmaci e dispositivi, documenti di studio

Studia un prodotto farmaceutico regolamentato dalla FDA degli Stati Uniti

No

Studia un dispositivo regolamentato dalla FDA degli Stati Uniti

No

Queste informazioni sono state recuperate direttamente dal sito web clinicaltrials.gov senza alcuna modifica. In caso di richieste di modifica, rimozione o aggiornamento dei dettagli dello studio, contattare register@clinicaltrials.gov. Non appena verrà implementata una modifica su clinicaltrials.gov, questa verrà aggiornata automaticamente anche sul nostro sito web .