A Novel Conditioning Approach to Counter Loneliness in Adults

Education University of Hong Kong

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Loneliness

Treatments: Behavioral: Conditioning with neutral stimuli; Behavioral: Evaluative Conditioning with positive stimuli

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06521099

E2022-2023-0082

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study aims to test the efficacy of a 6-session conditioning paradigm by investigating the conditioning-induced change in the socio-affective processing, loneliness, depressive symptoms, and neural correlates of lonely adults.

Full description

Potential participants will first be invited to complete a loneliness questionnaire online. Lonely adults will then be invited to undergo further screening. At baseline prior to the intervention training sessions, participants will first complete tests and questionnaires on loneliness, mood and depressive symptoms in addition to other socio-affective measures, and they will also be invited to receive resting-state functional MRI scanning in a 3T MRI scanner. Participants will then be allocated to one of the two intervention arms (the evaluative conditioning, and the control) in a randomized fashion with approximately half in each group. They will then complete the pre-conditioning phase of the allocated intervention arm, and their ratings on the stimuli presented during this phase will be assessed. In the conditioning phase, they will be invited to attend 6 sessions. After completing the conditioning phase, participants will be invited to complete the post- conditioning phase, providing ratings on the stimuli like the pre-conditioning phase. Immediately after, and also 3 months after, participants will be invited to complete again tests and questionnaires on loneliness, mood and depressive symptoms in addition to other socio-affective measures, and they will also be invited to receive resting-state functional MRI scanning in a 3T MRI scanner.

Enrollment: 136 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 55 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• No histories of learning impairment, major psychiatric disorders or neurological disorders other than depression
• Normal intelligence
• At least primary school education

Exclusion criteria

• On medication or treatments within 2 weeks prior to the beginning of the study that would affect the individual's brain, cognitive and affective functions

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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136 participants in 2 patient groups

Evaluative conditioning group with positive stimuli

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will be exposed to social stimuli paired with positive stimuli across multiple sessions.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Evaluative Conditioning with positive stimuli

Control group with neutral stimuli

Active Comparator group

Description:

Participants will be exposed to social stimuli paired with neutral stimuli across multiple sessions.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Conditioning with neutral stimuli