Decision-making Impairments in OCD: An Integrated Behavioral Economics Model

Mass General Brigham

Status: Completed

Conditions: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Treatments: Behavioral: Decision-Making Tasks

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03420495

2017P002668

Details and patient eligibility

About

The investigators are examining whether conditions of ambiguity during decision-making may prime intolerance of uncertainty beliefs (i.e., difficulties coping with ambiguity, unpredictability, and the future) and lead to impaired performance when individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are making uncertain decisions compared to non-psychiatric controls.

Full description

The primary aims of this study are to examine the extent to which individuals with OCD avoid decisions that involve ambiguity through the use of self-report and behavioral measures. Specifically, the investigators will examine how individuals with OCD minimize risk at the expense of monetary profit under conditions of ambiguity (relative to risky but unambiguous options) compared to non-psychiatric controls utilizing a series of judgment and decision-making (JDM) tasks.

Enrollment: 69 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Adults (age 18+)
• Meet DSM-5 criteria for principal OCD (OCD group) or no current DSM-5 diagnosis (NPC group).
• Sufficient fluency of English to understand study procedures and questionnaires
• Ability to provide informed consent.
• Comfortable and capable of using a computer to complete computer-based decision-making tasks.

Exclusion criteria

• Color-blindness (which prevents completion of certain tasks)
• Acute psychosis, bipolar disorder, substance use disorder, or suicidality. All other diagnostic comorbidities will be permitted to foster the accrual of a clinically relevant sample.
• Serious neurological disorder or impairment (e.g., brain damage, blindness), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), intellectual disability, or autism.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Diagnostic

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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69 participants in 2 patient groups

OCD Group

Experimental group

Description:

Meet Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) criteria for principal OCD. These participants will complete clinician interviews, self-report questionnaires, and receive the Decision-Making Tasks Intervention.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Decision-Making Tasks

Non-psychiatric Control Group

Experimental group

Description:

No current DSM-5 diagnosis. These participants will also complete clinician interviews, self-report questionnaires, and receive the Decision-Making Tasks Intervention.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Decision-Making Tasks