Volunteers wanted for study into depression

Mary Youlden
Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted Tuesday, June 23, 2015 - 2:40pm

“Evaluating a new treatment for depression”

An MSc student at the University of Exeter is running a study evaluating a new intervention for depression and is looking participants.

What is the purpose of the study?
The purpose of this study is to examine the effect positive activities have on mood. It aims to investigate if different thinking styles enhance mood during and after the experience.  Specifically this study looks at ways to increase pleasure experience in people who experience low mood.  This has clinical implications for the treatment of anhedonia (how much people enjoy positive experiences), as part of Depression.  If the treatment of anhedonia was improved, more people may recover and stay better for longer. 

Who is eligible to participate?
We are looking for people who are suffering from low mood and/or struggling to enjoy every day positive activities.  Participants must be 18 years or over and speak fluent English.

What will I have to do?
If you take part, you will be asked to attend two testing sessions at the Washington Singer Laboratories, Exeter, at a time that is convenient to you. The first session will last no more than 90 minutes and the second approximately 60 minutes. In session one you will be asked to fill in questionnaires regarding past and present mental health conditions, specific personality characteristics and thinking style.  You will also be required to go for a short walk nearby and complete a very short positively orientated lab task and then answer questions about how you feel in relation to these.  Following this laboratory session, you will be required to complete 5 chosen positive activities, on 5 different days, over the next 7 days and record ratings of your mood at these times. On some occasions participants will also be asked to complete 4 worksheets during the week at home.  The second lab session will consist of two more similar positive activities and fill out some questionnaires.  The last part of the study will be a follow up online set of questionnaires a week after the 2nd lab session, which can be done from home in 5-10 minutes.

Remuneration
You will receive £15 for completing the study, which will be handed out in the second lab session.

Are there any risks in taking part?
There are no significant risks associated with this study. However, you may experience a transient low mood when answering questions about past or present experience of depression or other related mental health conditions. If you do experience low mood, this will be short lasting in nature and not last beyond the experimental session.  Although the activities are aimed to be enjoyable, there is a risk of experiencing frustration or disappointment if they do not turn out to be.  If you do experience any upset or anxiety during the experiment, you are free to withdraw at any time and we will offer you a full debrief meeting with a clinical psychologist on our team. For ethical reasons we cannot accept anyone who is actively suicidal to participate in the study.

Confidentiality and Withdrawal
This study has received ethical approval from the Ethics Committee of the University of Exeter. The data we collect will be strictly confidential. Only the investigators will have access to the data. Results from the study will be written up as part of an MSc Project. Results will be presented in such a way that individual data will not be identifiable. You are free to decide not to take part in the study and can withdraw from the study at any time and for whatever reason. If you do decide not to take part or to withdraw you do not need to explain your reasons to us if you do not want to and can still receive £10 (if an ethical reason for withdrawal is given). 

In exceptional circumstances the researcher will ask a participant not to take part in the study, such as if they are actively suicidal.  

If you would like any further information about the project and/or would like to take part, please contact:

Harriet Bunker-Smith (hb323@exeter.ac.uk)

Masters student (MSc)

University of Exeter

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