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Behavioral Activation for Anhedonia

N/A

Waitlist Available

Led By Gabriel S Dichter, PhD

Research Sponsored by University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Eligibility Criteria Checklist

Specific guidelines that determine who can or cannot participate in a clinical trial

Must have

Be between 18 and 65 years old

Timeline

Screening 3 weeks

Treatment Varies

Follow Up baseline, post-treatment (between 8 to 15 weeks)

Awards & highlights

No Placebo-Only Group

Summary

This trial is testing a new therapy called BATA that helps people with anhedonia, a condition where they struggle to feel pleasure or motivation. The therapy encourages them to engage in meaningful activities and reduces avoidance behaviors. The goal is to see if this can improve their brain's response to rewards and overall mental health. Behavioral Activation Therapy (BAT) has been shown to improve reward seeking and reduce depression.

Eligible Conditions

Anhedonia

Timeline

Screening ~ 3 weeks3 visits

Treatment ~ Varies

Follow Up ~ baseline, post-treatment (between 8 to 15 weeks)

Screening ~ 3 weeks

Treatment ~ Varies

Follow Up ~baseline, post-treatment (between 8 to 15 weeks)

This trial's timeline: 3 weeks for screening, Varies for treatment, and baseline, post-treatment (between 8 to 15 weeks) for reporting.

Treatment Details

Study Objectives

Study objectives can provide a clearer picture of what you can expect from a treatment.

Primary study objectives

Change in Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale Score Over Time

Secondary study objectives

Change in Neural Activation During MID Task Anticipation Phase

Change in Neural Activation During MID Task Outcome Phase

Awards & Highlights

No Placebo-Only Group

All patients enrolled in this study will receive some form of active treatment.

Trial Design

2Treatment groups

Experimental Treatment

Active Control

Group I: Behavioral ActivationExperimental Treatment1 Intervention

Treatment will consist of 15 weekly 45-minute sessions. Session 1 provides orientation and psychoeducation on anhedonia, and activity monitoring is introduced. Sessions 2-3 include structured values assessments of 10 life areas to enhance motivation for sustained behavior change and to clarify goals. Following goals clarification, an activity hierarchy is developed, establishing a set of idiographic behavioral targets across life areas prioritized by ease of implementation to scaffold task engagement during the course of treatment.

Group II: Mindfulness TreatmentActive Control1 Intervention

BATA will be compared to mindfulness based cognitive therapy (MBCT), chosen because its mechanisms of action are hypothesized to impact different brain mechanisms than BATA. Mindfulness is nonjudgmentally bringing awareness and acceptance to one's present-moment experience. MBCT will be administered in an individual format. The MBCT protocol will be modeled on the session outlines presented in Wahbeh et al., 2014. Treatment will be compromised of 15 weekly 45-minute sessions.

Treatment

First Studied

Drug Approval Stage

How many patients have taken this drug

Behavioral Activation

2013

Completed Phase 3

~2900

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