CURED: Cognitive Bias Modification Utilized to Rectify Errors for Depression
Overview
About the Study
This study is testing the effectiveness of a procedure for depression called ‘CURED’ to see whether it is effective in reducing distress associated with depression. CURED is a self-administered procedure that has been developed by combining research on biases in depression with tried and tested techniques that can change these biases. However, it is important you understand that the name of the study (CURED) does not imply a promise to “cure” depression. This study is the first stage of trying to understand whether there are any benefits of this procedure and, if so, how long they last.
What will it involve?
If you consent to participating in the study, you will be randomly allocated to one of the two study procedures, the CURED procedure or the control procedure. The sessions for both groups will be delivered once a week for 6 weeks, in a self-administered format using paper booklets. In the sessions, you will be presented with 40 scenarios consisting of 3 sentences each, describing a daily ambiguous event. After reading each scenario, you will complete a missing word task and answer a question about that scenario. After completing each session, you will also be asked to complete a short questionnaire straight away. We expect each weekly session to take 45 minutes and the questionnaires to take an additional 15 minutes to complete. Together, this would mean allocating one hour per week for 6 weeks for the study.
Who are we looking to recruit?
We are looking for participants with the following criteria:
- Age 18 years or older
- Experiences depressive thoughts and mood
Further eligibility criteria will be checked by our research team over the phone at which time some questions about your emotional well-being will be asked.
Rewards and Expenses
As a reimbursement for your time, you will be paid £80 in total. You will receive £60 when you have completed the study procedures and another £20 after the last assessment. Payments will be in the form of Vex eGift cards.
Are you interested in taking part in this study?
Planned end date
07 Jan 2026 11:26Conditions
DepressionInclusion Criteria
The sample of the study will consist of adults who meet the diagnostic criteria for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).
Screening for eligibility will be constituted from two stages:
— The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) with a cut-off score of 15 as an inclusion criterion (14 and above is suggested as ‘’mild depression’’; Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996) will be administered by email.
— Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.; Sheehan et al., 1998) will be administrated by phone to confirm the clinical status (MDD).
The reason for two-staged eligibility assessment is the previous findings showing that the agreement between measurements and clinician’s evaluation of the clinical status of the patient, while adequate, still has some inconsistencies (Löwe et al., 2004; Williams, Noel, Cordes, Ramirez & Pignone, 2002). Further inclusion criteria will be:
— Being over 18 years of age.
Exclusion Criteria
The exclusion criteria will be:
1- Having a mental or physical condition that impedes the completion of the study tasks,
2- Having received psychotherapy within the last 2 months before participating in the study,
3- If having used, changes in medication within the last 2 months before participating in the study and changes in medication during the study (changing the dose, dropping the medication, or starting to a new type of medication),
4- Significant psychopathological comorbidity other than generalized anxiety disorder,
5- A previous head injury resulted in a loss of consciousness,
6- Reporting any suicidal thoughts in the eligibility screening,
7- Taking part in an interventional study aiming to improve mental health or cognitive functions during the time of participation.
8- Those who start psychiatric medication in the follow-up period will be excluded from further analyses.