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Improving Attentional and Cognitive Control in the Psychological Treatment of Intrusive Thoughts

NCT04225624 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 65

Last updated 2026-03-10

Study results available
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Summary

The investigators are conducting this study to learn more about the cognitive and attentional processes among individuals with three types of repetitive negative thinking (RNT): mental rituals (as seen in obsessive compulsive disorder, OCD), worries (as seen in generalized anxiety disorder, GAD), and ruminations (as seen in major depressive disorder, MDD). Specifically, the investigators are studying whether psychological treatment can help people with RNT who have trouble stopping unwanted thoughts and shifting their attention.

Conditions

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Emotion Regulation Therapy - Attention Regulation (AR-ERT)

Participants will receive a total of eight 60 minute sessions (over 8 weeks) of individual, manual-based AR-ERT. This intervention aims to build attention regulation skills (i.e., the ability to flexibly shift and sustain attention) by teaching participants exercises for Orienting their attention and Allowing the presence of negative emotions. Participants are taught to apply these skills to counteract reactive perseverative thinking when negative emotions arise as well as proactively engage with emotion-laden situations that trigger repetitive negative thinking.

BEHAVIORAL

Supportive Psychotherapy (SPT)

Participants will receive a total of eight 60 minute sessions (over 8 weeks) of individual, manual-based SPT. This intervention addresses factors that may affect participants' repetitive negative thinking symptoms (for example, relationships, work, stress), and teaches skills for managing challenges by improving self-esteem and positive coping skills.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

    collaborator NIH

  • Massachusetts General Hospital

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Ryan J Jacoby, Ph.D. · Massachusetts General Hospital

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
60 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2021-04-30
Primary Completion
2025-01-22
Completion
2025-04-09

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT04225624 on ClinicalTrials.gov