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Understanding Reactions to Emotional Material in the Media During COVID-19

NCT04608097 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 74

Last updated 2021-04-30

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

This feasibility study aims to adapt a protocol usually run in the laboratory in the Psychology Department for healthy participants (including the trauma film paradigm (James et al., 2016) and a simple cognitive task intervention) to remote (online) delivery. The motivation for this was restrictions to running in person laboratory experiments during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Participants will view film footage with COVID-19 related and potentially traumatic content (e.g. of seriously ill or dying patients in hospitals). Following film viewing, participants will be randomly allocated to either the experimental condition (simple cognitive task intervention, i.e. a memory cue followed by playing the computer game "Tetris" with mental rotation instructions) or the control condition (attention placebo, i.e., a memory cue followed by listening to a podcast for a similar duration). Any intrusive memories induced by the film (analogue trauma) will be monitored in a daily diary. It is predicted that the film (analogue trauma) will generate intrusive memories. If intrusive memories are generated, then it is predicted that participants in the experimental condition will report fewer intrusive memories related to the film (analogue trauma) during the following week than participants in the control condition.

The development of this paradigm may inform the future development of a simple technique to prevent intrusive memories e.g. after repeated media consumption related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conditions

  • Healthy Participants
  • Intrusive Memories

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Simple cognitive task intervention

A memory cue followed by playing the computer game "Tetris" (on own smartphone) with mental rotation instructions for ca. 12 minutes.

BEHAVIORAL

Attention Placebo

A memory cue followed by listening to a podcast (on own smartphone) for ca. 12 minutes.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Uppsala University

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Emily Holmes, Prof · Uppsala University

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
DOUBLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
65 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2020-10-28
Primary Completion
2021-03-12
Completion
2021-03-12

Countries

  • Sweden

Study Locations

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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 NCT04608097 on ClinicalTrials.gov