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Affective Touch, Hedonia and Suicidal Behavior

NCT05182827 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 72

Last updated 2025-01-10

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Several elements suggest that suicidal vulnerability may be associated with an alteration in the perception of affective touch. On the one hand, anhedonia, characterized by a decrease in the pleasure felt, is strongly associated with suicidal ideation, independently of depression. However, the ability to feel pleasure is essential in the perception of affective touch. On the other hand, suicidal behaviors are associated with interpersonal difficulties, of which communication is an integral part, and communication is partly through touch.

The investigators therefore wish to explore the perception of affective touch in suicidal behavior by using an affective tactile stimulation in 72 subjects with and without a history of suicide attempts (SA).

Conditions

  • Major Depressive Episode
  • Suicidal and Self-injurious Behavior

Interventions

OTHER

Tactile stimulation

The experimental task aims to evaluate the hedonic nature of an affective touch by tactile stimulation. It consists in stimulating two adjacent regions of the left forearm, delimited and marked, of 9 cm x 4 cm each. In order to limit habituation, the stimulation areas will be alternated. To stimulate these areas, the investigator (previously trained) strokes the participant with a brush at an optimal speed to stimulate the C-fibers (3 cm/s; slow speed) or not (18 cm/s; fast speed). Touch will consist of 30 seconds blocks of stimulation, performed on one of the two identified areas, from the elbow to the wrist. In total, 6 stimulation blocks will be done (3 slow and 3 fast), the order and location of which will be random in order to limit habituation. This stimulation is completely painless. After each block, the participant will evaluate the intensity of the stimulation and its pleasantness.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • University Hospital, Montpellier

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
65 Years
Sex
FEMALE
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2022-02-11
Primary Completion
2024-09-09
Completion
2024-09-09

Countries

  • France

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 NCT05182827 on ClinicalTrials.gov