Death Anxiety, Depression and Anxiety: An Experimental Study
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age18-65
SponsorBabes-Bolyai University
About this trial
The goal of this experimental study is to investigate the transdiagnostic role of death anxiety in depression and anxiety symptoms in participants from the general population.
The main questions it aims to answer are:
1. Does the mortality salience task induce death anxiety? 2. Does the experimental group present an increase in depression and anxiety symptoms following the mortality salience task?
The investigators will compare the experimental condition to a control condition to see if the death anxiety induction is responsible for the expected increase in depression and anxiety symptoms.
The mortality salience prompt will be asking participants to elaborate on their thoughts and feelings surrounding death and dying, including what they think happens during death. The dental pain prompt will ask participants to do the same, only in regards to the thought of having dental pain.
Experimental group: participants will undergo a pen-and-paper writing task where they will be asked to answer two questions:
1. "Please briefly describe the emotions that the thought of your own death arouses in you." 2. "Jot down, as specifically as you can, what you think will happen to you physically as you die and once you are physically dead."
Control group:
1. "Please briefly describe the emotions that the thought of dental pain arouses in you." 2. "Jot down, as specifically as you can, what you think happens to you physically as you experience dental pain and once you have physically experienced dental pain."
Eligibility criteria
This trial accepts healthy volunteersQualifiers
Age over 18 years.
Living in Cluj-Napoca (or otherwise willing and able to participate in the lab task)
Disqualifiers
Personality disorder diagnosis
Psychotic disorder diagnosis
Suicidal ideation
Trial design
Design model
Parallel
Treatments tested in this trial
Mortality Salience Prompts
BehavioralThis intervention implies giving two prompts to participants, in a written format, while asking them to write out answers to the given prompts. The first prompt is: "Please briefly describe the emotions that the thought of your death arouses in you." The second prompt is "Jot down, as specifically as you can, what you think will happen to you physically as you die and once you are physically dead."
Dental Pain Prompts
BehavioralThis intervention implies giving two prompts to participants, and requesting that participants write out their answers to these prompts. The first prompt is: "Please briefly describe the emotions that the thought of dental pain arouses in you." The second prompt is: "Jot down, as specifically as you can, what you think happens to you physically as you experience dental pain and once you have physically experienced dental pain."
Treatment groups
128 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groupsGroup A: Mortality PrimedExperimental treatment 1 intervention
Group B: Dental Pain PrimedPlacebo comparator 1 intervention
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
1
Collet-Lester Fear of Death Scale - Revised (CLFD-R)
The Revised version of the Collet-Lester Fear of Death Scale (CLFD-R) is a validated self-report instrument assessing fear and anxiety in regards to death and dying. The scale is comprised of 32 items that are answered from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much) Possible scores range from 32 to 160. Higher scores indicate worse death anxiety.
Time frame
Baseline (Day 1), After the experimental task (Day 14)Secondary outcomes
1
The Generalized Anxiety Disorder - 7
The Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item Scale (GAD-7) is a validated self-report instrument that measures symptoms of generalized anxiety. It consists of 7 items rated on a 4-point scale from 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day). Total scores range from 0 to 21. Higher scores indicate worse anxiety symptoms.
Time frame
Baseline (Day 1), After the experimental task (Day 14)2
Patient Health Questionnaire - 9
The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) is a validated self-report instrument assessing symptoms of depression. It consists of 9 items, each rated on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 (not at all) to 3 (almost every day). Total scores range from 0 to 27. Higher scores indicate worse depression symptoms.
Time frame
Baseline (Day 1), After the experimental task (Day 14)3
State and Trait Anxiety Inventory - State subscale
The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) is a validated self-report instrument assessing both state and trait anxiety. In this case, the State Anxiety subscale will be used, which is comprised of 20 items, each rated on a 4-point scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 4 (very much so). Possible scores range from 20 to 80. Higher score indicate higher state anxiety levels.
Time frame
Baseline (Day 1), After the experimental task (Day 14)Sponsors and contacts
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Source ClinicalTrials.gov