Online Cognitive Control Training for Remitted Depressed Patients

Online Cognitive Control Training for Remitted Depressed Patients

This study evaluates the effectiveness of an internet-delivered cognitive control training as a preventive intervention for remitted depressed patients. Half of the participants will receive a cognitive control training, while the other half will receive a low cognitive load training that acts as an active control condition.

Prospective studies have linked impaired cognitive control to increased cognitive vulnerability for future depression. Importantly, experimental studies indicate that cognitive control training can be used to reduce rumination and depressive symptomatology in MDD (major depressive disorder) and RMD (remitted depressed) samples. Provided that remitted depressed patients form a high-risk group for developing future depressive episodes, the current study will explore whether an internet-delivered cognitive control training can be used to reduce vulnerability for future depression in remitted depressed patients.

A computer training, consisting of 10 sessions of 15 minutes each, will be administered to participants, which are remitted depressed patients. This training can either be a cognitive control training, using an adaptive paced auditory serial addition task, or an active control training, with a low cognitive load task.

Dependent variables will be assessed pre- and post-training, as well as 3 and 6 months after the training, and consist of depressive symptomatology, related variables and cognitive control measures.

Inclusion Criteria:

• History of ≥ 1 depressive episodes (major or bipolar)
• Currently in stable full or partial remission (≥ 3 months)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Major depressive disorder (current or less than 3 months in remission)
• Bipolar disorder (current or less than 3 months in remission)
• Psychotic disorder (current and/or previous)
• Neurological impairments (current and/or previous)
• Excessive substance abuse (current and/or previous)
• No ongoing psychotherapeutic treatment (maintenance treatment is allowed, but with a frequency of less than once every three weeks)
• Use of antidepressant medication is allowed if kept at a constant level