Incorporating Positive Affect Promoting Activities Into Cognitive Behavioral Therapies
Key facts
- Who runs it
- Ohio State University
- Where
- Columbus, United StatesSee the site
- Trial code
- Status
- Completed
- People taking part
- 90 people enrolled
- Started
- 1 Sept 2022
- Ended
- 1 Apr 2024
- Type of study
- Interventional, 2 groupsOne group gets an existing treatment, for comparison.
- Treatments tested
- Psychotherapy, Positive Affect Promoting Activities
- Psychotherapy
- Record updated
- 22 June 2025
Who can take part
- Age
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- Women and men
- Healthy volunteers
- Cannot take part
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 12 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- 18 years old or older
- residence in the state of Ohio
- able and willing to give informed consent
Who cannot take part
- current or past diagnosis of bipolar disorder or a psychotic disorder
- presence of a psychiatric disorder other than Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) or BPD, if it constitutes the predominant aspect of the clinical presentation and if it requires treatment other than that being offered (including substance use disorders involving heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine deemed inappropriate at pre-screening)
- currently participating in a psychosocial treatment for an emotional disorder, including any individual psychotherapy
- if on psychiatric medication, no changes to medication regimen (drugs or dosage) in the past month and no intention to modify medication regimen for the next 12 weeks
- clear indication of secondary gain (e.g., court-ordered treatment)
- current suicide risk of medical instability (e.g., low weight) to preclude treatment on an outpatient basis
Other criteria
- Clinic-specific inclusion criteria are as follows. For the clinic providing CBT for depression, participants must meet criteria for a diagnosis of major depressive disorder according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-5 (DSM-5). They must also be able to attend in-person sessions or have access to a reliable internet connection to participate in virtual sessions
- For the clinic providing DBT, participants must evidence severe emotion dysregulation defined as (1) meeting criteria for borderline personality disorder (BPD) or (2) elevated indicators of borderline personality pathology defined as average scores of 1.5 on the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5) Negative Affectivity scale and 1.25 on the Antagonism scale and/or 1.25 on the Disinhibition scale. They must also be willing and able to attend in-person sessions
- Across both clinics, the following inclusion and exclusion criteria will be applied:
Where in United States
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State UniversityColumbus, United States
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
In this study, the investigators will test whether the incorporation of positive affect promoting activities in treatment sessions improves outcomes in the context of CBT for depression and DBT for problems of emotion dysregulation. In clinics focused on each of these treatments, the investigators will evaluate these treatments with and without the addition of positive affect promoting activities.
The 2 groups in the trial
- Treatment as UsualExisting treatment, for comparison
Participants in the TAU arm will receive either Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), depending on eligibility. CBT will be twice weekly sessions for the first four weeks. From week 4 to week 8, the therapist and client will collaboratively decide whether to have once or twice weekly sessions. From week 8 to week 12, sessions will be weekly. Acute treatment will end after 12 weeks. In DBT, individual sessions will be approximately one hour per week, with optional additional or longer sessions available if deemed clinically necessary, and group sessions will be scheduled for two hours once per week.
Treatment: Psychotherapy
- TAU + Positive Affect Promoting ActivitiesTreatment being tested
Those assigned to the PAPA condition will also receive either CBT or DBT, as described above, and additionally will be asked to participate in positive affective promoting activities. In session positive affective promoting activities are to be provided once per week for the first four weeks of treatment and up to once per session for the remaining sessions. Clients will also be encouraged to utilize positive affect promoting activities between sessions.
Treatment: Psychotherapy, Positive Affect Promoting Activities and Psychotherapy
Data and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- Incorporating Positive Affect Into Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression and Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder and Severe Emotion Dysregulation
- Record updated
- 22 June 2025