Tokyo, June 1 -- UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN-CTR) received information related to the study (UMIN000061634) titled 'Examining the effectiveness of future specificity training in Japan' on May 31.

Study Type: Interventional

Study Design: Basic Design - Parallel Randomization - Randomized Blinding - Double blind -all involved are blinded Control - Placebo

Primary Sponsor: Institute - Shinshu University

Condition: Condition - Depression Classification by malignancy - Others Genomic information - NO

Objective: Narrative objectives1 - The present study aims to examine the effects of an intervention designed to enhance the specificity and detail of future thinking, namely Future Specificity Training (FeST), on involuntary future thinking (i.e., future events that come to mind automatically and unintentionally). Involuntary future thinking has traditionally been regarded as an adaptive cognitive process that occurs frequently in daily life and contributes to goal pursuit and self-motivation. However, in psychiatric conditions such as depression and anxiety disorders, involuntary future thoughts are more likely to be negatively-valenced and unrelated to personal goals, potentially contributing to rumination, avoidance behavior, and procrastination.

The FeST has been shown in randomized controlled trials to reduce depressive symptoms after only two sessions (Hallford et al., 2023), and has therefore attracted attention as a promising intervention for depression. Previous studies have demonstrated that FeST increases the detail, controllability, and perceived likelihood of voluntarily generated future thoughts (i.e., intentionally imagined future events), which in turn mediates improvements in anhedonia symptoms. However, these mediational mechanisms have only been examined in relation to voluntary future thinking, and it remains unclear whether involuntary future thinking is also involved.

The present study will bridge the gap between dysfunctions in involuntary future thinking and depression, and examine whether FeST can modify involuntary future thinking and improve depressive symptoms through such changes. This study represents the first implementation of FeST in Japan. Therefore, we will also test whether the effects reported in previous studies conducted in Australia can be replicated in a Japanese population. Basic objectives2 - Efficacy

Intervention: Interventions/Control_1 - FeST is a group-based training program designed to enhance the specificity and detail of future thinking. The intervention includes psychoeducation about future thinking, exercises for generating detailed and specific future events (positive and neutral), exercises for experiencing emotions associated with future events as well as positive emotions experienced in the present while imagining those events, and the facilitation of insight through group discussion. The program consists of two sessions conducted at one-week intervals. Following each session, participants complete homework assignments consisting of approximately five minutes practicing the generation of future thoughts associated with cue words (e.g., "happy") and practicing the generation of positive or neutral future thoughts that could occur on the following day per day. Interventions/Control_2 - Participants in the control group will be asked during the sessions to recall memories from the previous week. As homework, they will be asked to reflect on and recall their experiences of remembering those memories during the session.

Eligibility: Age-lower limit - 18 years-old

Gender - Male and Female Key inclusion criteria - 1. Experiencing depressive mood symptoms 2. Native Japanese speaker 3. Aged between 18 and 50 years Key exclusion criteria - 1. Diagnosis of schizophrenia (or having psychotic symptoms) 2. Diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder 3. Presence of organic brain disorders Target Size - 120

Recruitment Status: Recruitment status - Preinitiation Date of protocol fixation - 2026 Year 04 Month 30 Day Date of IRB - 2026 Year 04 Month 30 Day Anticipated trial start date - 2026 Year 07 Month 03 Day Last follow-up date - 2028 Year 03 Month 31 Day

To know more, visit https://center6.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr_e/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000070510

Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.