Evaluation of implicit-referential thoughts and cognitive fusion.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Evaluation of implicit self-referential thoughts in people with depression and their association with cognitive fusion, self-esteem and psychological distress.
IRAS ID
218258
Contact name
Sarah Berger
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 4 months, 29 days
Research summary
Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a behaviour therapy that focuses on increasing psychological flexibility. This requires a person to not attempt to avoid or control their inevitable unwanted life events, but to accept their present experience and choose behaviour that is value oriented. To achieve a more meaningful life and greater psychological flexibility, ACT utilises six processes; acceptance, cognitive defusion, self-as-context, being present, valued goals and committed action.\n\nThe research will involve recruiting 30 individuals who have accessed Coventry and Warwickshire Mind or Kaleidoscope Birmingham for depression. These individuals will be recruited by staff working in these services, using a predetermined criteria. The CI will contact those who consent to take part by telephone. These individuals will be asked, to complete five validated questionnaires whilst in the presence of the researcher. These questionnaires will measure self-esteem, depression, cognitive fusion, social desirability and experiential avoidance, acceptance and action. Additionally, a computerised task will be administered using the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP, Barnes-Holmes et al., 2006). This procedure will measure implicitly, whether participants perceive themselves as the content of their thoughts or can separate themselves from this content. The total length of time to complete these tasks is expected to be no more than one hour. \n\nThe aim of this research is to explore whether people who are clinically depressed and who struggle with low self-esteem are more likely to adopt compromised sense of self to understand if experimental data can support ACT interventions. A secondary aim will be to assess whether the IRAP can help to account for more variance of severity of low self-esteem and psychological distress than self-report measures alone. This is of importance as it will provide scientific evidence for the application of ACT interventions supporting individuals experiencing depression to justify such interventions implemented in this process.
REC name
London - Camberwell St Giles Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/0367
Date of REC Opinion
9 Mar 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion