How does memory affect our experience of CBT?
Research type
Research Study
Full title
How does memory affect our experience of cognitive behavioural therapy?
IRAS ID
290146
Contact name
Caitlin Hitchcock
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Cambridge
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 1 months, 31 days
Research summary
Individuals suffering from common mental health challenges have a tendency to recall their personal past – their autobiographical memories - in particular ways. The personal past tends to be retrieved as generalised summaries (e.g., ‘nothing ever works for me’) which commonly focus on negative information. This is at the cost of remembering specific experiences of one time that something happened (e.g., ‘on Friday my oven broke’). A tendency toward overly general summaries becomes problematic when completing evidence-based psychological interventions such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) which require the individual to recall specific instances which are inconsistent with, and thereby challenge, the dysfunctional beliefs which drive symptoms. Recent studies have also demonstrated that deficits in autobiographical memory reduce problem solving and the ability to imagine the future – skills which are also integral to the efficacious completion of CBT tasks.
This study will explore whether autobiographical memory problems may reduce an individual’s clinical response to online-CBT, delivered by Ieso Digital Health as part of routine treatment in an NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) service. Participants will be asked to complete an online version of the Autobiographical Memory Task, the gold-standard assessment of specificity vs generality of autobiographical memory retrieval, once before treatment, once halfway through treatment, and once after treatment. The specificity vs generality of memory retrieval will be analysed as a predictor of treatment outcome. Treatment outcomes will be operationalised using scores on the standard IAPT measures of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Generalised Anxiety Disorder Assessment-7 (GAD-7), which measure depression and anxiety, respectively.
This project will advance knowledge of what stops patients from benefitting from treatment. Critically, we have effective memory-based interventions that improve both memory problems and symptoms, providing a clear translational pathway through which the current project may enhance future treatment efficacy.
REC name
London - Hampstead Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/PR/0673
Date of REC Opinion
14 Dec 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion