[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"health-study-detail:100622775":3},{"organization":4,"armGroups":7,"interventions":24,"overallOfficials":38,"centralContacts":42,"locations":51,"responsibleParty":71,"collaborators":73,"id":76,"slug":77,"hasResults":78,"nctId":79,"briefTitle":80,"officialTitle":81,"acronym":82,"eligibilityCriteria":83,"healthyVolunteers":78,"sex":84,"minAge":85,"maxAge":86,"enrollmentInfo":87,"targetDuration":23,"studyType":90,"phases":91,"briefSummary":93,"conditions":94,"keywords":96,"overallStatus":54,"whyStopped":23,"lastUpdateSubmitDate":104,"lastUpdatePostDateStruct":105,"startDateStruct":108,"completionDateStruct":110,"leadSponsor":112,"locationsCount":113},{"fullName":5,"class":6},"Philipps University Marburg","OTHER",[8,14,19],{"label":9,"type":10,"description":11,"interventionNames":12},"Expectation-Focused Psychotherapeutic Intervention (EFPI)","EXPERIMENTAL","Participants receive 10 group therapy sessions (2 sessions per week over 5 weeks) of EFPI, a mechanism-based psychotherapy targeting maladaptive expectations.\n\nThe intervention combines psychoeducation, structured behavioral experiments, and cognitive restructuring to systematically challenge negative expectations.\n\nA central focus is reducing cognitive immunization-the tendency to dismiss or reframe positive disconfirming evidence-to foster more flexible and adaptive belief updating.\n\nSessions are conducted in small groups (5-10 participants) to facilitate peer modeling, social reinforcement, and shared learning.\n\nThe first session includes baseline clinical assessments, and the final session includes immediate post-treatment assessments.\n\nAll participants are additionally followed up at 3 and 6 months after the intervention to evaluate the persistence of treatment effects.",[13],"Behavioral: Expectation-Focused Psychotherapeutic Intervention",{"label":15,"type":10,"description":16,"interventionNames":17},"Reward Enhancement and Activation Therapy (REACT)","Participants receive 10 group therapy sessions (2 sessions per week over 5 weeks) of REACT, a mechanism-based psychotherapy designed to enhance reward sensitivity.\n\nCore intervention components include attentional retraining toward rewarding stimuli, savoring exercises to prolong positive affect, and structured reinforcement plans to strengthen motivation and engagement in rewarding activities.\n\nGroup discussions normalize difficulties in experiencing pleasure and provide strategies for sustaining rewarding behavior long-term.\n\nSessions are conducted in small groups (5-10 participants). The first session includes baseline assessments, and the final session includes immediate post-treatment assessments.\n\nLong-term outcomes are assessed through follow-up evaluations at 3- and 6-months post-intervention.",[18],"Behavioral: Reward Enhancement and Activation Therapy",{"label":20,"type":21,"description":22,"interventionNames":23},"Waiting-List Control","NO_INTERVENTION","Participants assigned to the waiting-list control condition do not receive active treatment during the initial 3-month period.\n\nThey complete baseline assessments at study entry and a follow-up assessment after 3 months, corresponding to the time frame of the active intervention arms.\n\nAfter the 3-month assessment, participants are ethically permitted to pursue standard care outside the study.\n\nFor comparability and long-term analyses, waiting-list participants continue to complete follow-up assessments at 6 months, including questions about any additional treatments received after the waiting-list phase.",null,[25,32],{"type":26,"name":27,"description":28,"armGroupLabels":29,"otherNames":30},"BEHAVIORAL","Expectation-Focused Psychotherapeutic Intervention","EFPI is a manualized group psychotherapy for major depressive disorder that directly targets maladaptive expectations. The treatment integrates psychoeducation, cognitive restructuring, and behavioral experiments to modify negative expectancies and reduce cognitive immunization, thereby enhancing adaptive expectation updating.\n\nDelivery: Group format (5-10 participants), 10 sessions (twice weekly for 5 weeks).",[9],[31],"EFPI",{"type":26,"name":33,"description":34,"armGroupLabels":35,"otherNames":36},"Reward Enhancement and Activation Therapy","REACT is a manualized group psychotherapy for major depressive disorder that focuses on enhancing reward sensitivity and motivation. The intervention combines attentional retraining, savoring techniques, and reinforcement-based strategies to increase engagement with rewarding stimuli and experiences.\n\nDelivery: Group format (5-10 participants), 10 sessions (twice weekly for 5 weeks).",[15],[37],"REACT",[39],{"name":40,"affiliation":5,"role":41},"Winfried Rief, Prof. Dr.","PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR",[43,48],{"name":44,"role":45,"phone":46,"phoneExt":23,"email":47},"Masia Fernanda Hoffmann, M.Sc.","CONTACT","+4917656538480","fernanda.hoffmann@uni-marburg.de",{"name":40,"role":45,"phone":49,"phoneExt":23,"email":50},"+49 6421 282 3657","rief@staff.uni-marburg.de",[52],{"facility":53,"status":54,"city":55,"state":56,"zip":57,"country":58,"countryCode":59,"cosmosGeoPoint":60,"geoPoint":65,"contacts":66},"Philipps-University Marburg","RECRUITING","Marburg","Hesse","35032","Germany","DE",{"type":61,"coordinates":62},"Point",[63,64],8.77069,50.80904,{"lat":64,"lon":63},[67,68],{"name":44,"role":45,"phone":46,"phoneExt":23,"email":47},{"name":69,"role":45,"phone":23,"phoneExt":23,"email":70},"Lukas Kirchner, Dr.","lukas.kirchner@uni-giessen.de",{"type":72,"investigatorFullName":23,"investigatorTitle":23,"investigatorAffiliation":23,"oldNameTitle":23,"oldOrganization":23},"SPONSOR",[74],{"name":75,"class":6},"German Research Foundation","100622775","group-therapy-for-major-depression-comparing-expectation-focused-and-reward-focused-psychotherapy-approaches-100622775",false,"NCT07388004","Group Therapy for Major Depression: Comparing Expectation-Focused and Reward-Focused Psychotherapy Approaches","Rewiring Expectations and Amplifying Rewards: A Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial of Mechanism-Based Group Psychotherapy for Major Depressive Disorder","PERSPECT","Inclusion Criteria:\n\n* Age: 18-80 years\n* Current diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD) according to DSM-5, confirmed by structured clinical interview (e.g., DIPS)\n* Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-21) score ≥ 9\n* Ability to attend group therapy sessions (2×\u002Fweek for 5 weeks)\n* Ability to undergo MRI scanning (for participants in the fMRI component) Written informed consent\n\nExclusion Criteria:\n\n* Current or lifetime diagnosis of bipolar disorder, psychotic disorder, or primary substance use disorder\n* High acute suicide risk requiring immediate intervention\n* Severe neurological disorder, brain injury, or contraindications for MRI (e.g., metal implants, claustrophobia)\n* Ongoing psychotherapy or initiation of a new antidepressant medication within the past 4 weeks\n* Insufficient German language proficiency to participate in therapy and complete study assessments\n* Cognitive impairment or other conditions interfering with informed consent or study participation","ALL","18 Years","80 Years",{"count":88,"type":89},150,"ESTIMATED","INTERVENTIONAL",[92],"NA","Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the most common psychiatric conditions and often remains difficult to treat effectively. Many patients continue to experience residual symptoms or relapse even after receiving established forms of psychotherapy. This study tests whether targeting specific psychological mechanisms can improve outcomes for people with depression. We compare two novel group therapies: (1) Expectation-Focused Psychotherapeutic Intervention (EFPI), which aims to modify rigid, negative expectations that maintain depressive symptoms, and (2) Reward Enhancement and Activation Therapy (REACT), which focuses on increasing sensitivity to positive experiences and strengthening reward-related learning. Both are delivered in a group format to foster peer support and shared learning.\n\nA total of 150 adults with a current MDD diagnosis will be randomly assigned to EFPI, REACT, or a waiting-list control. Participants in the intervention groups receive 10 group sessions over five weeks. Waiting-list participants complete baseline and 3-month follow-up assessments before being offered standard treatment options.\n\nClinical outcomes are assessed at baseline, immediately after treatment, and at 3- and 6-month follow-ups (for the intervention groups). Primary outcomes are reductions in depressive symptoms measured by clinician ratings and self-report questionnaires. Secondary outcomes include changes in expectation processes and reward sensitivity.\n\nIn addition, functional MRI (fMRI) tasks examine brain mechanisms related to expectation updating and reward processing pre- and post-intervention, to help identify neural changes that may underlie symptom improvement.\n\nBy directly addressing dysfunctional expectations and reduced reward sensitivity, this study seeks to provide evidence for more targeted psychotherapeutic approaches. If successful, the results may support more personalized treatments and better long-term outcomes in MDD.",[95],"Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)",[97,98,99,100,101,102,103],"Major Depressive Disorder","Psychotherapy","Group Therapy","Expectation Violation","Reward Sensitivity","Mechanism-Based Intervention","Randomized Clinical Trial","2026-02-05",{"date":106,"type":107},"2026-02-10","ACTUAL",{"date":109,"type":107},"2025-10-13",{"date":111,"type":89},"2028-06-30",{"name":5,"class":6},1]