Social Feedback and Dysfunctional Risk Taking in NSSI Adolescents

Launched by UNIVERSITY OF ELECTRONIC SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF CHINA · Aug 4, 2023

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying how social feedback affects decision-making and risk-taking behaviors in adolescents who engage in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), which means they hurt themselves on purpose without wanting to end their lives. The researchers want to understand if these adolescents make different choices when they receive social rewards or punishments compared to their peers who do not engage in NSSI. To do this, they will use a special game called the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) that measures how people make risky decisions. The study will include 40 adolescents with NSSI and 40 healthy peers, and the researchers expect to see that those with NSSI might avoid risks more when faced with social punishment.

To be eligible for this study, participants need to be between 15 and 18 years old, right-handed, and have normal or corrected vision. They should also have a history of NSSI behaviors occurring at least five times in the past year. However, individuals with certain mental health disorders, those at high risk for suicide, or those who have recently received specific therapies or medications affecting their brain activity cannot participate. If eligible, participants can expect to take part in the risk decision-making game while their responses are monitored, which may help improve understanding and treatment for adolescents struggling with NSSI.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • 15-18 years
• • right-handed
• • normal or corrected normal visual acuity
• • meet the proposed DSM-5 frequency criteria (e.g., ≥5 days of NSSI behaviors in the past year)
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, major depressive disorder, other
• • psychiatric disorders, etc.
• • high suicidal risk
• • recent use of medications that can affect neural activity
• • have received or are receiving Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) other treatment for emotional problems within the past 6 months
• • have a contraindication to MRI scanning (e.g., metal implants, claustrophobia or other conditions that make them inappropriate for MRI scanning)