Effects of Treatment on Decision-making in Major Depression
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2015-12-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
In this trial, fifty participants with current major depressive disorder who are not
receiving an antidepressant medication and fifty healthy controls will complete
questionnaires and computerized tasks to assess their decision-making styles. There will be
three visits for depressed patients and two for healthy controls (the first and third
visits). The first visit will involve interviews and questionnaires to assess the
participant's level of depression, medical history and quality of life. Participants will
then complete the decision-making tasks, and will earn between $5-40 based on their choices,
in order to make the decisions on the computer tasks financially meaningful. At the
completion of this visit, depressed patients will be prescribed an FDA-approved
antidepressant, chosen in consultation with the treating psychiatrist. Patients will be
responsible for paying for the prescription themselves. After two weeks on the medication,
the patient will be seen for a follow-up visit to ensure tolerability of the medicine. After
six weeks on the medicine, patients and healthy controls will return to repeat the
questionnaires and the computer based decision-making tasks, and will again earn between
$5-40 based on their performance.