Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Apr 29;13(1):453.
doi: 10.1186/s40359-025-02759-0.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy to normalize social learning for patients with major depressive disorders: study protocol for a single-arm clinical trial

Yuening Jin  1   2 , Si Zu  3 , Pengchong Wang  4   5 , Fangrui Sheng  4   6 , Xue Wang  4   5 , Yun Wang  4 , Qun Chen  4 , Jie Zhong  4 , Fang Yan  4   5 , Jia Zhou  4 , Zhanjiang Li  4 , Yuan Zhou  7   8   9
Affiliations

Cognitive-behavioral therapy to normalize social learning for patients with major depressive disorders: study protocol for a single-arm clinical trial

Yuening Jin et al. BMC Psychol. .

Abstract

Background: The current study aims to explore the efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in normalizing social learning capabilities and its underlying neural processes among patients with MDD, in terms of enhancing learning towards positive social feedback, and reducing excessive learning towards negative social feedback. This study also explores the potential for learning impairments in social contexts as a biomarker to predict the effectiveness of CBT.

Methods: In a single-centre, single-arm, open-label trial, 60 outpatients with MDD will undergo 12 sessions of CBT in three months. Data collection of patients will be administered at baseline and at the endpoint of the treatment. Additionally, 60 heathy controls will be recruited as a comparative group to assess deviations from the normal functions in the patients with MDD before and after CBT. Data collection of the HC group will be administered at baseline. Data collection of the two groups comprises of demographic information, clinical assessments, psychological assessments, and behavioral experiments (i.e. the Door Game and the Trust Game) in conjuction with task-based function magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning. Data analysis comprises of an estimation of social learning capabilities by computational modeling, and identification of baseline abnormalities, treatment effects and endpoint abnormalities on social learning capabilities and its neural activities.

Discussion: This trial aims to assess the efficacy of CBT in normalizing social learning capabilities among patients with MDD by leveraging high ecological validity paradigms and computational modeling. This trial also contributes to understanding psychosocial biomarkers of CBT treatment effectiveness in reducing depressive symptoms.

Trial registration: ChiCTR2400094841 ( www.chictr.org.cn ; registration date: 12/29/2024) (retrospectively registered).

Keywords: Cognitive behavioral therapy; Computational modeling; Major depressive disorders; Social learning; Trust game.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: This study obtained approval from the Institutional Review Board of the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in September 2021 (Protocol number #H21106), and the Institutional Review Board of the Beijing Anding Hospital (Protocol number #2022 (33)), in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. All participants are required to provide written informed consent before enrolment. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Trial design and flow of MDD patients and HC
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Experiment procedure. (A) Matching phase. (B) The Door Game. (C) rTG
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Porcelli S, Kasper S, Zohar J, Souery D, Montgomery S, Ferentinos P, Rujescu D, Mendlewicz J, Pich EM, Pollentier S. Social dysfunction in mood disorders and schizophrenia: clinical modulators in four independent samples. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2020;99:109835. - PubMed
    1. Velthorst E, Fett A-KJ, Reichenberg A, Perlman G, van Os J, Bromet EJ, Kotov R. The 20-year longitudinal trajectories of social functioning in individuals with psychotic disorders. Am J Psychiatry. 2017;174(11):1075–85. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kupferberg A, Hasler G. The social cost of depression: Investigating the impact of impaired social emotion regulation, social cognition, and interpersonal behavior on social functioning. Journal of Affective Disorders Reports. 2023;14:100631.
    1. Porcelli S, Van Der Wee N, van der Werff S, Aghajani M, Glennon JC, van Heukelum S, Mogavero F, Lobo A, Olivera FJ, Lobo E. Social brain, social dysfunction and social withdrawal. Neurosci Biobehavioral Reviews. 2019;97:10–33. - PubMed
    1. Barrett LF, Quigley KS, Hamilton P. An active inference theory of allostasis and interoception in depression. Philosophical Trans Royal Soc B: Biol Sci. 2016;371(1708):20160011. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources