A Working Memory Training to Decrease Rumination in Depressed and Anxious Individuals

A Working Memory Training to Decrease Rumination in Depressed and Anxious Individuals: A Double-blind Randomized Controlled Trial

Dysfunctioning executive functioning, including working memory (WM), is related to rumination. Findings show that working memory capacity (WMC) can be increased by training. The current study explored by means of a double-blind randomized controlled trial whether an adaptive WM training could reduce rumination, anxiety and depression in a sample of 98 depressed and anxious individuals.

Change in Ruminative Response Scale (RRS) score from pre to post training and after two months (follow up 2)

Dutch version; Raes, Hermans, & Eelen, 2003) measures the frequency of self-reported rumination behavior, with answer options ranging from 1 (never) to 4 (always). The total score of the 22 items was used in the analyses.

Pre training (baseline), post training (4 weeks after baseline, training starts 1 day after baseline) and follow-up (2 months after post-test)

Change in Beck Depression Inventory Second Edition (BDI-II) score from pre to post training and after two months (follow up 2)

The Beck Depression Inventory - II (BDI-II; Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996; Dutch version: Van der Does, 2002) measures the severity of depression symptoms of the last two weeks.

Pre training (baseline), post training (4 weeks after baseline, training starts 1 day after baseline) and follow-up (2 months after post-test)

Change in State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) score from pre to post training and after two months (follow up 2)

The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Spielberger, Gorsuch, Lushene, Vagg, & Jacobs, 1983, Dutch version; Van der Ploeg, Defares, & Spielberger, 1979) measures self-reported anxiety, divided in state anxiety and trait anxiety.

Pre training (baseline), post training (4 weeks after baseline, training starts 1 day after baseline) and follow-up (2 months after post-test)

The change in Internal Shift Task (IST) score from pre to post training and to follow up (two months after post)

The Internal Shift Task (IST; De Lissnyder et al., 2012) measures the ability to shift attention between items stored in WM.

Pre training (baseline), post training (4 weeks after baseline, training starts 1 day after baseline) and follow-up (2 months after post-test)

The Digit Span (Lumley & Calhoun, 1934), which consist of two parts: the forward and backward span, with 14 trials each. The forward Digit Span is a frequently used measure for short term memory, an important subcomponent of the memory system (Shipstead et al., 2012) and the backward version measures WM.

Pre training (baseline), post training (4 weeks after baseline, training starts 1 day after baseline) and follow-up (2 months after post-test)

The change in Reading Span partial-credit unit score from pre to post training and to follow up (two months after post)

The Reading Span (Daneman & Carpenter, 1980), the third WMC assessment, measures the processing and storage functions of the WM (Shipstead et al., 2012).

Pre training (baseline), post training (4 weeks after baseline, training starts 1 day after baseline) and follow-up (2 months after post-test)

Inclusion Criteria: Major depression diagnosis Anxiety diagnosis Exclusion Criteria: Current psychosis Substance abuse