Clinical and Neurocomputational Effects of Behavioral Activation in Veterans With Impaired Social Functioning

Starting soon · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Social Anhedonia, Social Function Impairment

In brief

Poor psychosocial functioning, including social disconnection, is common and disabling among Veterans, and often fails to improve following the best available evidence-based treatments, particularly if more severe pathology is present. Behavioral activation (BA) is a promising, low-burden intervention, which could help improve social functioning impairments in Veterans, as this treatment targets social reward sensitivity, an important driving mechanism of social functioning. Thus, the proposed research will test whether BA can specifically improve social functioning in Veterans. Leveraging a neurocomputational framework of social reward seeking behavior, this research will help to improve the treatment and assessment of social function and the prediction of psychosocial treatment needs in Veterans, while providing neurobehavioral targets to develop new interventions that can restore social functioning.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT07697001

Run by

VA Office of Research and Development

People needed

136

Starts

2027-01-01

Expected to finish

2030-12-31

Last updated by the study team

2026-07-16

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 65. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• being a Veteran
• having moderate to high levels of social disconnection (Social Connectedness Scale-Revised/SCS-R score < 90)
• having moderate to high levels of social functioning impairments (Sheehan Disability Scale/SDS-social domain score >=5)
• having moderate to high levels of social anhedonia (Specific Loss of Interest and Pleasure Scale/SLIPS score >= 6)

You may not qualify if…

• lifetime history of psychotic or bipolar disorder
• neurological conditions, neurodevelopmental disorders, or sensory deficits that may impact cognitive functioning to preclude understanding/completion of study procedure
• regular use of certain psychotropic medications that may significantly impact goal-directed performance on the task (i.e., benzodiazepines, sedative hypnotics, and opioid analgesics); pre-existing stable doses of psychotropic medications, such as SSRIs, will be allowed (if same regimen has been taken for at least 30 days)
• current severe alcohol or substance use disorders (AUD/SUD) necessitating prioritization of substance use treatment
• suicidal or homicidal ideation within the past month necessitating urgent higher-level care
• concurrent individual cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy specifically targeting depression, anhedonia, and/or PTSD

Where it is running

• VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA — San Diego, California, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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