Reward-Seeking Behaviors and Behavioral Activation Therapy in Depressed Individuals

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Plant Robot for At-Home Behavioral Activation Therapy Reminders to Young Adults with Depression

Adolescents with depression who participate in behavioral activation therapy may find it hard to be motivated to perform tasks at home that their therapists recommend. We describe the initial design and usability evaluation of a home device (“PlantBot”) that could be used to remind young adults with depression at home of their behavioral activation therapy-related tasks. The prototype features electronics in a two-layer base, with a fake plant on top and supported using the Amazon Echo voice agent. We use an online panel study to evaluate the usability of our system with youth with past depression ( N = 30). Initial findings highlight the device’s usability, potential benefit, and attractiveness of the plant component, as well as multiple improvements to be made.

Terapi Aktivasi Perilaku dapat mengurangi simtom anhedonia pasien skizofrenia ?

The goal of the intervention is to reduce the negative symptoms of people with schizophrenia. The assessments used were interviews, observations, and psychological tests which included graphic tests (BAUM, DAP, HTP), WAIS, and SSCT. The client’s problem is that he loses the pleasure of doing daily activities that used to be fun or made him happy. The intervention uses Behavioral Activation Therapy by providing a daily activity schedule. The results of the intervention show a decrease in symptoms of anhedonia, marked by an increase in daily client activities including bathing twice a day, being on time in taking medication, praying and helping with homework

Behavioral activation therapy for depression is associated with a reduction in the concentration of circulating quinolinic acid

Background An inflammation-induced imbalance in the kynurenine pathway (KP) has been reported in major depressive disorder but the utility of these metabolites as predictive or therapeutic biomarkers of behavioral activation (BA) therapy is unknown. Methods Serum samples were provided by 56 depressed individuals before BA therapy and 29 of these individuals also provided samples after 10 weeks of therapy to measure cytokines and KP metabolites. The PROMIS Depression Scale (PROMIS-D) and the Sheehan Disability Scale were administered weekly and the Beck depression inventory was administered pre- and post-therapy. Data were analyzed with linear mixed-effect, general linear, and logistic regression models. The primary outcome for the biomarker analyses was the ratio of kynurenic acid to quinolinic acid (KynA/QA). Results BA decreased depression and disability scores (p's < 0.001, Cohen's d's > 0.5). KynA/QA significantly increased at post-therapy relative to baseline (p < 0.001, d = 2.2), an effect driven by a decrease in QA post-therapy (p < 0.001, uncorrected, d = 3.39). A trend towards a decrease in the ratio of kynurenine to tryptophan (KYN/TRP) was also observed (p = 0.054, uncorrected, d = 0.78). The change in KynA/QA was nominally associated with the magnitude of change in PROMIS-D scores (p = 0.074, Cohen's f2 = 0.054). Baseline KynA/QA did not predict response to BA therapy. Conclusion The current findings together with previous research show that electronconvulsive therapy, escitalopram, and ketamine decrease concentrations of the neurotoxin, QA, raise the possibility that a common therapeutic mechanism underlies diverse forms of anti-depressant treatment but future controlled studies are needed to test this hypothesis.

Behavioral Activation Therapy on Reward Seeking Behaviors in Depressed People: An Experimental study

Introduction: Behavioral activation therapy (BAT) is designed to help individuals’ approach and access sources of positive reinforcement in their life, which can serve a natural antidepressant function and efforts to help depressed people reengage in their life through focused activation strategies. Methods: In this study, 60 individuals were selected and randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. The intervention group received behavioral activation treatment, including eight treatment sessions and 5 weeks later, a follow-up study was conducted. The data were collected, using a Beck Depression Inventory-II and behavioral activation system (BIS)/ behavioral inhibition system (BAS) Carver and White questionnaires, before the intervention and after the intervention and five weeks after the intervention. SPSS 23 and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used for data analysis. Results: Results showed a significant increase in the two components of the BAS including reward seeking and response to reward in the intervention group, which indicates an increase in positive affect and appetitive motivation for reward seeking and decreases the risk of depression. Also, the results showed a significant decrease in the BIS and depression in the intervention group, which indicates a decline in experiencing negative emotions. Conclusion: The implementation of BAT will cause depressed people to try to maximize future rewards and it’s effective in improving the reward seeking and reward response in depressed people because this treatment will increase the positive reinforcement and lead to learning cues that predict possible rewards in environments.