Clinical Research Directory

Exploring the Decision to Drink (More) Alcohol Following Manipulations of Stress and Social Context

This preregistration documents an experiment examining the effects of acute stress and social context on alcohol-related decision-making. The study uses a 2x2 factorial design (stress vs. control × social vs. alone) with dyadic recruitment.

The Social Regulation of Threat-related Vigilance and Arousal

This study will examine the effects of social support on threat vigilance and arousal using eye tracking. We will also test the moderating effects of trauma and discrimination history.

The Effectiveness of Supervised Group-based Walking Program Among Older Adults

Aim and Objectives: The overall aim is to examine the effectiveness of supervised group-based walking intervention by comparing with non-supervised group-based walking and non-supervised individual-based walking interventions on improving physical, psychological and social outcomes among the older adults in Hong Kong. The outcomes of the research will be used as references for designing an effective walking operation manual for promoting healthy ageing among older adults in the community. Objectives (Phase 1-Intervention): 1. To compare the differences of effects among supervised group-based, 5 non-supervised group-based, and non-supervised individual-based walking intervention programs, and the control group on the primary outcomes, including physical health, walking performance, loneliness, perceived social support and physical activity enjoyment among the older adults in Hong Kong. 2. To compare the differences of effects among supervised group-based, non-supervised group-based, and non-supervised individual-based walking intervention programs, and the control group on the secondary outcomes, including health-related quality of life and functional fitness among the older adults in Hong Kong. (Please refer to Appendix D for the outcome measurements of the intervention) Objectives (Phase 2-Promotion) 1. To formulate and develop a walking operation manual for the use of implementing an effective walking program for the older adults in Hong Kong. 2. To promote and organize mass walking programs with the format as informed by the Phase 1 study among the older adults in the community (n=900-1080). 3. To raise the government's awareness towards the promotion of an effective walking program as informed by Phase 1 study for achieving the government's goal in promoting active aging.

Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy Across Transdiagnostic Eating Disorders, Including Underweight

The goal of this clinical trial is to assess if Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy for Eating Disorders (MIT-ED) is effective for treating various forms of Eating Disorders (ED) and reducing dropout rates. The trial will also evaluate its feasibility and outcomes in a patient group including also underweight participants. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does MIT-ED improve eating disorder symptoms and reduce overall maintenance factors, as alexithymia, emotional dysregulation, maladaptive perfectionism, and self-esteem? * Is MIT-ED effective in reducing the severity of personality disorders and associated global psychiatric symptoms? * What are the dropout rates and adherence levels for patients receiving MIT-ED? Participants will: * Undergo an initial screening to confirm eligibility, including a comprehensive clinical interview and assessments based on inclusion and exclusion criteria for the study. * Receive up to 40 individual sessions of MIT-ED, each lasting 50-60 minutes, over a period of approximately 10-12 months. * Attend regular assessment focusing on eating disorder symptoms (Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire, EDE-Q 6.0, and ED Interview, EDE), emotional dysregulation (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, DERS), alexithymia (Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20, TAS-20), and self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, RSES). Assessment will be conducted at baseline (before starting MIT-ED sessions), after 20 MIT-ED sessions (approximately after 5 months), post-treatment (approximately after 10 months), and at 3 months follow-up. A longer 12-months follow-up is planned. Researchers will evaluate the effectiveness of MIT-ED based on treatment adherence, symptom improvement, and the reduction of maintenance mechanisms associated with Eating Disorders. Positive results could support the design of a larger, controlled Randomized Clinical Trial (RCT).

A Digital Active Aging Training Program for Older Adults

The proposed project aims to develop and validate a multi-dimensional digital active aging program integrated with resilience to promote the biopsychosocial functions of older adults aged 60, including Chinese older immigrants in Canada (Study 1) and English-speaking White Canadian older adults (Study 2). The proposed study takes a typical pretest-training-posttest design. Pretest and posttest: a battery of outcome measures on physical, psychological, and social functions will be administered to all participants. Data will also be used to identify sociodemographic risk predictors for outcome variables (i.e., biopsychosocial functions and resilience). Training: the participants will be randomly assigned to three arms to receive 4 weeks of 16 training/practice/control treatment sessions delivered via Zoom. In the "active aging with resilience (AR)" condition, participants will complete physical, cognitive, and social engagement training modules, starting with a 30-min resilience-building module. The traditional "active aging" (AA) training involves the same multi-domain active aging training without the initial resilience-building module. The "workshop training" (WT) control condition involves workshops following the same 4-week schedule on aging-related topics.