Test Anxiety
Conditions
Brief summary
Randomized, blind parallel group design. Single intake of 55 g high Epicatechin /Melissa dark chocolate containing 160 mg Epicatechin per 55 g serving or single intake of 55 g low Epicatechin/ oat bran white chocolate containing \< 0,00045 mg Epicatechin per 55 g serving. A Total of 128 participants, 64 in each group, approx. equal number of male and female. There will be replacement of Drop-Outs until data from 128 participants are completed. The primary endpoints will be performance in a pictorial memory task and a verbal memory task . The secondary endpoints will be performance in a working memory test, Saliva cortisol, Visual analog scales assessing, anxiety, confidence, interference, solicitude, and excitement.
Interventions
DIETARY_SUPPLEMENTHigh Epicatechin/ Melissa
Single consumption of a 55g bar of dark chocolate containing: 42.8g Acticoa chocolate + 7.2g caster sugar + 5g Melissa
OTHERLow Epicatechin/ Oat bran
Single consumption of a 55g bar of white chocolate containing: 50g Lindor chocolate + 5g oat bran
Sponsors
Prof. Dominique de Quervain, MD
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
DOUBLE (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 30 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Healthy by history * normotensive (BP between 90/60 mmHg and 140/90 mmHg) * BMI between 18 and \< 30 kg/m2 * male or female * aged between 18 and 30 years * native or fluent German-speaking * Prüfungsangstfragebogen (PAF) total or subscale interference score T value \> 60
Exclusion criteria
* Known hypersensitivity or allergy to cocoa, Melissa, oat, vanillin, milk, soja, nuts * gluten intolerance * lactose intolerance * acute or chronic psychiatric disorder including drug or alcohol abuse * women who are pregnant or breast feeding * any clinically significant concomitant disease states (e.g., renal failure, hepatic dysfunction, cardiovascular disease etc., infections) * known or suspected non-compliance * smoking (\> 5 cigarettes per day) * participation in one of our previous studies using the same memory tests in the past 2 years * participation in a study with investigational drug within the 30 days preceding and during the present study * long-term medication within last 3 months (oral contraceptives are disregarded)
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Pictorial memory task | 25 minutes and 24 h after presentation | Participants will be presented with 24 neutral, 24 positive and 24 negative photographs in a random order. Scores will be calculated by summing the correctly remembered photographs per valence. |
| Verbal memory task | 25 minutes and 24 h after presentation | Six series of five semantically unrelated nouns will be presented.Total score is calculated by summing the number of correctly recalled words |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Visual Analogue Scale VAS test anxiety | 1 day after word/picture presentation | will be assessed between each task by the participant using a visual analogue scale. Respondents specify their level of agreement to the statement by indicating a position along a continuous line (10 cm). |
| Visual Analogue Scale VAS confidence | 1 day after word/picture presentation | will be assessed between each task by the participant using a visual analogue scale. Respondents specify their level of agreement to the statement by indicating a position along a continuous line (10 cm). |
| Saliva cortisol level | 1 day after word/picture presentation Start /middle and end of day. Baseline cortisol 1-14 days later. | Samples are collected at different timepoints during the day in order to measure stress related cortisol activity. Participants have to chew a cotton sponge for 2-3 minutes, which then are contained in a special device |
| Visual Analogue Scale VAS solicitude | 1 day after word/picture presentation | will be assessed between each task by the participant using a visual analogue scale. Respondents specify their level of agreement to the statement by indicating a position along a continuous line (10 cm). |
| Visual Analogue Scale VAS excitement | 1 day after word/picture presentation | will be assessed between each task by the participant using a visual analogue scale. Respondents specify their level of agreement to the statement by indicating a position along a continuous line (10 cm). |
| Visual Analogue Scale VAS interference | 1 day after word/picture presentation | will be assessed between each task by the participant using a visual analogue scale. Respondents specify their level of agreement to the statement by indicating a position along a continuous line (10 cm). |
| Working memory | 1 day after word/picture presentation | Participants will have to calculate as many arithmetical means of seven one-digit numbers possible within two minutes by mental calculation. |
Countries
Switzerland
Outcome results
None listed