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Behavioral Intervention

iExposure for Social Anxiety

N/A

Recruiting

Research Sponsored by Palo Alto University

Eligibility Criteria Checklist

Specific guidelines that determine who can or cannot participate in a clinical trial

Must have

Age 18 or older

Be older than 18 years old

Must not have

Current or past bipolar disorder or psychosis

Currently receiving CBT for Social Anxiety Disorder

Timeline

Screening 3 weeks

Treatment Varies

Follow Up 45 days

Awards & highlights

No Placebo-Only Group

Summary

"This trial aims to improve treatment for social anxiety, a common mental health issue. Many young people are affected, but few receive proper care due to limited access to effective treatments. The COVID-19 pandemic

Who is the study for?

This trial is for adults over 18 who speak English and score higher than 47 on the Leibowitz Social Anxiety Scale, indicating they have social anxiety. They must also endorse social anxiety items on a specific web questionnaire.

What is being tested?

The study tests iExposure therapy for social anxiety by comparing standard treatment to two variations: one with attention guidance and another with attention control, aiming to optimize treatment effectiveness.

What are the potential side effects?

As this is a psychological intervention focusing on exposure therapy, side effects may include temporary increases in anxiety or discomfort during the process of facing feared social situations.

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

You may be eligible if you check “Yes” for the criteria below

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I am 18 years old or older.

Exclusion Criteria

You may be eligible for the trial if you check “No” for criteria below:

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I have or had bipolar disorder or psychosis.

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I am currently undergoing cognitive behavioral therapy for social anxiety.

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My mental health medication dose has been stable for the last 6 weeks.

Timeline

Screening ~ 3 weeks3 visits

Treatment ~ Varies

Follow Up ~ 45 days

Screening ~ 3 weeks

Treatment ~ Varies

Follow Up ~45 days

This trial's timeline: 3 weeks for screening, Varies for treatment, and 45 days for reporting.

Treatment Details

Study Objectives

Study objectives can provide a clearer picture of what you can expect from a treatment.

Primary study objectives

Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale Self Report Version

Personal Report of Communication Apprehension

Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA)

Secondary study objectives

Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale - Revised

Awards & Highlights

No Placebo-Only Group

All patients enrolled in this study will receive some form of active treatment.

Trial Design

3Treatment groups

Experimental Treatment

Active Control

Group I: iExposure + Attention Guidance AugmentationExperimental Treatment1 Intervention

Attention Guidance Augmentation. The attention guidance condition consists of two unique components in addition to the standard iExposure intervention: (1) the intervention rationale will include information about the importance of visually attending to the faces of the audience; (2) participants will be given a target audience member to focus their gaze on during each impromptu response. They will be told that they should look at and focus on the target audience member for the whole response. In each progressive session the number of trials where the participant is directed to focus on an uninterested audience member will increase.

Group II: iExposure + Attention Control AugmentationExperimental Treatment1 Intervention

The attention control condition consists of two unique components in addition to the standard iExposure intervention (1) the intervention rationale will include information about the importance of developing attention control; (2) participants will be given a central region of the screen (non-audience member) to focus on. They will be told that they should look at and focus on the central region for the whole response.

Group III: Standard iExposureActive Control1 Intervention

iExposure. Participants will complete four intervention sessions within two weeks. The intervention will use an entirely self-guided protocol delivered via Qualtrics and Gorilla Experiment Builder: 1. During the first session, participants will receive a brief standardized psychoeducation module, presented via a 15-minute video recording. This video will explain the intervention, its rationale, and the procedure. 2. Participants will then complete 10 simulated teleconferencing interaction trials with different topics, each lasting a maximum of two minutes. During each call participants will be prompted by one of the audience members to respond to a question (described in further detail in the Materials section, below). 3. Participants will complete the Subjective Units of Distress Scale before and after each speech trial. 4. Sessions 2-4 involve the same protocol and the four intervention sessions are completed within two weeks.

0 / 4Eligibility criteria met