Overcoming Treatment Barriers

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Health Care Utilization; Health Care Seeking Behavior
• Interventions: Other: Video of a patients testimonial; Other: Writing Task

• Registration Number: NCT06022432
• Lead Sponsor: Philipps University Marburg Medical Center

Brief Summary

This study aims to assess whether negative or rather the lack of positive treatment expectations could be positively influenced by online short interventions and increase intention so seek treatment and actual help-seeking behavior when compared to a no-treatment control group. Further, the study investigators like to explore if specifically focusing on intensifying positive treatment expectations vs. a reduction of expectations about negative treatment effects will influence the pattern of results differently.

Detailed Description

The investigators expect that participants receiving an intervention e.g., amplifying positive (performance) expectancies vs. reducing negative (performance) expectancies of psychotherapeutic treatment, will show an increase in intentions to seek treatment and are more likely to report actual treatment-seeking behavior after the intervention when compared with participants who will describe their treatment expectations via a writing task.

Further, the investigators want to explore if the expectancy-modulating interventions will differently affect the intention to seek treatment within socially anxious individuals.

If participants agree, the investigators plan to assess changes in expectations, attitudes as well as actual treatment seeking behavior at a Follow-Up assessment one week later (data from Follow-Up will be analyzed exploratively and is not part of the main hypotheses).

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2023-03-17
• Study First Submitted: 2023-06-22
• Status Verified: 2023-08
• Study First Submitted QC: 2023-08-31
• Last Update Submitted: 2023-08-31
• Primary Completion: 2023-09
• Study First Posted: 2023-09-01
• Last Update Posted: 2023-09-01
• Study Completion: 2023-12

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 120

Inclusion Criteria

• at least 18 years old
• fluent in German (C Level)
• access to a computer device with internet access

Exclusion Criteria

• non correctable hearing or visual impairment
• current in psychotherapeutic treatment or on a waiting list
• no neurological impairment or psychotic disorders

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Maximizing Positive Expectations	Video of a patients testimonial	This group will watch a video of a patient-therapist interaction. The testimonial of the patient is framed to maximize positive expectations about therapeutic treatment.
Control Group	Writing Task	This group will explicate their current treatment expectations in a writing task.
Reducing Negative Expectations	Video of a patients testimonial	This group will watch a video of a patient-therapist interaction. The testimonial of the patient is framed to reduce negative expectations about therapeutic treatment.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Changes in intention to seek treatment	At baseline (pre-measurement), immediately after intervention (post-measurement, approximately 20 minutes after beginning of study procedure) and at Follow-Up investigation (one week after post measurement)	Estimated Probability to seek treatment on a self-generated rating scale from 0 (not likely at all) to 100 (very much likely)
Change in Treatment Expectations (Treatment Expectation Questionnaire, "TEX-Q")	At baseline (pre-measurement), immediately after intervention (post-measurement, approximately 20 minutes after beginning of study procedure) and at Follow-Up investigation (one week after post measurement)	Explicit treatment expectations measured by 15 items on a 11point Likert-scale

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Intention to seek treatment (Behavioral Outcome 1)	After intervention (post measurement, approximately 30 minutes after beginning of study procedure)	Participants respond with "yes" or "no" to indicate their interest to receive more concrete information about social anxiety and its treatment possibilities. If the answer was answered with "yes", participants are asked to give their e-mail address to receive information which is used to assess intention to seek treatment in form of a behavioral outcome.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Philipps-Universität Marburg; 🇩🇪 Marburg, Germany