iExposure Intervention for Social Anxiety

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Social Anxiety
• Interventions: Behavioral: iExposure plus attention control; Behavioral: iExposure plus attention guidance; Behavioral: iExposure

• Registration Number: NCT06409247
• Lead Sponsor: Palo Alto University

Brief Summary

Social anxiety (SA) is a highly prevalent mental health concern, thought to disproportionately affect youth with recent international estimates of more than 30% of individuals reporting clinically elevated symptoms. Despite the prevalence of SA, as few as one in five individuals receive care, due to limited access to evidence-based treatments. Additionally there has been a notable increase in social anxiety since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This proposal will use iExposure to develop a personalized mechanism-focused approach to optimizing treatment response for individuals with social anxiety by testing standard iExposure against two augmentations that incorporate distinct attention mechanisms (attention guidance and attention control).

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2024-05-07
• Study First Submitted QC: 2024-05-07
• Study First Posted: 2024-05-10
• Status Verified: 2024-07
• Study Start: 2024-07-01
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-07-01
• Last Update Posted: 2024-07-03
• Primary Completion: 2026-06-30
• Study Completion: 2026-06-30

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 390

Inclusion Criteria

• Age 18 or older
• Fluent in English
• Leibowitz Social Anxiety Scale > 47 and endorses both social anxiety items on the Web Screening Questionnaire for Common Mental Disorders

Exclusion Criteria

• Currently receiving CBT for Social Anxiety Disorder
• Significant visual impairment precluding engagement in the simulated teleconferencing interactions
• Unstable dose of psychotropic medications within 6 weeks prior to baseline assessment
• Current alcohol or substance use disorder
• Current or past bipolar disorder or psychosis

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
iExposure + Attention Control Augmentation	iExposure plus attention control	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.
iExposure + Attention Guidance Augmentation	iExposure plus attention guidance	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.
Standard iExposure	iExposure	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.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA)	0 days	The Personal Report of Communication Apprehension is a 24-item that assesses anxiety related to speaking in a variety of situation. The range of scores is 24-120; higher scores are worse.
Personal Report of Communication Apprehension	45 days	The Personal Report of Communication Apprehension is a 24-item that assesses anxiety related to speaking in a variety of situation. The range of scores is 24-120; higher scores are worse.
Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale Self Report Version	45 days	The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale Self Report Version is a 48-item self-report measure of fear and avoidance concerning social interactions and performance situations (e.g., telephoning in public, talking to people in authority). The range of scores is 0-144; higher scores are worse.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale - Revised	45 days	The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale - Revised is a 20-item measure of depression. The range of scores is 0-60; higher scores are worse.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Palo Alto University; 🇺🇸 Palo Alto, California, United States