Augmentation of Exposure Using Positive Mental Rehearsal in Individuals With Increased Social Anxiety
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age18+
SponsorPhilipps University Marburg
About this trial
Efficacy of an optimized exposure therapy training is investigated in individuals with heightened social anxiety. Participants will undergo a one-session standardized exposure training, followed by either standard or positive mental rehearsal of the exposure experience. The efficacy is measured by symptom improvement according to subjective ratings one week later.
Eligibility criteria
This trial accepts healthy volunteersQualifiers
Elevated score on Social Interactions Anxiety Scale (SIAS) > 26
Disqualifiers
Current psychotherapeutic/psychiatric treatment
Plans to start psychotherapeutic/psychiatric treatment in upcoming weeks
Current suicidal intent
Severe cardiovascular, respiratory or neurological diseases
Trial design
Design model
Parallel
Treatments tested in this trial
Positive Mental Rehearsal
BehavioralAfter exposure trial, participants are asked about the positive aspects of their exposure experience (e.g., thoughts, feelings), based on which an imagination script is formulated and recounted
Mental Rehearsal
BehavioralAfter exposure, participants are asked about what happened during the exposure experience and whether their central concerns/expected outcome actually occurred during exposure
Exposure
BehavioralAll participants complete exposure exercises (i.e., talking on the phone and talking with a stranger) before positive mental rehearsal is executed
Treatment groups
40 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groupsGroup A: Exposure + Positive Mental RehearsalExperimental treatment 2 interventions
Group B: Exposure + Mental rehearsalActive comparator 2 interventions
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
1
Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS)
20-item questionnaire on a 5-point Likert scale (0 = 'not at all'; 4 = 'very strongly') assessing severity of anxiety experienced in social interactions and situations. Total score range: 0 to 80. Higher scores indicate higher severity of social anxiety.
Time frame
Change from baseline to post-treatment (i.e., 7-9 days)2
Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS)
2-items from the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) on a 4-point Likert scale (fear: 0 = 'none'; 3 = 'high'; avoidance: 0 = 'never'; 3 = 'usually') assessing fear and avoidance of the in the intervention exposed situations. Higher scores indicating greater level of fear and avoidance.
Time frame
Change from baseline to post-treatment (i.e., 7-9 days)3
Communication Anxiety Inventory (CAI) - Trait Version
21-item questionnaire on a 4-point Likert scale (0 = 'almost never'; 3 = 'almost always') assessing an individual's general level of anxiety in communication situations. Total range score: 0 to 84. Higher scores indicate greater level of communication anxiety.
Time frame
Change from baseline to post-treatment (i.e., 7-9 days)Secondary outcomes
1
Communication Anxiety Inventory (CAI) - State Version
20-item questionnaire on a 4-point Likert scale (0 = 'not at all'; 3 = 'very strongly' assessing an individual's level of anxiety related to a specific communication situation.
Time frame
Baseline2
Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS)
20-item questionnaire on a 5-point Likert scale (0 = 'not at all'; 4 = 'extremely' assessing the presence and intensity of both positive and negative emotions. Total score range for positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA), respectively: 0 to 50. Higher scores indicate on either scale indicate a higher level of that emotion.
Time frame
Change from baseline to post-treatment (i.e., 7-9 days)3
Post-Event Processing Inventory (PEPI) - Trait Version
12-item questionnaire on a 5-point Likert scale (0 = 'strongly disagree; 4 = 'strongly agree') assessing an individual's general tendency to engage in post-event processing. Total score range: 0 to 60. Higher total scores indicate a greater tendency to ruminate or engage in negative post-event processing.
Time frame
Change from baseline to post-treatment (i.e., 7-9 days)4
Post-Event Processing Inventory (PEPI) - State Version
12-item questionnaire on a 5-point Likert scale (0 = 'strongly disagree; 4 = 'strongly agree') assessing an individual's level of rumination or post-event processing related to a specific context/situation. Total score range: 0 to 60. Higher total scores indicate a greater engagement in rumination and post-event processing.
Time frame
Post-treatmentSponsors and contacts
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Source ClinicalTrials.gov