RecruitingNot Applicable

Reward Processing and Exposure Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder

United States94 participantsStarted 2024-09-26

Plain-language summary

The investigators are conducting a clinical trial of therapy for public speaking anxiety. There are many eligibility criteria, but the main ones are that participants need to be socially anxious and have public speaking anxiety. In this clinical trial, all participants will do exposure therapy. Before doing exposure therapy in the study, though, participants will be randomized to do one of two treatments: i) a positive mood treatment, which is designed to increase how positive people feel, and ii) a relaxation treatment, which is designed to help people feel more relaxed. The investigators are doing this study to see whether doing the positive mood treatment or relaxation treatment first will affect how well exposure therapy works.

Who can participate

Age range18 Years – 60 Years

SexALL

See this in plain English?

AI-rewrites the medical criteria so a patient or caregiver can understand them. Always confirm with the trial site.

Inclusion Criteria: * Diagnosis of social anxiety disorder from the Structural Clinical Interview for DSM 5. * Elevated fear of public speaking, defined as a score of \>= 66 (+1SD from the mean of population norms on a scale of 17-85) on the Public Speaking Anxiety Scale (PSAS; Bartholomay, E. M., \& Houlihan, D. D. (2016). Public Speaking Anxiety Scale: Preliminary psychometric data and scale validation. Personality and individual differences, 94, 211-215), which is a self-report scale measuring anxiety of public speaking. * Low reward processing, defined as a score of \<56 (less than the population mean) on the Dimensional Anhedonia Rating Scale (DARS) (Rizvi, S. J., Quilty, L. C., Sproule, B. A., Cyriac, A., Bagby, R. M., \& Kennedy, S. H. (2015). Dimensional Anhedonia Rating Scale (DARS) \[Database record\]. APA PsycTests). * Medication-free or stabilized on psychotropic medications for a minimum standard length of time (1 month for benzodiazepines and beta blockers, 3 months for SRIs/SNRIs and heterocyclics). * Psychotherapy-free or stabilized on alternative psychotherapies other than cognitive or behavioral therapies that were not focused on their anxiety disorder for at least 6 months prior to study entry. * Age 18-60. * Fluent in English. * To conduct MRI version of fear conditioning task, must have no MRI contraindications. Exclusion Criteria (none of the following): * Recent suicidal ideation with intent or plan - defined as suicidal ideation with intent or plan …

What they're measuring

Public Speaking Anxiety Scale (PSAS)

Timeframe: Pre Tx (week 0), Post Tx-1 (after PAT-B or Relaxation Treatment) (~week 6), Post Tx-2 (after Exposure Therapy) (~week 12), 3-Month Follow-Up (~week 24). Also Sessions 2, 4, 6, 8 of each therapy (corresponding to ~weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10).

Behavioral Approach Task - Anxiety

Timeframe: Pre Tx (week 0), Post Tx-1 (after PAT-B or Relaxation Treatment) (~week 6), Post Tx-2 (after Exposure Therapy) (~week 12), 3-Month Follow-Up (~week 24).

Behavioral Approach Task - Likelihood Expectancy

Timeframe: Pre Tx (week 0), Post Tx-1 (after PAT-B or Relaxation Treatment) (~week 6), Post Tx-2 (after Exposure Therapy) (~week 12), 3-Month Follow-Up (~week 24).

Behavioral Approach Task - Severity Expectancy

Timeframe: Pre Tx (week 0), Post Tx-1 (after PAT-B or Relaxation Treatment) (~week 6), Post Tx-2 (after Exposure Therapy) (~week 12), 3-Month Follow-Up (~week 24).

Behavioral Approach Task - Like/Dislike of Speech

Timeframe: Pre Tx (week 0), Post Tx-1 (after PAT-B or Relaxation Treatment) (~week 6), Post Tx-2 (after Exposure Therapy) (~week 12), 3-Month Follow-Up (~week 24).

Behavioral Approach Task - Skin Conductance

Timeframe: Pre Tx (week 0), Post Tx-1 (after PAT-B or Relaxation Treatment) (~week 6), Post Tx-2 (after Exposure Therapy) (~week 12), 3-Month Follow-Up (~week 24).

Trial details

NCT IDNCT06776991

SponsorUniversity of California, Los Angeles

Sponsor typeOTHER

Study typeINTERVENTIONAL

Primary completion2029-04-30

Contact for this trial

Tomislav D Zbozinek, PhD

6027502348 tzbozinek@ucla.edu

View on ClinicalTrials.gov More Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia) trials

Plain-language summary

Who can participate

Age range18 Years – 60 Years

SexALL

See this in plain English?

AI-rewrites the medical criteria so a patient or caregiver can understand them. Always confirm with the trial site.

What they're measuring

Public Speaking Anxiety Scale (PSAS)

Behavioral Approach Task - Anxiety

Timeframe: Pre Tx (week 0), Post Tx-1 (after PAT-B or Relaxation Treatment) (~week 6), Post Tx-2 (after Exposure Therapy) (~week 12), 3-Month Follow-Up (~week 24).

Behavioral Approach Task - Likelihood Expectancy

Timeframe: Pre Tx (week 0), Post Tx-1 (after PAT-B or Relaxation Treatment) (~week 6), Post Tx-2 (after Exposure Therapy) (~week 12), 3-Month Follow-Up (~week 24).

Behavioral Approach Task - Severity Expectancy

Timeframe: Pre Tx (week 0), Post Tx-1 (after PAT-B or Relaxation Treatment) (~week 6), Post Tx-2 (after Exposure Therapy) (~week 12), 3-Month Follow-Up (~week 24).

Behavioral Approach Task - Like/Dislike of Speech

Timeframe: Pre Tx (week 0), Post Tx-1 (after PAT-B or Relaxation Treatment) (~week 6), Post Tx-2 (after Exposure Therapy) (~week 12), 3-Month Follow-Up (~week 24).

Behavioral Approach Task - Skin Conductance

Timeframe: Pre Tx (week 0), Post Tx-1 (after PAT-B or Relaxation Treatment) (~week 6), Post Tx-2 (after Exposure Therapy) (~week 12), 3-Month Follow-Up (~week 24).