None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
This project is part of a research program funded by the NHMRC (No. 630560) to develop and evaluate Internet based transdiagnostic education and treatment programs for people with anxiety and depression. This project examines the relative efficacy of a disorder-specific internet-delivered treatment for social phobia vs. trans-diagnostic internet-delivered treatment for both anxiety and depression. Both interventions will be tested in guided and self-guided formats. We expect that the guided interventions will result in superior outcomes to the unguided interventions. We do not expect differences between the two guided interventions at post-treatment, but expect that the trans-diagnostic treatment will result in superior outcomes at follow-ups.
Interventions
In this trial Australian adults with symptoms of social phobia will be randomly allocated to one of four groups. Two of the four groups will receive access to an 8 week internet-delivered treatment course specifically for social phobia (disorder-specific treatment course). The other two groups will receive access to an 8 week internet-delivered treatment course for symptoms of anxiety and depression (trans-diagnostic treatment course).
Over the 8 weeks, all participants will be directed to read
In this trial Australian adults with symptoms of social phobia will be randomly allocated to one of four groups. Two of the four groups will receive access to an 8 week internet-delivered treatment course specifically for social phobia (disorder-specific treatment course). The other two groups will receive access to an 8 week internet-delivered treatment course for symptoms of anxiety and depression (trans-diagnostic treatment course). Over the 8 weeks, all participants will be directed to read 5 online lessons about management of symptoms. One lesson will be completed every 7 to 14 days. Each lesson will take about 15 minutes to read. Participants will also have access to summaries and homework assignments for each lesson, and will read stories about people with similar symptoms, taking a further 20 minutes per week. The four groups are: Group 1: Self-guided - disorder-specific course. Participants in this group will complete the disorder-specific social phobia treatment course in a self-guided format, that is, without support from a therapist. Group 2: Self-guided - trans-diagnostic. Participants in this group will complete the trans-diagnostic treatment course in a self-guided format, that is, without support from a therapist. Group 3: Guided - disorder-specific. Participants in this group will complete the disorder-specific social phobia treatment course in a guided format, that is, with weekly telephone or email support from a therapist. Group 4: Guided - trans-diagnostic. Participants in this group will complete the trans-diagnostic treatment course in a guided format, that is, with weekly telephone or email support from a therapist. Participants in all groups will also receive twice weekly automatic emails providing reminders about the course and encouragement to continue. Study questionnaires will be administered at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and at 6, 12, and 24 months post-treatment. These will take about 20-30 minutes to complete. Participants will also complete brief measures of mood and anxiety before each lesson. The treatment materials include cognitive behavioural treatment (CBT) skills.
Sponsors
Centre for Emotional Health, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Factorial
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Blinded (masking used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 64 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
1. Self-identifying as having difficulties with symptoms of social phobia. 2. Elevated symptoms of social phobia as indicated by a score of 5 or more on the MINI-SPIN, indicating at least mild symptoms. 3. No current participation in cognitive behavioural treatment for social phobia. 4. No change in medications in the period 1 month prior to this study. 5. Access to the Internet and a printer. 6. 18 years to 64 years old. 7. Resident of Australia. 8. Prepared to provide name, phone number and address, and to provide the name and address of a local general practitioner 9. Prepared to provide written informed consent.
Exclusion criteria
1. Severe depression at application (score of 23 or greater on PHQ-9) 2. Suicidal intent or plan at application (either reporting suicidal intent or responding >2 to Question 9 [suicidal ideation] on the PHQ-9) 3. Scoring below cut-offs on PHQ-9 4. Current psychosis 5. Principal presenting problem not symptoms of social phobia
Outcome results
None listed