A study that test the effects of a mobile phone application that delivers a psychological health intervention to reduce social anxiety symptoms.

The intervention consist of a mobilephone application consist of 4 brief modules that encapsulate steps for learning and conducting exposure therapy at moments when a person experiences symptoms. No formal name has been given to the mobile app, however “Exposure Practice” comes up as title of the application before presented the modules. In order to successfully complete all modules, a participant must complete the modules in chronological order. Participants are required to open mobilephone application to access and complete each module, including during times when anxiety symptoms may occur. We estimate each module will take 10-15 minutes to complete however it requires participants to repeatedly engage with the exercises daily. Furthermore, we estimate participants will engage with the mobile application 2 to 5 minutes daily, and at least 1 to 3 times per day to complete all modules over a 4 weeks period. The first module consists of text and image material about exposure therapy. For example, a participant will learn about what exposure therapy is, why use exposure therapy, the evidence on exposure therapy, and how to use exposure therapy. The second module requires participants to identify personal factors relating to their social anxiety. For example, participants will learn to identify their challenging situations, physical symptoms, anxious behaviours, and unhelpful thoughts. The module consists of text and image material about how to identify these factors with the ability to record these factors into the mobilephone application. The third module requires participants to prepare and plan for exposure therapy. For example, participants will be able to learn about how to use self-talk strategies to cope with anxieties before exposure to situations, using rehearsal and roleplay techniques, breathing techniques to regulate emotions during exposure to situations, and to use the mobilephone application to plan for exposure practice. The fourth module requires the participant to practice exposure therapy in a variety of situations and settings. For example, participant will require to engage with challenging situation following each screen presented in the mobilephone application. The participant can select the challenging situation to do, followed by a brief assessment in the mobilephone application to examine anxiety level before the situation. After the participant engage with a situation, another brief mobilephone application will be given to the participant to record their anxiety levels after the situation, and what they have learnt during exposure. Once completed exposure to a situation, the participant is given the choice to continue with the same situation or try a different situation using the mobilephone application. Data such as the number of times a participant access the mobilephone application and individual modules will be tracked using a secure remote server in Australia. No geo-location or other similar services will be used to monitor participant’s usage.