None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Social anxiety is prevalent among university students. As a result, a sizeable proportion of the student body is left under-prepared for their future careers. To offer effective and scalable support in building these essential skills, we will evaluate a cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) program for social anxiety called ASTUTE (Anxiety Skills Training in UniversiTy Education). The program will be implemented in two forms: (1) in-person, clinician-facilitated groups (ASTUTE) and (2) online, guided self-help (ASTUTE-Digital). The latter provides a highly scalable means of supporting students overcome social anxiety, which is important given the high prevalence of social anxiety in the university setting. To evaluate the impact and acceptability of these programs, participants will complete questionnaires assessing their psychological functioning at baseline, end-of-program (two months later) and follow-up (four months later). To provide input regarding the ongoing design of the programs, participants will also be asked to take part in focus groups at the four-month time point.
Interventions
The cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) social anxiety program is referred to as Anxiety Skills Training in UniversiTy Education (ASTUTE). It will be delivered in two forms: (1) in-person groups facilitated by a psychologist (ASTUTE) and (2) online guided self-help (ASTUTE-Digital).
The ASTUTE program will consist of small groups of participants (maximum of six participants per group) who will meet in-person each week for 90-minute sessions, with eight weekly sessions in total. The groups will
The cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) social anxiety program is referred to as Anxiety Skills Training in UniversiTy Education (ASTUTE). It will be delivered in two forms: (1) in-person groups facilitated by a psychologist (ASTUTE) and (2) online guided self-help (ASTUTE-Digital). The ASTUTE program will consist of small groups of participants (maximum of six participants per group) who will meet in-person each week for 90-minute sessions, with eight weekly sessions in total. The groups will be run by a registered Psychologist and Provisional Psychologist who will help participants to learn a wide range of skills that are specifically designed to help people overcome social anxiety. Participants will also be asked to completed approximately 60 minutes of skills practice between sessions each week. Groups will be held in a university psychology clinic. Adherence will be monitored in terms of session attendance. The ASTUTE-Digital program will consist of eight weekly, online modules of approximately 60-minutes duration each containing the same CBT content of the ASTUTE program. Participants will also attend weekly, 30-minute online sessions with a registered Psychologist and Provisional Psychologist in groups of up to six participants. Participants will also be asked to completed approximately 60 minutes of skills practice each week. The ASTUTE-Digital program will be accessed via the university Learning Management System (LMS). Adherence will be monitored via activity logs available on he LMS which will indicate which, if any, aspects of each module students have engaged with. The content of both the ASTUTE and ASTUTE-Digital programs is the same and consists of evidence-based CBT strategies for social anxiety that have been modified for the university setting. These modifications were undertaken by the research team (academics who are all experienced researchers, clinical psychologists and educators) in a co-design collaboration with university students with social anxiety disorder. This pilot project entailed an implementation of the ASTUTE program with six university students who provided qualitative feedback throughout the program and in end-of-program focus groups, as well as quantitative feedback through the completion of pre- and post-program questionnaires. Participants in both the ASTUTE and ASTUTE-Digital will be provided with handouts of the key content and strategies. The ASTUTE program content is as follows: Session 1 - Introduction to Social Anxiety Session 2 - The Thought-Feeling-Behaviour Connection Session 3 - Behavioural Experiment Stepladders Session 4 - Progress Review and Behavioural Experiment Troubleshooting Session 5 - Attentional Training and Safety Behaviours Session 6 - The Role of Feedback in Social Anxiety Session 7 - Presentation with Video Feedback Session 8 - Preparing for Ongoing Progress The ASTUTE-Digital program content is as follows: Session 1 - Introduction to Social Anxiety Session 2 - The Thought-Feeling-Behaviour Connection Session 3 - Behavioural Experiment Stepladders Session 4 - Progress Review and Behavioural Experiment Troubleshooting Session 5 - Attentional Training Session 6 - Safety Behaviours Session 7 - The Role of Feedback in Social Anxiety and Presentation with Video Feedback Session 8 - Preparing for Ongoing Progress
Sponsors
Professor Elizabeth Rieger
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
17 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Must be diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder by a registered psychologist or provisional psychologist in the Psychology Clinic of the Australian National University. Enrolled as a student at the Australian National University or the University of Canberra.
Exclusion criteria
Current suicidal intent, psychotic illness, substance use disorder or severe depression. Exclusion criteria are assessed during initial screening in individual meetings with a registered psychologist or provisional psychologist in the Psychology Clinic of the Australian National University.
Outcome results
None listed