Evaluation of the Effects of a HRV-Biofeedback during Exposition within Spider Fearful Individuals

Evaluation of the Effects of a HRV-Biofeedback during Exposition within Spider Fearful Individuals - HRV-Spider-Anxiety

Status

Recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

DRKS

Registry ID

DRKS00012278

Enrollment

Registered

2017-05-23

Start date

2017-06-12

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2025-04-07

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

F40.2

Interventions

Group 1: Treatment condition: This group (n = 20) receives a one hour HRV biofeedback training (with breathing instruction) and a dummy biofeedback training concerning a tapping task. Within the follo

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to 40 Years

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: Spider anxiety defined by the reach of cut-off scores within the "Spider Anxiety Screening", "The Fear of Spider Questionnaire" and the section "Specific Phobias" within the DIPS.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: Mental illnesses (an isolated phobia of spiders is not an exclusion criterion). Cardiovascular diseases.

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Before and after exposition session fear of spiders is quantified by using the "Fear of Spider Questionnaire" (FSQ, Possel & Hautzinger, 2002) and the "Behavioral Approach Test" (BAT, Arntz et al., 1993). Both measures are firstly used to evaluate if the participant fulfills the criteria of a spider fearful individual and are administered for a second time to quantify the reduction of fear after exposition. Furthermore, there are additional diagnostical questionnaires that are used in advance: - Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9; Spitzer et al., 1999): Exclusion of other mental illnesses - Section "Specific Phobias" within the DIPS (Schneider & Margraf, 2006): Quantifying fear of spiders - State Trait Anxiety Inventorys (STAU, Laux & Spielberger, 2001): Evaluation of general and situational anxiety levels - Anxiety Sensitivity Index Scale (ASI-3, Kemper-Ziegler & Taylor, 2003): Sensitivity to anxiety symptoms - Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II, Hautzinger et al., 2006): Exclusion of and controlling for depressive symptoms	—

Measure

Time frame

Before and after exposition session fear of spiders is quantified by using the "Fear of Spider Questionnaire" (FSQ, Possel & Hautzinger, 2002) and the "Behavioral Approach Test" (BAT, Arntz et al., 1993). Both measures are firstly used to evaluate if the participant fulfills the criteria of a spider fearful individual and are administered for a second time to quantify the reduction of fear after exposition. Furthermore, there are additional diagnostical questionnaires that are used in advance: - Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9; Spitzer et al., 1999): Exclusion of other mental illnesses - Section "Specific Phobias" within the DIPS (Schneider & Margraf, 2006): Quantifying fear of spiders - State Trait Anxiety Inventorys (STAU, Laux & Spielberger, 2001): Evaluation of general and situational anxiety levels - Anxiety Sensitivity Index Scale (ASI-3, Kemper-Ziegler & Taylor, 2003): Sensitivity to anxiety symptoms - Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II, Hautzinger et al., 2006): Exclusion of and controlling for depressive symptoms

—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Additionally, within any group psychophysiological parameters (electrodermal activity, heart rate and breathing frequency) are measured. Their changes during training and exposition phase can be considered as a second outcome.	—

Countries

Germany

Contacts

Public ContactSarah Katharina Schäfer

Universität des Saarlandes

sarah.schaefer@uni-saarland.de0681 302 71010

Outcome results

None listed

Source: DRKS (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 24, 2026