Support on four paws: Does the integration of a therapy dog reduce anxiety and increase positive affect in spider phobics during in vivo exposure therapy?

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

DRKS

Registry ID

DRKS00034494

Enrollment

Registered

2024-06-18

Start date

2024-06-26

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2026-04-27

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

Conditions

ICD10 F40.2 Specific (isolated) phobia animal type (spiders) F40.2

Interventions

Group 1: One-session in vivo exposure treatment for spider phobia without a dog (Öst 1985, 1987, 1989

control group) Group 2: One-session in vivo exposure treatment of spider phobia with a therapy dog (dog group)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: A score of 14 or higher in the Fear of Spiders Screening (“Spinnenangst Screening”, SAS) A score of 50 or higher in the German version of the Fear of Spiders Questionnaire (FSQ)

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: Current diagnosis of a mental disorder other than a specific phobia; insect bite allergy; dog hair allergy; fear of dogs; current psychopharmacological treatment; current psychotherapeutic treatment

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Participants' state anxiety during the course of the treatment (assessed by means of the German version of the STAI-S - State-Trait-Anxiety Inventory at pre treatment, post first spider, post second spider, and post treatment); Participants' positive affect during the course of the treatment (assessed by means of the German version of the PANAS - Positive and Negative Affect Schedule at pre treatment, post first spider, post second spider, and post treatment); Participants' fear and avoidance of spiders (assessed by means of the German version of the FSQ - Fear of Spiders Questionnaire and the BAT - Behavioral Approach Test at baseline (i.e. before treatment allocation), post treatment, and two weeks after the treatment. The FSQ will additionally be completed three months after the treatment.	—

Measure

Time frame

Participants' state anxiety during the course of the treatment (assessed by means of the German version of the STAI-S - State-Trait-Anxiety Inventory at pre treatment, post first spider, post second spider, and post treatment); Participants' positive affect during the course of the treatment (assessed by means of the German version of the PANAS - Positive and Negative Affect Schedule at pre treatment, post first spider, post second spider, and post treatment); Participants' fear and avoidance of spiders (assessed by means of the German version of the FSQ - Fear of Spiders Questionnaire and the BAT - Behavioral Approach Test at baseline (i.e. before treatment allocation), post treatment, and two weeks after the treatment. The FSQ will additionally be completed three months after the treatment.

—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Participants' therapy motivation (assessed by means of the item “I am motivated to tackle my fear of spiders.” rated on the seven-point Likert scale of the Fear of Spider Screening (“Spinnenangst Screening”, SAS; Rinck et al., 2002) at baseline (i.e. before treatment allocation) and pre treatment); Participants' anticipatory anxiety (assessed by means of the item “When I imagine the upcoming therapy for my fear of spiders, I already feel tense, nervous and anxious.” rated on the seven-point Likert scale of the SAS at baseline (i.e. before treatment allocation) and pre treatment); Participants' fear and avoidance of spiders during the course of the treatment as a measure of learning (assessed by means of a brief fear and avoidance of spiders measure (BFASM) which we derived from the SAS. In the BFASM, participants are shown a picture of the spider employed in the BAT sitting on the palm of one of the therapists (only the hand and the lower part of the therapist’s arm are visible) and are asked to rate the two items “If I encountered this spider right now, I would be scared” and “If I encountered this spider right now, I would avoid it”, on the seven-point Likert scale of the SAS. Higher scores indicate higher fear and higher avoidance, respectively. The BFASM will be completed at pre treatment, post first spider, post second spider, and post treatment); Participants' treatment satisfaction, therapy alliance, problem activation, and mastery (assessed by means of the MSB - Mainz Hourly Assessment Form after the pre-clinical interview and psychoeducation, post treatment, two weeks after the treatment, and three months after the treatment)	—

Measure

Time frame

Participants' therapy motivation (assessed by means of the item “I am motivated to tackle my fear of spiders.” rated on the seven-point Likert scale of the Fear of Spider Screening (“Spinnenangst Screening”, SAS; Rinck et al., 2002) at baseline (i.e. before treatment allocation) and pre treatment); Participants' anticipatory anxiety (assessed by means of the item “When I imagine the upcoming therapy for my fear of spiders, I already feel tense, nervous and anxious.” rated on the seven-point Likert scale of the SAS at baseline (i.e. before treatment allocation) and pre treatment); Participants' fear and avoidance of spiders during the course of the treatment as a measure of learning (assessed by means of a brief fear and avoidance of spiders measure (BFASM) which we derived from the SAS. In the BFASM, participants are shown a picture of the spider employed in the BAT sitting on the palm of one of the therapists (only the hand and the lower part of the therapist’s arm are visible) and are asked to rate the two items “If I encountered this spider right now, I would be scared” and “If I encountered this spider right now, I would avoid it”, on the seven-point Likert scale of the SAS. Higher scores indicate higher fear and higher avoidance, respectively. The BFASM will be completed at pre treatment, post first spider, post second spider, and post treatment); Participants' treatment satisfaction, therapy alliance, problem activation, and mastery (assessed by means of the MSB - Mainz Hourly Assessment Form after the pre-clinical interview and psychoeducation, post treatment, two weeks after the treatment, and three months after the treatment)

—

Countries

Germany

Contacts

Public ContactMoritz Nicolai Braun

Lehrstuhl für Klinische Psychologie und Psychotherapie

moritz.braun@uni-saarland.de+49 681 302-71033

Outcome results

None listed

Source: DRKS (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: May 1, 2026