The effect of medication for social anxiety disorder upon the production of chemical messengers in the brain

Serotonin-dopamine interactions in social anxiety disorder

Status

Recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN66537707

Enrollment

Registered

2019-02-08

Start date

2019-02-12

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2023-05-15

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

Conditions

Social anxiety disorder Mental and Behavioural Disorders

Interventions

Patients with social anxiety disorder will be treated with escitalopram 20 mg (10 mg first week), 1 tablet/daily, for 9 weeks and assessed with positron emission tomography (PET) as well as functional

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: 1. Social anxiety disorder according to DSM-5, must be the main diagnosis as assessed with the structured clinical interview for DSM disorders (SCID) and the MINI interview 2. Otherwise somatically healthy 3. Age 18-64 4. Willingness to participate in a brain imaging trial (giving informed consent)

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: 1. Treatment of social anxiety within the three months preceding the study 2. Current serious or dominant psychiatric disorder other than social anxiety disorder (e.g. psychosis, major depressoin, bipolar disorder) 3. Suicidal ideation 4. Chronic use of other prescribed medication that could influence the results (e.g. antidepressants, anxiolytics, certain sleeping pills and herbal drugs like St John's Wort) 5. Abuse of alcohol or narcotics 6. Pregnancy of planned pregnancy during the study period 7. Menopause 8. Previous PET examination 9. Contraindications for MRI investigation (e.g implants or other metal objects in the body, brain and heart operations) 10. Heart insufficiency or previous heart surgery 11. Contraindications for treatment with escitalopram

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Social anxiety, measured using: 1. The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), pre- and post-treatment 2. The Clinical Global Impression-Improvement (CGI-I) scale at post-treatment	—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Social anxiety measured pre- and post-treatment using: 1. Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) 2. Social Phobia Scale (SPS) 3. Social Phobia Screening Questionnaire (SPSQ) 4. Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS-S) 5. Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) 6. Quality of Life Inventory (QOLI) 7. Spielberger state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI-S, STAI-T) Additional measures for research purposes (not outcome measures): 8. Karolinska Scale of Personality (KSP) 9. NEO-PI-R, personality inventory 10. Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) 11. Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) 12. Karolinska Sleep Questionnaire (KSQ) 13. Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) 14. Ritvo Autism and Asperger Diagnostic scale (RAADS-14) 15. Tellegen Absorption Scale (TAS) 16. Mystical Experiences Scale (MES)	—

Measure

Time frame

Social anxiety measured pre- and post-treatment using: 1. Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) 2. Social Phobia Scale (SPS) 3. Social Phobia Screening Questionnaire (SPSQ) 4. Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS-S) 5. Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) 6. Quality of Life Inventory (QOLI) 7. Spielberger state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI-S, STAI-T) Additional measures for research purposes (not outcome measures): 8. Karolinska Scale of Personality (KSP) 9. NEO-PI-R, personality inventory 10. Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) 11. Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) 12. Karolinska Sleep Questionnaire (KSQ) 13. Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) 14. Ritvo Autism and Asperger Diagnostic scale (RAADS-14) 15. Tellegen Absorption Scale (TAS) 16. Mystical Experiences Scale (MES)

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Countries

Sweden

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026