Social Anxiety Disorder
Conditions
Brief summary
The present study aims to examine the feasibility of a computerized treatment for social anxiety disorder. To evaluate the efficacy of the IBM protocol the investigators have developed in reducing evaluation and social threat biases, they will conduct a two-arm randomized controlled trial. Individuals with a diagnosis of social anxiety disorder (N = 50) will be randomized to one of two conditions: 1) IBM or 2) progressive muscle relaxation. Each condition will consist of eight 25 minute treatment sessions. Participants will complete two sessions per week for four weeks and will be administered assessments at pre-treatment, one week post-treatment and at 3-month follow-up. It is hypothesized that: 1) IBM will lead to greater reductions in social anxiety symptoms than the PMR condition; 2) IBM will lead to greater reductions in depression and anxiety than the PMR condition; 3) IBM will lead to greater reductions in threat interpretations and greater increases in benign interpretations than the PMR condition; 4) The effects of condition on social anxiety symptoms will be mediated by changes in social anxiety-related interpretation bias; and 5) The effects of condition will be maintained at the 3-month follow-up assessment.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALInterpretation Bias Modification
Eight 10-25 minute sessions of interpretation modification to reduce negative interpretation biases related to negative evaluation.
BEHAVIORALProgressive Muscle Relaxation
Eight 15-minute sessions of progressive muscle relaxation (PMR).
Sponsors
Florida State University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Investigator)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Current diagnosis of Social Anxiety Disorder according to DSM-5 criteria * SPIN score greater than or equal to 30 * Must report sufficient motivation to complete treatment (i.e., score of at least 5 on a 10 point scale (0 = no motivation and 10 = extreme motivation))
Exclusion criteria
* Concurrent psychotherapy or treatment for social anxiety disorder * Clinically significant suicidality * Current Alcohol Use Disorder of Severe severity or higher * Current Non-alcohol Substance Use Disorder of Moderate severity or higher * Recent changes (less than four weeks) in psychiatric medication * History of psychotic symptoms * May not have participated in a similar computerized treatment program
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN; Davidson, 1995) | change from baseline at one-week post treatment and 3-months post-treatment | Measures past-week social anxiety symptom severity |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II; Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996) | change from baseline at one-week post treatment and 3-months post-treatment | Measures depressive symptom severity |
| Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI; Steer & Beck, 1997) | change from baseline at one-week post treatment and 3-months post-treatment | Measure anxious symptom severity |
| Interpretations Questionnaire-modified (IQ-modified; Buhlmann et al., 2002) | change from baseline at one-week post treatment and 3-months post-treatment | Measure of strength of evaluation related threat interpretation bias |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed