Social Anxiety
Conditions
Brief summary
The COVID-19 pandemic has substantially increased the risk of adverse mental health outcomes; while physical distancing is required to reduce infection risk, it also increases loneliness and isolation and prevents access to traditional in-person therapy, which further contribute to risk of adverse mental health outcomes. These problems may be especially acute for individuals with social anxiety disorder (as many as 12% of Americans), however there is a limited evidence-base for telehealth options to directly address social anxiety. This project aims to adapt exposure therapy for social anxiety to a telehealth and physical distancing-compatible intervention, and test whether this effectively decreases loneliness in adults with elevated social anxiety.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALTelehealth CBT
The Coordinated Anxiety Learning and Management (CALM) program is an evidence-based, computer-assisted protocol for cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety, depression, and/or post-traumatic stress. CALM will be implemented via secure and HIPAA compliant video-conferencing software (enterprise Zoom), following modifications to address obstacles associated with physical distancing and the tele-health medium.
Sponsors
Stanford University
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Age 18+, * Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) total score \> 50 * Fluent spoken and written English * Access to the internet via a smartphone or computer with a camera * Ability to provide informed consent.
Exclusion criteria
* History of mania or psychosis * Moderate or severe substance use disorder within the past year * Current psychiatric diagnosis of greater impairment than that arising from social anxiety * High risk for suicide (\>8 on the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview suicidality section) * Prior exposure therapy (more than 2 sessions) * Current psychotropic medication use * Current psychotherapy other than couples counseling.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) | 12 weeks | Social anxiety severity, lower scores are better (indicating less anxiety). Minimum score is 0, maximum score is 144. |
| Satisfaction with Therapy and Therapists Scale (STTS) | 12 weeks | Therapy satisfaction subscale, higher scores are better (indicating greater satisfaction). Minimum score is 6, maximum score is 30. |
| UCLA Loneliness Scale version 3 | 12 weeks | Loneliness, lower scores are better (indicating less loneliness). Minimum score is 20, maximum score is 80. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) | 24 weeks | Social anxiety severity, lower scores are better (indicating less anxiety). Minimum score is 0, maximum score is 144. |
| UCLA Loneliness Scale version 3 | 24 weeks | Loneliness, lower scores are better (indicating less loneliness). Minimum score is 20, maximum score is 80. |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed