Health Care Seeking Behavior, Health Care Utilization
Conditions
Brief summary
This study aims to assess whether negative or rather the lack of positive treatment expectations could be positively influenced by online short interventions and increase intention so seek treatment and actual help-seeking behavior when compared to a no-treatment control group. Further, the study investigators like to explore if specifically focusing on intensifying positive treatment expectations vs. a reduction of expectations about negative treatment effects will influence the pattern of results differently.
Detailed description
The investigators expect that participants receiving an intervention e.g., amplifying positive (performance) expectancies vs. reducing negative (performance) expectancies of psychotherapeutic treatment, will show an increase in intentions to seek treatment and are more likely to report actual treatment-seeking behavior after the intervention when compared with participants who will describe their treatment expectations via a writing task. Further, the investigators want to explore if the expectancy-modulating interventions will differently affect the intention to seek treatment within socially anxious individuals. If participants agree, the investigators plan to assess changes in expectations, attitudes as well as actual treatment seeking behavior at a Follow-Up assessment one week later (data from Follow-Up will be analyzed exploratively and is not part of the main hypotheses).
Interventions
OTHERVideo of a patients testimonial
The intervention is a prerecorded video of a re-enacted patient-therapist interaction whereby the patient gives a testimonial about the treatment process while either reducing negative expectations or maximizing positive expectations about therapy, respectively.
OTHERWriting Task
Participants write freely about their current treatment expectations / apprehensions to seek treatment
Sponsors
Philipps University Marburg
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 75 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* at least 18 years old * fluent in German (C Level) * access to a computer device with internet access
Exclusion criteria
* non correctable hearing or visual impairment * current in psychotherapeutic treatment or on a waiting list * no neurological impairment or psychotic disorders
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in Treatment Expectations (Treatment Expectation Questionnaire, TEX-Q) | At baseline (pre-measurement), immediately after intervention (post-measurement, approximately 20 minutes after beginning of study procedure) and at Follow-Up investigation (one week after post measurement) | Explicit treatment expectations measured by 15 items on a 11point Likert-scale |
| Changes in intention to seek treatment | At baseline (pre-measurement), immediately after intervention (post-measurement, approximately 20 minutes after beginning of study procedure) and at Follow-Up investigation (one week after post measurement) | Estimated Probability to seek treatment on a self-generated rating scale from 0 (not likely at all) to 100 (very much likely) |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Intention to seek treatment (Behavioral Outcome 1) | After intervention (post measurement, approximately 30 minutes after beginning of study procedure) | Participants respond with yes or no to indicate their interest to receive more concrete information about social anxiety and its treatment possibilities. If the answer was answered with yes, participants are asked to give their e-mail address to receive information which is used to assess intention to seek treatment in form of a behavioral outcome. |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Treatment-seeking behavior (Behavioral Outcome 2) | At Follow-Up investigation (one week after post measurement) | If participants agree to participate at our Follow Up, a second behavioral outcome will be assessed. Participants will be asked if they meanwhile have researched more concrete information about social anxiety online, connected with internet platforms or self-support groups, applied for online therapy programs/sessions, contacted or sought professional help for outpatient or psychiatric clinics. All categories have to be answered by a dichotomous scale (yes or no). |
Countries
Germany
Outcome results
None listed