Attention Disengagement Training for Social Phobia (SPAttn)
Recruitment status was Recruiting
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Purpose
Generalized Social Phobia is characterized by severe social anxiety that leads to functional impairment (Schneider et al., 1992). Despite its high prevalence, many individuals do not receive treatment or are unresponsive to current therapies. Thus there is a clear need to continue to develop highly effective and efficient treatments for social phobia. This three year project aims to test a computerized treatment for social phobia in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study designed to modify attention biases that may maintain anxiety.
| Condition | Intervention |
|---|---|
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Social Anxiety Disorder |
Behavioral: Attention Modification Program Behavioral: Placebo Condition |
| Study Type: | Interventional |
| Study Design: | Allocation: Randomized Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment Masking: Double Blind (Subject, Outcomes Assessor) Primary Purpose: Treatment |
| Official Title: | Attention Disengagement Training for Social Phobia |
- Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) [ Time Frame: Pre, Post, Followup ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
- Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory [ Time Frame: Pre, Post, Followup ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
| Estimated Enrollment: | 72 |
| Study Start Date: | September 2006 |
| Estimated Study Completion Date: | August 2009 |
| Estimated Primary Completion Date: | August 2009 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure) |
| Arms | Assigned Interventions |
|---|---|
|
Active Comparator: 2 PC
Placebo Condition
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Behavioral: Placebo Condition
The placebo condition (PC) will be identical to the AMP condition except that during the presentation of the trials where a threat picture is present, the probe will appear with equal frequency in the position of threat and neutral pictures. Thus, neither threat nor neutral pictures have signal value with regard to the position of the probe.
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Experimental: 1 AMP
Attention Modifications Program
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Behavioral: Attention Modification Program
The AMP protocol includes twelve 30-min sessions delivered over a 6-week period. During each session, participants will see 320 trials consisting of the various combinations of probe type (E or F), probe position (top or bottom), and picture type (Neutral or Threat). Of the 240 trials, 64 include only neutral pictures: 2 (probe type) X 2 (probe position) X 16 (person). The remaining 256 trials include one neutral picture and one threat picture: 2 (probe type) X 2 (probe position) X 4 (repetitions) X 16 (person). On trials where participants see one neutral picture and one threat picture (i.e., 80% of the trials), the probe always follows the neutral word.
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Detailed Description:
Generalized Social Phobia (GSP) is characterized by severe social anxiety that leads to functional impairment (Schneider, et al., 1992). The prevalence of GSP is 13.3% (lifetime, Kessler, et al., 1994), ranking third among all psychiatric disorders. Despite its high prevalence, over 30% of individuals with social anxiety who need treatment do not receive treatment for a variety of reasons (e.g., afraid of what others might think, Olfson, et al., 2000). Additionally, 40% of individuals who present for treatment do not respond (39% Heimberg, et al., 1998; 42%, Liebowitz et al., 2005). Thus, there is a clear need to develop highly effective and efficient treatment procedures for social phobia. This three-year proposal aims to test a computerized treatment for social anxiety in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Specifically, research suggests that individuals with social phobia direct their attention toward socially-relevant negative information. Therefore, the treatment will focus on changing this attention bias and thereby alleviate symptoms of social anxiety. We present the results of a pilot study (n=26) in treatment seeking socially phobic individuals demonstrating the effectiveness of the treatment. A larger study would allow us to test the treatment and perhaps modify its component to increase its efficacy. The preliminary results of the pilot are encouraging. In brief, our intervention was effective in: a) changing biased attention in socially anxious individuals, b) generalizing this change in disengagement of attention from threat to other measures of attention disengagement, c) reduce symptoms of social anxiety as assessed by an independent rater, d) maintain a high rate of compliance (0% drop out in the pilot study), and e) maintain its effects in follow-up assessment up to one year. This efficient and efficacious techniques for changing attention bias in social phobia can provide a cost-effective and easy to administer treatment that is grounded in basic cognitive science and may help reduce suffering in individuals with GSP. We will test two hypotheses in this proposal. 1) Individuals with GSP completing the Attention Disengagement Training (ADT) will show a larger reduction in their symptoms compared to the placebo group on an interviewer measure of social anxiety (Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, LSAS). 2) Individuals with GSP completing ADT will show a larger reduction in their self-report of social anxiety symptoms compared to the placebo group
Eligibility| Ages Eligible for Study: | 18 Years to 65 Years |
| Genders Eligible for Study: | Both |
| Accepts Healthy Volunteers: | No |
Inclusion Criteria:
- Principle DSM-IV-TR (APA, 2000) Diagnosis of social phobia - Generalized Type (GSP)
Exclusion Criteria:
- No change in medication type or dosage twelve weeks prior to initiating treatment
- No current psychotherapy
- No evidence of suicidal intent
- No evidence of substance abuse in the last 6 months
- No evidence of current or past schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or organic mental disorder
Contacts and Locations| Contact: Nader Amir, Ph.D. | 619-229-3740 | namir@mail.sdsu.edu |
| United States, California | |
| San Diego State University | Recruiting |
| San Diego, California, United States, 92120 | |
| Principal Investigator: | Nader Amir, Ph.D. | SDSU/UCSD |
More Information
No publications provided
| Responsible Party: | Nader Amir, SDSU |
| ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: | NCT00684320 History of Changes |
| Other Study ID Numbers: | R34MH07300401A2, R34MH07300401A2 |
| Study First Received: | May 22, 2008 |
| Last Updated: | May 23, 2008 |
| Health Authority: | United States: Institutional Review Board |
Keywords provided by San Diego State University:
|
Social Anxiety Disorder Information Processing Attention Bias |
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
|
Anxiety Disorders Phobic Disorders Mental Disorders |
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on June 17, 2013