Text Size

Dysfunctional Attention Processes in Fear of Blushing: Specificity and Changeability

This study has been completed.
Sponsor:
Collaborator:
German Research Foundation
Information provided by:
Dresden University of Technology
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
NCT00751465
First received: September 11, 2008
Last updated: January 6, 2011
Last verified: January 2011
History of Changes
  Purpose

Blushing is associated with a heightened self-focused attention. In our study we are interested if this self-focused attention can be shown experimentally and if it can be changed by therapy and training. For the experimental part of the study, we want to compare blushing fearful individuals to social anxious participants who are not fearful of blushing and to healthy controls who report to blush either seldom or quite often. In the therapeutical part of our study, we compare an attention training to the standard cognitive behavioral therapy for social anxiety disorder in an intensive group therapy approach.


Condition Intervention
Phobia, Social
 Behavioral: Task Concentration Training
Behavioral: Standard CBT
Other: Wait-list control group

Study Type: Interventional
Study Design: Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Factorial Assignment
Masking: Open Label
Primary Purpose: Treatment
Official Title: Clinical Specificity of Dysfunctional Habitual Attention Processes in Fear of Blushing and Their Changeability

Resource links provided by NLM:

MedlinePlus related topics: Anxiety Phobias
U.S. FDA Resources

Further study details as provided by Dresden University of Technology:

Primary Outcome Measures:
  • Brief Social Phobia Scale [ Time Frame: pre, within, post, 6-months, and 12-months follow-up ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
    Brief Social Phobia Scale BSPS is an interview assessing fear and avoidance in seven social situations and severity of four bodily symptoms.


Secondary Outcome Measures:
  • Social Phobia Composite [ Time Frame: pre, within, post, 6-months, and 12-months follow-up ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
    The social phobia composite includes several self-report measures like the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, Social Phobia Scale, Social Interaction Anxiety Scale, and Social Phobia Inventory.

  • Changes in objective attention test data [ Time Frame: within, post, 6-months follow-up ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Enrollment: 82
Study Start Date: November 2008
Study Completion Date: December 2010
Primary Completion Date: December 2010 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
Arms Assigned Interventions
Active Comparator: Task Concentration Training
Task Concentration Training TCT following Bögels et al. (1997)
 Behavioral: Task Concentration Training
Task Concentration Training TCT following Bögels et al. (1997).
Active Comparator: Standard CBT
standard Cognitive Behavior Therapy, standard CBT following the model of Clark and Wells (1995).
 Behavioral: Standard CBT
Standard CBT following the Clark-and-Wells (1995) model of social anxiety disorder, relying on the German manual for SAD (stangier et al., 2006). Includes the model, role-plays with and without safetey behavior, video-feedback.
No Intervention: Wait list control
Wait list control group
 Other: Wait-list control group
Wait-list control group. Participants were assessed before the start of treatment twice with questionnaires and experimental tests.

Detailed Description:

Fear of blushing is a specific syndrome in social anxiety disorder. Although attentional biases for social anxiety disorders have often been reported, specific data for fear of blushing are still missing. In this study, dysfunctional attention processes are examined by the use of various questionnaire measures and attention tests (e.g. Stroop test, task switching paradigm) comparing fear of blushers, other social phobia patients, healthy volunteers who report to blush seldomly respectively often. The second goal of the study is to examine if these attention processes can be changed by training and therapy. Therefore, individuals who fulfill DSM-IV criteria for social anxiety disorder and report fear of blushing as main problem, are treated with attention training and with CBT for social anxiety disorder. Therapy will be held in the form of intensive weekend group therapy. Differences in outcomes for both therapy types and in changeability of attention processes on objective test data are examined. Stability of results are tested up to 6-month and 12-month after post-assessment.

  Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:   18 Years to 70 Years
Genders Eligible for Study:   Both
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:   Yes
Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Social anxiety disorder (DSM-IV criteria) and fear of blushing as main complaint
  • age: 18-70

Exclusion Criteria:

  • acute severe depression or bipolar disorder
  • any disorder of ICD group F2
  • acute and severe substance misuse
  • any bodily illness which hinders from study participation
  Contacts and Locations
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00751465

Locations
Germany
TU Dresden
Dresden, Germany, 01187
Sponsors and Collaborators
Dresden University of Technology
German Research Foundation
Investigators
Principal Investigator: Jürgen Hoyer, Prof. Dr. University of Technology Dresden
  More Information

Publications:

Responsible Party: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Hoyer, Technische Universität Dresden
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00751465     History of Changes
Other Study ID Numbers: EK198082007, DFG HO1900/5-1
Study First Received: September 11, 2008
Last Updated: January 6, 2011
Health Authority: Germany: Ethics Commission

Keywords provided by Dresden University of Technology:
Social Anxiety Disorder
Social Phobia
Fear of blushing
 attention
attention training
cognitive behavior therapy

Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Phobic Disorders
Anxiety Disorders
Mental Disorders

ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on June 17, 2013