RecruitingNot ApplicableNCT04564976

Social Support and Reduced Fear Acquisition

Can Social Support Figures Enhance Fear Extinction in Patients With Social Anxiety?

Sponsor

University of California, Los Angeles

Enrollment

100 participants

Start Date

Feb 9, 2022

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Conditions

Anxiety Fear

Summary

University of California, Los Angeles researchers will recruit healthy participants and anxious participants (those diagnosed with social anxiety disorder) age 18-55 years old to participate in a study examining whether the ability of social support figure reminders to prevent the acquisition of fear in healthy participants extends to those with anxiety disorders. After being recruited from the UCLA community (healthy participants, n = 50) or referred by treatment providers at the Anxiety and Depression Research Center at UCLA (anxious participants, n =50) and undergoing a telephone screening and in-person screening, 100 participants will be enrolled in the study. During the experiment, all participants will undergo the same procedures: undergoing fear acquisition procedures--the repeated pairing of a neutral image with a mild electric shock that ultimately leads to the association of threat of shock with the image--in the presence of an image of a social support figure (provided by participants) and an image of a smiling stranger.

Eligibility

Min Age: 18 YearsMax Age: 55 Years

Plain Language Summary

Simplified for easier understanding

This study looks at how having a supportive person present during a fear-conditioning experiment affects how quickly healthy adults and those with social anxiety disorder learn to fear — and stop fearing — certain stimuli. It aims to understand the role of social support in managing anxiety and fear responses. **You may be eligible if...** - You are between 18 and 35 years old - You speak English fluently - You are either a healthy adult with no history of mental illness OR you have been diagnosed with social anxiety disorder (with or without depression or other anxiety disorders) **You may NOT be eligible if...** - You are pregnant or planning to become pregnant during the study - You have a chronic mental illness (for healthy participants) such as anxiety, depression, or any other diagnosed condition - You have bipolar disorder, psychosis, substance use disorder, neurological disorder, or OCD (for anxious participants) - You are currently taking prescription psychiatric medications Talk to your doctor to see if this trial is right for you.

This summary was AI-generated to explain the trial in plain language. It is not medical advice. Always discuss eligibility with your doctor before enrolling in a clinical trial.

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Interventions

BEHAVIORALSocial support image

An image of a social support figure specific to each participant (provided by the participant) will be present while participants undergo a fear acquisition procedure. Specifically--the image will be presented alongside a neutral image that is either consistently paired with shock (CS+) or never paired with shock (CS-), so that assessment of whether there are differences in fear responding (evaluated via SCR) due the shock pairing can be assessed. This is a typical fear acquisition procedure, and a typical outcome would be for SCR to be higher for the CS+ compared to the CS- toward the end and following the procedure, indicating that the CS+ is now associated with the aversive shock and is bringing about a fear response (in this case indexed by increased sympathetic nervous system activity preparing the body to fight or flee).