RecruitingNot ApplicableNCT06776991

Reward Processing and Exposure Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder

Reward Processing and Exposure Therapy

Sponsor

University of California, Los Angeles

Enrollment

94 participants

Start Date

Sep 26, 2024

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Conditions

Anhedonia Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia)Public Speaking Anxiety ANXIETY DISORDERS (or Anxiety and Phobic Neuroses)Phobic Disorders

Summary

The investigators are conducting a clinical trial of therapy for public speaking anxiety. There are many eligibility criteria, but the main ones are that participants need to be socially anxious and have public speaking anxiety. In this clinical trial, all participants will do exposure therapy. Before doing exposure therapy in the study, though, participants will be randomized to do one of two treatments: i) a positive mood treatment, which is designed to increase how positive people feel, and ii) a relaxation treatment, which is designed to help people feel more relaxed. The investigators are doing this study to see whether doing the positive mood treatment or relaxation treatment first will affect how well exposure therapy works.

Eligibility

Min Age: 18 YearsMax Age: 60 Years

Plain Language Summary

Simplified for easier understanding

This study is exploring whether a type of therapy called exposure therapy works better for people with social anxiety disorder who also have low motivation or difficulty feeling pleasure. Researchers will use brain scans and questionnaires to better understand how the brain processes rewards and how that affects treatment outcomes. **You may be eligible if...** - You have been diagnosed with social anxiety disorder - You have significant fear of public speaking - You score below average on measures of feeling motivated or experiencing pleasure - You are between 18 and 60 years old - You are fluent in English - You are not currently in cognitive or behavioral therapy for anxiety - Any psychiatric medications you take have been at a stable dose for at least 1–3 months **You may NOT be eligible if...** - You have had suicidal thoughts with a plan in the past year or have ever attempted suicide - You have a history of bipolar disorder, psychosis, or intellectual disability - You have had a substance use disorder in the past 6 months - You have serious heart, lung, or neurological conditions - You are pregnant - You have metal implants or other reasons you cannot have an MRI 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

BEHAVIORALPositive Affect Treatment - Behavioral (PAT-B)

8 therapy sessions conducted individually with a therapist. Focuses on improving reward processing to increase positive emotional experience. Specific techniques include psychoeducation on mood cycle and positive emotions, mood monitoring, behavioral activation, and imaginal recounting and savoring of behavioral activation events. Intervention includes between-session practice.

BEHAVIORALRelaxation Treatment

8 therapy sessions conducted individually with a therapist. Focuses on mindfulness and relaxation skills. Specific techniques include mindfulness approaches from dialectical behavior therapy, diaphragmatic breathing, and progressive muscle relaxation. Intervention includes between-session practice.

BEHAVIORALExposure Therapy

8 therapy sessions conducted individually with a therapist using the inhibitory retrieval model of exposure therapy. Sessions are designed to include four exposures each (32 exposures total). Each exposure is a public speech delivered to an audience. Goal of this treatment is to reduce public speaking anxiety. Principles of exposure therapy that will be incorporated are maximizing prediction error, maintaining attention to the situation/stimuli that are perceived predictors of the feared outcome (e.g., social rejection), removing safety signals, variability, engaging in post-exposure rehearsal/consolidation, deepened extinction, and positive occasion setter extinction. Intervention does not include between-session practice.

Locations(2)

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California, United States

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California, United States

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NCT06776991

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Reward Processing and Exposure Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder

Conditions

Summary

Eligibility

Plain Language Summary

Interventions

Locations(2)

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