Building Closer Friendships in Social Anxiety Disorder

• ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03671577
• Recruitment Status: Completed
• First Posted: September 14, 2018
• Last Update Posted: January 29, 2021
• Sponsor: Florida State University
• Information provided by (Responsible Party): Jesse Cougle, Florida State University

Study Description

Brief Summary:

This study assesses whether a 4-week computerized intervention can be used to decrease fear of intimacy, and loneliness and improve perceived social support in people with Social Anxiety Disorder.

Condition or disease	Intervention/treatment	Phase
Social Anxiety	Behavioral: Building Closer Friendships	Not Applicable

Detailed Description:

This study hopes to assess whether a month long computerized intervention aimed at giving people skills to form closer friendships. Participants will be randomized into an active treatment condition or a wait list control. We hypothesize that 1) participants in the treatment condition will have lower fear of intimacy at post treatment than those in the waitlist condition 2) participants in the treatment condition will have lower levels of loneliness than those in the waitlist condition 3) participants in the treatment condition will have higher perceived social support than those in the waitlist condition.

Study Design

• Study Type: Interventional (Clinical Trial)
• Actual Enrollment: 55 participants
• Allocation: Randomized
• Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
• Intervention Model Description: Participants will be randomized into active treatment or waitlist control.
• Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
• Masking Description: Participants will be randomized into active treatment or waitlist control, so they will be aware of the condition they are in.
• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Official Title: Building Closer Friendships in Social Anxiety Disorder: A Preliminary Test
• Actual Study Start Date: October 25, 2018
• Actual Primary Completion Date: December 15, 2019
• Actual Study Completion Date: December 15, 2019

Arms and Interventions

Arm	Intervention/treatment
Experimental: Active Treatment; four week computerized intervention designed to reduce fear of intimacy	Behavioral: Building Closer Friendships; Intervention designed to build social support and reduce loneliness by giving participants skills to strengthen their relationships
No Intervention: Wait List Control; Participants will continue as usual and will be given the option to receive the active treatment after completion of the study

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures :

1. Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support [ Time Frame: Change in Perceived Social Support from baseline to post treatment (4weeks) and one month follow up (8 weeks) ]
   Self-report scale that measures perceived levels of social support. Scores range from 12 to 84 with higher scores indicating higher levels of perceived social support. The three subscales (friends, family and significant other) all have a range of 4 to 28 with higher scores indicating higher levels of perceived social support.
2. Fear of Intimacy Scale-friend version [ Time Frame: Change in fear of intimacy from baseline to post treatment (4weeks) and one month follow up (8 weeks) ]
   self report scale measuring fear of intimacy in friendships. Scores range from 26 to 130 with higher scores indicating a higher level of fear of intimacy.

Secondary Outcome Measures :

1. UCLA Loneliness Scale [ Time Frame: Change in loneliness from baseline to post treatment (4weeks) and one month follow up (8 weeks) ]
   A 20 item Self report scale measuring loneliness. Scales range from 0 to 60 with higher scores indicating a higher level of loneliness.
2. Social Phobia inventory [ Time Frame: Change in social anxiety symptoms from baseline to post treatment (4 weeks) and one month follow up (8 weeks) ]
   Self-report scale that measures Social anxiety symptoms. Scores range from 0 to 68 with higher scores indicating higher levels of social anxiety symptoms.
3. State-Trait Inventory for Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety-Trait Version (STICSA-T) [ Time Frame: Change in overall anxiety symptoms from baseline to post treatment (4 weeks) and one month follow up (8 weeks) ]
   Self-report measure used to assess overall anxiety symptoms. Scores range from 21 to 84 with higher scores indicating higher levels of overall anxiety.
4. Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) [ Time Frame: Change in depression symptoms from baseline to post treatment (4 weeks) and one month follow up (8 weeks) ]
   Self-report measure used to assess depressive symptoms. Total scores range from 0 to 60 with higher scores indicating a higher level of depressive symptoms.
5. Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire (INQ) [ Time Frame: Change in suicide vulnerability from baseline to post treatment (4 weeks) and one month follow up (8 weeks) ]
   Self report measure of suicide vulnerability. Total scores range from 15 to 105, with higher scores indicating a higher vulnerability for suicide.

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 Years to 65 Years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Sexes Eligible for Study: All
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Social Anxiety Disorder Diagnosed by the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview
• Social Phobia Inventory Score >19
• Stable psychotropic medication for the past month and kept stable for duration of study

Exclusion Criteria:

• Currently participating in therapy
• Current Substance Dependence
• Bipolar Disorder or psychotic illness
• Current suicidality (imminent risk)

Contacts and Locations

Locations

United States, Florida

Florida State University

Tallahassee, Florida, United States, 32304

Sponsors and Collaborators

Florida State University

More Information

• Responsible Party: Jesse Cougle, Associate Professor, Florida State University
• ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03671577
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2018.23774
• First Posted: September 14, 2018
• Last Update Posted: January 29, 2021
• Last Verified: January 2021

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product: No

Additional relevant MeSH terms:

Anxiety Disorders; Phobia, Social; Mental Disorders; Phobic Disorders