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Completed

NCT Number: NCT02659436

Imagery-based CBT for Social Anxiety Disorder: Piloting a Treatment Augmentation Protocol

The purpose of this pilot study is to explore whether there is a differential impact of verbal versus imagery-based cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) as a treatment augmentation strategy for individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD). Clients who have not demonstrated clinically significant change following group CBT for SAD will receive four additional sessions of either verbal-based CBT or imagery-based CBT. We hypothesize that that individuals who receive imagery-based CBT will experience even stronger improvements and be more satisfied with their treatment than individuals who received traditional verbal-linguistic CBT.

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Key information

Conditions

Social Anxiety Disorder Anxiety Disorders Mental Disorders Phobia, Social Phobic Disorders

Age range

18 year–65 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

About this study

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is a debilitating disorder, marked by significant functional impairment and high personal distress for those who suffer. Psychological treatment for SAD has traditionally been verbal-linguistic cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). However, a significant number of individuals who complete CBT for SAD do not achieve full response and continue to struggle with significant residual symptoms. One innovation that has received attention recently in the literature is using imagery-based CBT as a way to augment treatment outcome in SAD. Results from a pilot and benchmarking study suggest that participants who received imagery-based CBT were more likely to complete treatment than those who received traditional CBT and treatment outcome was strong for both groups, but stronger in the imagery-based CBT group.

However, before re-training hundreds of practitioners in using a completely novel treatment approach, it is important to see if a brief augmentation of traditional CBT programs is effective in producing further change for individuals with residual symptoms after group CBT. It is possible that individuals just require a few more sessions of the same verbal-linguistic CBT to consolidate treatment gains or work on lingering triggers of anxiety. It is also possible that more of the same is not as valuable as offering therapy using a different modality, such as imagery. Therefore, we propose to evaluate a brief imagery-based augmentation of traditional group CBT to explore its effects on further symptom reduction.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Completed eight out of twelve sessions of standard verbal-linguistic group cognitive behavioural therapy for social anxiety disorder
  • Presented with a Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) score of greater than 19 post-treatment
  • Interested in further treatment

Exclusion criteria

  • Has another mental health concern of greater importance than social anxiety disorder

Treatment and study plan

Verbal-linguistic CBT

Other

Participants will receive 4 sessions of individual therapy focused on traditional cognitive restructuring and exposure therapy.

Imagery-based CBT

Other

Participants will receive 4 sessions of individual therapy focused on imagery-based cognitive work and behavioural experiments.

Primary outcomes

  1. Social Phobia Inventory

    Time frame: This will be administered at the end of the 4 session protocol which will take place approximately 4 -6 weeks after entry into the study.

    Measures social anxiety symptoms

Secondary outcomes

  1. Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire

    Time frame: This will be administered at the end of the 4 session protocol which will take place approximately 4 -6 weeks after entry into the study.

    Measures the ability to visualize several visual images

  2. Homework Adherence Scale

    Time frame: This will be administered at the end of the 4 session protocol which will take place approximately 4 -6 weeks after entry into the study.

    Measures the quality of homework completion

  3. Treatment Satisfaction Scale

    Time frame: This will be administered at the end of the 4 session protocol which will take place approximately 4 -6 weeks after entry into the study.

    Measures the participant's satisfaction with their treatment

  4. Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale

    Time frame: This will be administered at the end of the 4 session protocol which will take place approximately 4 -6 weeks after entry into the study.

    Measures fears about being negatively evaluated by others

  5. Illness Intrusiveness Rating Scale

    Time frame: This will be administered at the end of the 4 session protocol which will take place approximately 4 -6 weeks after entry into the study.

    Measures how much anxiety interferes with functioning

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton

Other

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2016
Primary completion
2016
Study completion
2016
First posted
Jan 20, 2016
Registry last updated
Dec 29, 2016

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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