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NCT Number: NCT04564976

Social Support and Reduced Fear Acquisition

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.

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Key information

Conditions

Fear Anxiety Anxiety Disorders Mental Disorders

Age range

18 year–55 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

UCLA Department of Psychology

Los Angeles, California, 90095-1563, United States

Location status: Recruiting

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

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

Inclusion criteria

  • healthy adults 18 and 35
  • fluent in English
  • no history of mental illness (healthy participants: including anxiety, depression, phobia, or any other mental health related disorder diagnosed by a mental health professional)
  • diagnosis of social anxiety disorder (anxious participants: allowed co-morbid disorders include depression, other anxiety disorders, and PTSD)

Exclusion criteria

  • pregnant or planning to become pregnant during the experiment period
  • presence of chronic mental illness (healthy participants: as determined by the report of a past diagnosis of mental illness by a physician or psychologist and/or the prescription of medication related to mental health disorder; including anxiety, depression, phobia, or any other diagnosed psychological disorder)
  • presence of non-allowed co-morbid disorders (anxious participants: including, bipolar disorder, psychosis, substance use disorder, neurological disorder, and/or obsessive-compulsive disorder)
  • current and regular use of prescription medications related to mental health disorders

Treatment and study plan

Social support image

Behavioral

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).

Primary outcomes

  1. Fear response during acquisition indicated by elevated Galvanic Skin Response (GSR)

    Time frame: during acquisition procedure

    presence of fear response as indicated by significantly higher galvanic skin response (GSR: an index of peripheral stress responding) to a previously learned fearful image (CS+) compared to a baseline comparator (CS-: never learned to be fearful).

  2. Fear response post-acquisition indicated by elevated GSR

    Time frame: same session - directly post-acquisition (approximately 5 minutes post procedure)

    presence of fear response as indicated by significantly higher galvanic skin response (GSR: an index of peripheral stress responding) to a previously learned fearful image (CS+) compared to a baseline comparator (CS-: never learned to be fearful).

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Erica Hornstein, PhD

CONTACT

[email protected]

9175664470

Naomi Eisenberger, PhD

CONTACT

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of California, Los Angeles

Other

Collaborators

  • National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Registry information

Official study title

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

Important dates

Study start
2022
Primary completion
2026
Study completion
2026
First posted
Sep 25, 2020
Registry last updated
Mar 18, 2026

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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