Spider Phobia Opposite Action Treatment Study

Summary

This study tests the effectiveness of exposure therapy for fear of spiders as enhanced by the use of antagonistic or opposite actions during treatment. The goal of the study is to compare the efficacy threat-relevant opposite actions and threat-irrelevant opposite actions in extinguishing fear.

Conditions

• Specific Phobia

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Biofeedback Relaxation Training

Participants will receive one-session biofeedback relaxation training (24 minutes) for anxiety reduction. Prior to biofeedback, participants will receive education about spiders and the development and maintenance of spider phobia.

BEHAVIORAL

Exposure Therapy

Participants will receive one-session exposure therapy (24 minutes) for fear of spiders. Prior to exposure therapy, participants will receive education about spiders and the development and the development and maintenance of spider phobia.

BEHAVIORAL

Exposure with Threat-Relevant Opposite Actions

Participants will receive one-session exposure therapy (24 minutes) for fear of spiders. During exposure, participants will engage in actions opposite to the tendencies associated with threat avoidance. Prior to exposure therapy, participants will receive education about spiders and the development and maintenance of spider phobia.

BEHAVIORAL

Exposure with Threat-Irrelevant Opposite Actions

Participants will receive one-session exposure therapy (24 minutes) for fear of spiders. During exposure therapy, participants will engage in actions opposite of the action tendencies associated with the fear, but unrelated to the specific threats associated with spider phobia. Prior to exposure therapy, participants will receive education about spiders and the development and maintenance of spider phobia.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Texas at Austin

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Michael J Telch, PhD · The University of Texas at Austin

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2016-06-01

Primary Completion

2017-12-03

Completion

2017-12-12

Countries

• United States

Study Locations