Novel Behavioral Intervention to Enhance Social Connections in Anxiety and Depression

NCT03196544 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 75

Last updated 2020-08-28

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

The overall goal of this project is to develop a novel transdiagnostic behavioral treatment -- social approach training -- intended to enhance positive social connections in individuals with elevated anxiety and/or depression. Social relationship impairments are pervasive and debilitating consequences of anxiety and depression. Existing treatments have some beneficial impact on social functioning; however, many people continue to have few and/or poor quality relationships following treatment, even after experiencing symptom relief. This study will evaluate the effects of social approach training on the brain systems that have been shown to be important for establishing positive connections with others. Approximately 60 individuals (ages 18-55) seeking treatment for anxiety or depression will participate in this study. Participants will be randomly assigned with equal probability to one of two versions of social approach training (5 or 10 sessions) or a waitlist (assessment only) control group. Participants will be assessed at baseline and post-treatment and compared on measures assessing brain responses to social reward (primary outcome), as well as physiological, behavioral, and emotional responses to social reward (secondary outcomes). It is hypothesized that participants assigned to social approach training will display greater increases from pre- to post-treatment in activity in brain systems that regulate the processing of social reward (e.g., striatum) relative to participants in the control group. This study will also determine whether the 5- vs. 10-session versions of the treatment program result in meaningful differences, compared to each other, in how the brain responds to social reward.

Conditions

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Social Approach Training (5 sessions)

5 one-hour, clinician-administered treatment sessions focused on presenting rationale and instructions for completing positive activity exercises (e.g., gratitude, acts of kindness) designed to increase positive emotions, cognitions, and behaviors.

BEHAVIORAL

Social Approach Training (10 sessions)

10 one-hour, clinician-administered treatment sessions focused on presenting rationale and instructions for completing positive activity exercises (e.g., gratitude, acts of kindness) designed to increase positive emotions, cognitions, and behaviors.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
55 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2018-04-03
Primary Completion
2019-10-08
Completion
2020-04-01

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Entities

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT03196544 on ClinicalTrials.gov