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Efficacy of an Attention Guidance VR Intervention for Social Anxiety Disorder

NCT03683823 · Status: TERMINATED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 21

Last updated 2022-03-11

Study results available
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Summary

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a prevalent mental health concern that impacts approximately 12% of the population. One mechanism thought to maintain SAD is avoidance of faces (i.e. avoidance of negative evaluative threat). However, research on attentional processes in SAD has been confined to paradigms presented on computer monitors. To investigate attentional processes in a more naturalistic way the investigators developed an immersive, 360º-video virtual reality environment using real actors, as part of a pilot study. Participants with a range of social anxiety symptoms (from none to severe) completed a 5-minute speech in this virtual reality environment while their eye movements were recorded. Results from the study showed that greater symptoms of social anxiety were associated with avoidance of looking at faces (i.e. fewer fixations on faces). While existing treatments for SAD are moderately effective, a large number of individuals do not experience meaningful reductions in their symptoms. The overarching goal of this project is inform future treatment research for SAD. The investigators will test a brief attention guidance intervention for SAD that specifically targets avoidance of faces as a potential mechanism maintaining the disorder. The proposed research will use the eye tracking hardware and naturalistic virtual reality environment from the pilot study. The investigators will also collect eye tracking data prior to the intervention in order to investigate potential heterogeneity in the attentional processes of SAD. The investigators will test the hypotheses that (a) the attention guidance intervention, compared to the control intervention, will result in a greater reduction in symptoms of social anxiety, and (b) this effect will be mediated by the number of fixations on faces during a brief public speaking challenge following the intervention. These results will provide causal evidence related to a hypothesized mechanism maintaining SAD.

Conditions

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Attention guidance

Explicitly guiding attention towards faces during public speaking exposures

BEHAVIORAL

Control intervention

Public speaking exposures

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • University of Texas at Austin

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

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

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2019-02-01
Primary Completion
2020-03-11
Completion
2020-03-25

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Entities

Diseases

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 NCT03683823 on ClinicalTrials.gov