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Targeting Attention Orienting to Social Threat to Reduce Social Anxiety in Youth

NCT03932032 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 206

Last updated 2026-04-29

Study results available
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Summary

This two-site study is a test of Attention Bias Modification Treatment (ABMT) among 260 youths ages 10 to 14 years with social anxiety disorder. One-half of participants will receive 8 sessions of computer administered ABMT and the other half of participants will receive 8 sessions of computer administered Neutral Control Task (NCT). The investigators hypothesize that a biomarker of attention to social threat measured using electroencephalography (EEG) and ratings of social anxiety severity will be lower in participants who receive ABMT compared to participants who receive NCT.

Conditions

  • Social Anxiety Disorder of Childhood

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Attention Bias Modification Treatment

At each of eight sessions, participants complete 160 computer administered trials wherein a pair of threatening stimuli and neutral stimuli is presented simultaneously and then followed immediately by a probe. The probe always replaces the neutral stimulus and never replaces the threatening stimulus. The intervention is based on the idea that attention can be shaped via repetitive computer based training methods, and training attention toward neutral stimuli will lead to a reduction in social anxiety.

BEHAVIORAL

Neutral Control Task

At each of eight sessions, participants complete 160 computer administered trials wherein a pair of neutral stimuli is presented simultaneously and then followed immediately by a probe. NCT matches ABMT on duration, format, and number of trials, but does not engage attention to social threat and does not train attention.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Yale University

    collaborator OTHER

  • Florida International University

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Jeremy W Pettit, PhD · Florida International University

  • Wendy K Silverman, PhD · Yale University

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
TRIPLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
10 Years
Max Age
14 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2019-07-01
Primary Completion
2026-01-15
Completion
2026-01-15

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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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 NCT03932032 on ClinicalTrials.gov