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CvC-SAD (Clinician vs Coach)Self-help Versions in a RCT

NCT05292612 · Status: RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 110

Last updated 2026-02-18

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Background:

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is a common mental problem, where people experience severe and disabling anxiety about social situations and interactions. It is highly prevalent world-wide and in Hong Kong, causing significant suffering/distress. While evidence-based interventions exist, e.g., cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), there will be not enough trained therapists to meet the treatment demand so that the majority of the SAD patients receive no treatment. Internet-based therapies may offer a solution, given that they deliver treatment more cost-efficiently by requiring lesser therapist time so that more patients can be treated with the same therapist resources. One UK internet-based CBT protocol for SAD, iCBT(C\&W), shows high efficacy and efficiency in initial UK and Hong Kong trials with Englishspeaking patients.

Objectives:

1. To develop and confirm the efficacy of a Chinese-language version of iCBT(C\&W), administered by clinical psychologists in standard therapist-guided format.
2. To develop an even more cost-efficient new self-help format with some minimal 'coaching' performed by trained psychology bachelor-level graduates - its efficacy expected as 'noninferior' to that of the therapist-guided format.

Overall design:

Three-arm parallel group randomised controlled noninferiority trial: Standard therapist-guided iCT-SAD vs. Guided self-help iCT-SAD vs. Waitlist

Method:

The iCBT(C\&W) protocol will be translated into Chinese. Approximately 110 Chinese adults with SAD will be recruited in Hong Kong and randomised into one of two treatment conditions, therapist-guided versus self-help. The treatment lasts 14 weeks. The primary outcome measure will be Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (self-report version).

Conditions

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

iCBT(C&W) for SAD

iCBT(C\&W) for SAD implements all the key procedures of the face-to-face treatment. Patients are guided through the treatment by using secure messaging and regular telephone or webcam calls. The treatment comprises a series of online modules, each of which includes educational texts, patient testimonies, video illustrations, case examples, questionand- answer boxes, monitoring sheets, behavioural experiments and other homework assignments.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Chinese University of Hong Kong

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Patrick Leung, Prof. · Chinese University of Hong Kong

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
100 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2023-05-01
Primary Completion
2026-09-30
Completion
2026-12-31

Countries

  • Hong Kong

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 NCT05292612 on ClinicalTrials.gov