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Self-Distancing for Specific Phobia in Youth

NCT06339463 · Status: WITHDRAWN · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL

Last updated 2026-05-07

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Self-Distancing is a cognitive technique that involves a shift in self-talk characterized by replacing first-person (e.g., "I") with second- or third-person pronouns (i.e., "you", one's own name) to promote an adaptive, self-reflective stance in emotionally charged situations. This trial aims to help learn how self-distancing may increase behavioral approach during exposures. To find out if self-distancing works by helping children approach fear-inducing stimuli, the study will look at behaviors and physiological responses related to approach, as well as symptom severity, before and after this cognitive technique.

The study hypothesizes that Self-Distancing will lead to greater increases in approach behaviors and a larger decrease in symptom severity compared to a control condition (first-person self-talk).

Conditions

  • Specific Phobias

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Self-Distancing Intervention

In the Self Distancing Intervention condition, participants will be instructed to describe the exposure task from a self-distanced perspective (e.g., "Emily is going to touch the spider").

BEHAVIORAL

First-person self-talk

Youth will be randomized to a BAT with a control condition. In this arm, participants will be instructed to describe the exposure task from a self-immersed perspective (e.g., "I'm going to touch the spider")

Sponsors & Collaborators

Principal Investigators

  • Kate D Fitzgerald, MD · Professor of Psychiatry

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
7 Years
Max Age
12 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2026-10-31
Primary Completion
2027-10-31
Completion
2028-10-31

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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 NCT06339463 on ClinicalTrials.gov