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Exposure Therapy for Reactivity to Symptoms

NCT07757854 · Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 360

Last updated 2026-08-11

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

It is unclear to what degree systematic exposure exercises contribute to the overall effects of exposure therapy (exposure and response prevention). This trial recruits individuals with high somatic symptom burden or reactivity to symptoms who, based on previous work, are likely to benefit specifically from exposure therapy. The aim of the study is to evaluate to what degree the effect of exposure therapy for this group is driven by the addition of structured exposure exercises to response prevention. This will be evaluated on the basis of a randomized controlled trial (N=360) where participants are enrolled either in response prevention (n=180), or exposure and response prevention (n=180). Primary outcome will be the between-group differences in the reduction in reactivity to symptoms, as measured week-by-week using the somatic symptom disorder B-criteria scale (SSD-12). Results from this project will be informative for exposure-based and various multicomponent behavioral treatments for individuals with persistent physical symptoms worldwide.

Conditions

  • Psychological Factors Affecting Other Medical Conditions
  • Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders
  • Bodily Distress Disorder

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Planned, systematic, exposure exercises

Exposure exercises, planned on the basis of functional analysis. Participants are encouraged to evaluate the relevance of-, and if so work continuously with-, interceptive, in vivo, and imaginal exposure exercises which are planned at specific timepoints.

BEHAVIORAL

Response prevention

Response prevention, planned on the basis of functional analysis. Participants make a plan to reduce presumably negatively reinforced behavior contingent on somatic symptoms and distress related to somatic symptoms.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Karolinska Institutet

    collaborator OTHER

  • Stockholm University

    collaborator OTHER

  • Region Stockholm

    lead OTHER_GOV

Principal Investigators

  • Erland Axelsson, PhD · Region Stockholm and Karolinska Institutet

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2026-09-30
Primary Completion
2031-12-31
Completion
2031-12-31

Countries

  • Sweden

Study Locations

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Entities

Companies

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 NCT07757854 on ClinicalTrials.gov