Summary

Eligibility
for people ages 18-55 (full criteria)
Healthy Volunteers
healthy people welcome
Location
at Los Angeles, California
Dates
study started
completion around
Principal Investigator
by Naomi Eisenberger

Description

Summary

University of California, Los Angeles researchers will recruit healthy participants and anxious participants (those diagnosed with social anxiety disorder) age 18-55 years old to participate in a study examining whether the ability of social support figure reminders to enhance the extinction of fear in healthy participants extends to those with anxiety disorders.

After being recruited from the UCLA community (healthy participants, n = 50) or referred by treatment providers at the Anxiety and Depression Research Center at UCLA (anxious participants, n = 50) and undergoing a telephone screening and in-person screening, 100 participants will be enrolled in the study, with an expected recruited 150 to reach this number. During the experiment, all participants will undergo the same procedures: undergoing a fear extinction procedure in which threatening cues--cues that predict electric shock--will be paired with either an image of a social support figure (provided by participants) or an image of a smiling stranger. These pairings will be presented repeatedly in the absence of shock in order for fear extinction to occur. Participants will return for a follow-up test to determine if fear extinction was successful.

Official Title

Can Social Support Figures Enhance Fear Extinction in Patients With Social Anxiety?

Keywords

Fear, Anxiety, social support, fear extinction, Anxiety Disorders

Eligibility

You can join if…

Open to people ages 18-55

  • healthy adults 18 to 55
  • fluent in English
  • no history of mental illness (healthy participants: including anxiety, depression, phobia, or any other mental health related disorder diagnosed by a mental health professional)
  • diagnosis of social anxiety disorder (anxious participants: allowed co-morbid disorders include depression, other anxiety disorders, and PTSD)

You CAN'T join if...

  • pregnant or planning to become pregnant during the experiment period
  • presence of chronic mental illness (healthy participants: as determined by the report of a past diagnosis of mental illness by a physician or psychologist and/or the prescription of medication related to mental health disorder; including anxiety, depression, phobia, or any other diagnosed psychological disorder)
  • presence of non-allowed co-morbid disorders (anxious participants: including, bipolar disorder, psychosis, substance use disorder, neurological disorder, and/or obsessive-compulsive disorder)
  • current and regular use of prescription medications related to mental health disorders

Location

  • UCLA Department of Psychology accepting new patients
    Los Angeles California 90095-1563 United States

Lead Scientist at UCLA

Details

Status
accepting new patients
Start Date
Completion Date
(estimated)
Sponsor
University of California, Los Angeles
ID
NCT04565041
Study Type
Interventional
Participants
Expecting 100 study participants
Last Updated