Social Support and Enhanced Fear Extinction

Sponsor
University of California, Los Angeles (Other)
Overall Status
Recruiting
CT.gov ID
NCT04565041
Collaborator
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) (NIH)
100
1
1
21.7
4.6

Study Details

Study Description

Brief 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. 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.

Condition or Disease Intervention/Treatment Phase
  • Behavioral: Social Support
N/A

Study Design

Study Type:
Interventional
Anticipated Enrollment :
100 participants
Allocation:
N/A
Intervention Model:
Single Group Assignment
Masking:
None (Open Label)
Primary Purpose:
Basic Science
Official Title:
Can Social Support Figures Enhance Fear Extinction in Patients With Social Anxiety?
Actual Study Start Date :
Feb 9, 2022
Anticipated Primary Completion Date :
Dec 1, 2023
Anticipated Study Completion Date :
Dec 1, 2023

Arms and Interventions

Arm Intervention/Treatment
Experimental: Social Support

Behavioral: Social Support
Presence of an image of a social support figure (provided by participant) during a fear extinction procedure

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

  1. Fear response directly post-extinction [within experimental session - directly post-extinction procedure]

    presence of fear response as indicated by significantly higher galvanic skin response (GSR: an index of peripheral stress responding) to a previously learned fearful image (CS+) compared to a baseline comparator (CS-: never learned to be fearful).

  2. Fear response 24 hours post-extinction [24 hours following the completion of fear extinction procedures]

    presence of fear response as indicated by significantly higher galvanic skin response (GSR: an index of peripheral stress responding) to a previously learned fearful image (CS+) compared to a baseline comparator (CS-: never learned to be fearful).

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study:
18 Years to 55 Years
Sexes Eligible for Study:
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Yes
Inclusion Criteria:
  • healthy adults 18 and 35

  • 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)

Exclusion Criteria:
  • 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

Contacts and Locations

Locations

Site City State Country Postal Code
1 UCLA Department of Psychology Los Angeles California United States 90095-1563

Sponsors and Collaborators

  • University of California, Los Angeles
  • National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Investigators

None specified.

Study Documents (Full-Text)

None provided.

More Information

Publications

None provided.
Responsible Party:
Naomi Eisenberger, Professor, University of California, Los Angeles
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
NCT04565041
Other Study ID Numbers:
  • SSE
First Posted:
Sep 25, 2020
Last Update Posted:
May 26, 2022
Last Verified:
May 1, 2022
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product:
No
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product:
No
Keywords provided by Naomi Eisenberger, Professor, University of California, Los Angeles
Additional relevant MeSH terms:

Study Results

No Results Posted as of May 26, 2022