Dysfunctional Attention Processes in Fear of Blushing: Specificity and Changeability

NCT ID: NCT00751465

Last Updated: 2015-09-11

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 82 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2008-11-30
• Study Completion Date: 2010-12-31

Brief Summary

Blushing is associated with a heightened self-focused attention. In our study we are interested if this self-focused attention can be shown experimentally and if it can be changed by therapy and training. For the experimental part of the study, we want to compare blushing fearful individuals to social anxious participants who are not fearful of blushing and to healthy controls who report to blush either seldom or quite often. In the therapeutical part of our study, we compare an attention training to the standard cognitive behavioral therapy for social anxiety disorder in an intensive group therapy approach.

Detailed Description

Fear of blushing is a specific syndrome in social anxiety disorder. Although attentional biases for social anxiety disorders have often been reported, specific data for fear of blushing are still missing. In this study, dysfunctional attention processes are examined by the use of various questionnaire measures and attention tests (e.g. Stroop test, task switching paradigm) comparing fear of blushers, other social phobia patients, healthy volunteers who report to blush seldomly respectively often. The second goal of the study is to examine if these attention processes can be changed by training and therapy. Therefore, individuals who fulfill DSM-IV criteria for social anxiety disorder and report fear of blushing as main problem, are treated with attention training and with CBT for social anxiety disorder. Therapy will be held in the form of intensive weekend group therapy. Differences in outcomes for both therapy types and in changeability of attention processes on objective test data are examined. Stability of results are tested up to 6-month and 12-month after post-assessment.

Conditions

Phobia, Social

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: FACTORIAL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Task Concentration Training

Task Concentration Training TCT following Bögels et al. (1997)

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Task Concentration Training

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Task Concentration Training TCT following Bögels et al. (1997).

Standard CBT

standard Cognitive Behavior Therapy, standard CBT following the model of Clark and Wells (1995).

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Standard CBT

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Standard CBT following the Clark-and-Wells (1995) model of social anxiety disorder, relying on the German manual for SAD (stangier et al., 2006). Includes the model, role-plays with and without safetey behavior, video-feedback.

Wait list control

Wait list control group

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Task Concentration Training

Task Concentration Training TCT following Bögels et al. (1997).

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Standard CBT

Standard CBT following the Clark-and-Wells (1995) model of social anxiety disorder, relying on the German manual for SAD (stangier et al., 2006). Includes the model, role-plays with and without safetey behavior, video-feedback.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Social anxiety disorder (DSM-IV criteria) and fear of blushing as main complaint
• age: 18-70

Exclusion Criteria

• acute severe depression or bipolar disorder
• any disorder of ICD group F2
• acute and severe substance misuse
• any bodily illness which hinders from study participation

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 70 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

German Research Foundation

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Technische Universität Dresden

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Samia Chaker

Dipl.-Psych.

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Jürgen Hoyer, Prof. Dr.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Technology Dresden

Locations

TU Dresden

Dresden, , Germany

Countries

Germany

References

Chaker S, Hofmann SG, Hoyer J. Can a one-weekend group therapy reduce fear of blushing? Results of an open trial. Anxiety Stress Coping. 2010 May;23(3):303-18. doi: 10.1080/10615800903075132.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 19557558 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

DFG HO1900/5-1

Identifier Type: OTHER_GRANT

Identifier Source: secondary_id

EK198082007

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id