Trial Outcomes & Findings for Imaginal Exposure for Hoarding Disorder (NCT NCT03734705)
NCT ID: NCT03734705
Last Updated: 2025-05-29
Results Overview
Gold-standard 23-item self-report measure of hoarding disorder symptoms. Scale scores range from 0 to 92, with higher scores indicating more severe hoarding symptoms. More severe hoarding symptoms are considered a worse outcome.
Recruitment status
COMPLETED
Study phase
NA
Target enrollment
32 participants
Primary outcome timeframe
Baseline (Pre Writing) and Follow Up (week 1)
Results posted on
2025-05-29
Participant Flow
Participant milestones
| Measure |
Imaginal Exposure Writing
People with hoarding disorder will write for 20 minutes on each of 3 consecutive days about their worst-case scenario regarding discarding a possession (i.e., imaginal exposure).
Imaginal Exposure Writing: Imaginal exposure is a psychotherapy strategy that has been studied and shown to be helpful in the improvement of symptoms (e.g., anxiety, worry) for other psychiatric conditions, including excessive worry and obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms.
|
Neutral Writing
People with hoarding disorder will write for 20 minutes on each of 3 consecutive days about what they would do if they had a day off work or school.
Neutral Writing: Used in prior research as a control condition for imaginal exposure. Neutral writing will involve writing about what one would do on a day off work or school.
|
|---|---|---|
|
Overall Study
STARTED
|
17
|
15
|
|
Overall Study
COMPLETED
|
17
|
15
|
|
Overall Study
NOT COMPLETED
|
0
|
0
|
Reasons for withdrawal
Withdrawal data not reported
Baseline Characteristics
Imaginal Exposure for Hoarding Disorder
Baseline characteristics by cohort
| Measure |
Imaginal Exposure Writing
n=17 Participants
People with hoarding disorder will write for 20 minutes on each of 3 consecutive days about their worst-case scenario regarding discarding a possession (i.e., imaginal exposure).
Imaginal Exposure Writing: Imaginal exposure is a psychotherapy strategy that has been studied and shown to be helpful in the improvement of symptoms (e.g., anxiety, worry) for other psychiatric conditions, including excessive worry and obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms.
|
Neutral Writing
n=15 Participants
People with hoarding disorder will write for 20 minutes on each of 3 consecutive days about what they would do if they had a day off work or school.
Neutral Writing: Used in prior research as a control condition for imaginal exposure. Neutral writing will involve writing about what one would do on a day off work or school.
|
Total
n=32 Participants
Total of all reporting groups
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Age, Continuous
|
56.94 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 10.74 • n=5 Participants
|
48.33 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 15.71 • n=7 Participants
|
52.91 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 13.79 • n=5 Participants
|
|
Sex: Female, Male
Female
|
14 Participants
n=5 Participants
|
14 Participants
n=7 Participants
|
28 Participants
n=5 Participants
|
|
Sex: Female, Male
Male
|
3 Participants
n=5 Participants
|
1 Participants
n=7 Participants
|
4 Participants
n=5 Participants
|
|
Race/Ethnicity, Customized
White
|
8 Participants
n=5 Participants
|
10 Participants
n=7 Participants
|
18 Participants
n=5 Participants
|
|
Race/Ethnicity, Customized
Black
|
0 Participants
n=5 Participants
|
0 Participants
n=7 Participants
|
0 Participants
n=5 Participants
|
|
Race/Ethnicity, Customized
East Asian
|
4 Participants
n=5 Participants
|
4 Participants
n=7 Participants
|
8 Participants
n=5 Participants
|
|
Race/Ethnicity, Customized
Southeast Asian
|
0 Participants
n=5 Participants
|
0 Participants
n=7 Participants
|
0 Participants
n=5 Participants
|
|
Race/Ethnicity, Customized
Latin American
|
3 Participants
n=5 Participants
|
0 Participants
n=7 Participants
|
3 Participants
n=5 Participants
|
|
Race/Ethnicity, Customized
Mixed Race
|
2 Participants
n=5 Participants
|
0 Participants
n=7 Participants
|
2 Participants
n=5 Participants
|
|
Race/Ethnicity, Customized
Other ethnicity
|
0 Participants
n=5 Participants
|
1 Participants
n=7 Participants
|
1 Participants
n=5 Participants
|
|
Employment Status
Not working (including student)
|
5 Participants
n=5 Participants
|
2 Participants
n=7 Participants
|
7 Participants
n=5 Participants
|
|
Employment Status
Employed (full or part-time)
|
9 Participants
n=5 Participants
|
9 Participants
n=7 Participants
|
18 Participants
n=5 Participants
|
|
Employment Status
Retired
|
3 Participants
n=5 Participants
|
4 Participants
n=7 Participants
|
7 Participants
n=5 Participants
|
PRIMARY outcome
Timeframe: Baseline (Pre Writing) and Follow Up (week 1)Gold-standard 23-item self-report measure of hoarding disorder symptoms. Scale scores range from 0 to 92, with higher scores indicating more severe hoarding symptoms. More severe hoarding symptoms are considered a worse outcome.
Outcome measures
| Measure |
Imaginal Exposure Writing
n=17 Participants
People with hoarding disorder will write for 20 minutes on each of 3 consecutive days about their worst-case scenario regarding discarding a possession (i.e., imaginal exposure).
Imaginal Exposure Writing: Imaginal exposure is a psychotherapy strategy that has been studied and shown to be helpful in the improvement of symptoms (e.g., anxiety, worry) for other psychiatric conditions, including excessive worry and obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms.
|
Neutral Writing
n=15 Participants
People with hoarding disorder will write for 20 minutes on each of 3 consecutive days about what they would do if they had a day off work or school.
Neutral Writing: Used in prior research as a control condition for imaginal exposure. Neutral writing will involve writing about what one would do on a day off work or school.
|
|---|---|---|
|
Savings Inventory Revised (Frost, Steketee & Grisham, 2004; Tolin, Meunier, Frost & Steketee, 2011)
Pre Writing
|
62.41 score on a scale
Standard Deviation 13.22
|
62.60 score on a scale
Standard Deviation 11.97
|
|
Savings Inventory Revised (Frost, Steketee & Grisham, 2004; Tolin, Meunier, Frost & Steketee, 2011)
Follow Up
|
53.41 score on a scale
Standard Deviation 16.87
|
52.00 score on a scale
Standard Deviation 14.05
|
SECONDARY outcome
Timeframe: Baseline (Pre Writing) and Follow Up (week 1)Self-report 18-item measure of behaviors associated with hoarding disorder (i.e., acquiring).Scale scores range from 18 to 126, with higher scores indicating more severe hoarding behaviors. More severe hoarding behaviors are considered a worse outcome.
Outcome measures
| Measure |
Imaginal Exposure Writing
n=17 Participants
People with hoarding disorder will write for 20 minutes on each of 3 consecutive days about their worst-case scenario regarding discarding a possession (i.e., imaginal exposure).
Imaginal Exposure Writing: Imaginal exposure is a psychotherapy strategy that has been studied and shown to be helpful in the improvement of symptoms (e.g., anxiety, worry) for other psychiatric conditions, including excessive worry and obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms.
|
Neutral Writing
n=15 Participants
People with hoarding disorder will write for 20 minutes on each of 3 consecutive days about what they would do if they had a day off work or school.
Neutral Writing: Used in prior research as a control condition for imaginal exposure. Neutral writing will involve writing about what one would do on a day off work or school.
|
|---|---|---|
|
Compulsive Acquisitions Scale (Frost et al. 2002)
Pre Writing
|
62.88 score on a scale
Standard Deviation 29.59
|
57.93 score on a scale
Standard Deviation 27.68
|
|
Compulsive Acquisitions Scale (Frost et al. 2002)
Follow Up
|
56.76 score on a scale
Standard Deviation 30.47
|
47.47 score on a scale
Standard Deviation 23.52
|
SECONDARY outcome
Timeframe: Baseline (Pre Writing) and Follow Up (week 1)Self-report 27-item measure of a cognitive process related to hoarding called intolerance of uncertainty. Scale scores range from 27 to 135 (some items are reverse scored), with higher scores indicating more severe intolerance of uncertainty. More severe intolerance of uncertainty is considered a worse outcome.
Outcome measures
| Measure |
Imaginal Exposure Writing
n=17 Participants
People with hoarding disorder will write for 20 minutes on each of 3 consecutive days about their worst-case scenario regarding discarding a possession (i.e., imaginal exposure).
Imaginal Exposure Writing: Imaginal exposure is a psychotherapy strategy that has been studied and shown to be helpful in the improvement of symptoms (e.g., anxiety, worry) for other psychiatric conditions, including excessive worry and obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms.
|
Neutral Writing
n=15 Participants
People with hoarding disorder will write for 20 minutes on each of 3 consecutive days about what they would do if they had a day off work or school.
Neutral Writing: Used in prior research as a control condition for imaginal exposure. Neutral writing will involve writing about what one would do on a day off work or school.
|
|---|---|---|
|
Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (Buhr & Dugas, 2002)
Pre Writing
|
68.47 score on a scale
Standard Deviation 31.63
|
72.27 score on a scale
Standard Deviation 28.86
|
|
Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (Buhr & Dugas, 2002)
Follow Up
|
65.06 score on a scale
Standard Deviation 33.27
|
65.47 score on a scale
Standard Deviation 30.21
|
SECONDARY outcome
Timeframe: Baseline (Pre Writing) and Follow Up (week 1)Self-report 7-item measure of a cognitive process related to hoarding called experiential avoidance. Scale scores range from 7 to 49, with higher scores indicating more severe experiential avoidance. More severe hoarding behaviors are considered a worse outcome.
Outcome measures
| Measure |
Imaginal Exposure Writing
n=17 Participants
People with hoarding disorder will write for 20 minutes on each of 3 consecutive days about their worst-case scenario regarding discarding a possession (i.e., imaginal exposure).
Imaginal Exposure Writing: Imaginal exposure is a psychotherapy strategy that has been studied and shown to be helpful in the improvement of symptoms (e.g., anxiety, worry) for other psychiatric conditions, including excessive worry and obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms.
|
Neutral Writing
n=15 Participants
People with hoarding disorder will write for 20 minutes on each of 3 consecutive days about what they would do if they had a day off work or school.
Neutral Writing: Used in prior research as a control condition for imaginal exposure. Neutral writing will involve writing about what one would do on a day off work or school.
|
|---|---|---|
|
Acceptance and Action Questionnaire - II (Hayes, Luoma, Bond, Masuda and Lillis, 2006)
Pre Writing
|
24.94 score on a scale
Standard Deviation 12.40
|
28.33 score on a scale
Standard Deviation 10.93
|
|
Acceptance and Action Questionnaire - II (Hayes, Luoma, Bond, Masuda and Lillis, 2006)
Follow Up
|
22.06 score on a scale
Standard Deviation 12.47
|
22.13 score on a scale
Standard Deviation 11.87
|
Adverse Events
Imaginal Exposure Writing
Serious events: 0 serious events
Other events: 0 other events
Deaths: 0 deaths
Neutral Writing
Serious events: 0 serious events
Other events: 0 other events
Deaths: 0 deaths
Serious adverse events
Adverse event data not reported
Other adverse events
Adverse event data not reported
Additional Information
Results disclosure agreements
- Principal investigator is a sponsor employee
- Publication restrictions are in place