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Use of Safety Behaviors in Exposure Therapy for Arachnophobia

NCT ID: NCT04470882

Last Updated: 2021-10-18

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

59 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2019-02-28

Study Completion Date

2020-04-06

Brief Summary

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This study examines the impact of safety behaviors (i.e., unnecessary protective actions) on outcomes of exposure therapy for spider phobia. Researchers will compare exposure therapy with (a) no safety behaviors, (b) safety behaviors faded toward the end of treatment, and (c) unfaded safety behaviors.

Detailed Description

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Some studies suggest that safety behaviors might undermine the efficacy of exposure therapy (Powers et al., 2010), whereas other studies suggest that there is no difference in exposure therapy outcomes whether or not safety behaviors are used (Deacon et al., 2010). Mixed findings could be explained by the parameters of safety behaviors use, such as whether they are used throughout the full course of therapy or faded toward the end of therapy. This will be the first study to directly compare the impact of faded and unfaded safety behaviors on exposure therapy outcomes. Specifically, researchers will randomize participants with a fear of spiders to receive exposure therapy (a) without safety behavior use, (b) with faded safety behavior use, and (c) with un-faded safety behavior use. Researchers will compare each condition's impact on fear reduction and on the tolerability/acceptability of treatment.

Conditions

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Specific Phobia Arachnophobia Spider Phobia

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Exposure with faded safety behaviors

Exposure therapy will involve three, 10-minute trials in which participants encounter a spider. Participants in this group will wear protective gear during the first two trials, and will remove the protective gear during the last trial.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Exposure with faded safety behaviors

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Exposure therapy will involve three, 10-minute trials in which participants encounter a spider. Participants in this group will wear protective gear during the first two trials, and will remove the protective gear during the last trial.

Exposure without safety behaviors

Exposure therapy will involve three, 10-minute trials in which participants encounter a spider. Participants in this group will not wear protective gear during any of the exposure therapy trials.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Exposure without safety behaviors

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Exposure therapy will involve three, 10-minute trials in which participants encounter a spider. Participants in this group will not wear protective gear during any of the exposure therapy trials.

Exposure with unfaded safety behaviors

Exposure therapy will involve three, 10-minute trials in which participants encounter a spider. Participants in this group will wear protective gear during all three exposure therapy trials.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Exposure with unfaded safety behaviors

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Exposure therapy will involve three, 10-minute trials in which participants encounter a spider. Participants in this group will wear protective gear during all three exposure therapy trials.

Interventions

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Exposure with faded safety behaviors

Exposure therapy will involve three, 10-minute trials in which participants encounter a spider. Participants in this group will wear protective gear during the first two trials, and will remove the protective gear during the last trial.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Exposure without safety behaviors

Exposure therapy will involve three, 10-minute trials in which participants encounter a spider. Participants in this group will not wear protective gear during any of the exposure therapy trials.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Exposure with unfaded safety behaviors

Exposure therapy will involve three, 10-minute trials in which participants encounter a spider. Participants in this group will wear protective gear during all three exposure therapy trials.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Fluent in English
* Displays sufficiently high fear of spiders, as indicated by responses on (a) a self report questionnaire (the Fear of Spiders Questionnaire) at prescreening, and (b) Behavioral Avoidance Tests at baseline

Exclusion Criteria

* younger than 18 years old
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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University of Nevada, Reno

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Cynthia Lancaster

Assistant Professor, Clinical Psychology

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

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University of Nevada, Reno

Reno, Nevada, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

References

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Powers MB, Smits JA, Telch MJ. Disentangling the effects of safety-behavior utilization and safety-behavior availability during exposure-based treatment: a placebo-controlled trial. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2004 Jun;72(3):448-54. doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.72.3.448.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 15279528 (View on PubMed)

Deacon BJ, Sy JT, Lickel JJ, Nelson EA. Does the judicious use of safety behaviors improve the efficacy and acceptability of exposure therapy for claustrophobic fear? J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2010 Mar;41(1):71-80. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2009.10.004. Epub 2009 Oct 24.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 19892318 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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1330971-1

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id