Values Interventions for Increasing Engagement With What is Feared in Individuals With Specific Phobias

NCT ID: NCT05300061

Last Updated: 2022-03-29

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 90 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2020-09-01
• Study Completion Date: 2021-05-14

Brief Summary

Exposure is considered the therapy of choice for specific phobias (SPs). Nevertheless, therapy engagement is extremely limited. SPs are maintained through avoidance of feared stimuli and as such willingness to approach what is feared constitutes a key factor that could explain limited treatment engagement. Values interventions, a key element of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), might be one way to increase engagement, yet to this date limited research exists in this area. For the purposes of the current study, two brief values interventions were developed: (a) a personal and (b) a prosocial one. These will be compared to (c) a no-instructions control in increasing willingness to approach and approach behaviour towards phobic stimuli. Ninety participants with flying phobia will be randomly allocated to one of the three groups. To measure willingness to engage with feared stimuli and approach behaviour two behavioural approach tasks using novel technologies (virtual reality), which aimed to expose participants to situations analogous to real life, were developed. Willingness and behavioural approach towards airplanes at a one month follow up will also be assessed.

Therefore, it is hypothesised that:

1. Participants in either of the two values intervention groups will have greater willingness to engage and approach behaviour towards feared stimuli compared to those in control, during the study tasks.

2. Participants in either of the two values intervention groups will have greater willingness to engage and approach behaviour towards feared stimuli compared to those in control at follow up.

Additionally, as prosocial values provide an evolutionary advantage, the second study aim was to identify if they lead to greater engagement with phobic stimuli compared to personal ones. Therefore, it was also hypothesised that:

3. Participants in the prosocial values group will have greater willingness to engage and approach behaviour towards feared stimuli compared to those in personal values group, both during the study tasks and at follow up.

4. Participants in the prosocial values group will have greater willingness to engage and approach behaviour towards feared stimuli compared to those in personal values group at follow up.

Conditions

Specific Phobia

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: OTHER
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Personal Values Intervention

Brief personal values intervention

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Personal Values Intervention

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

A 15 minute personal values intervention. Aim is to help participants clarify their own values around flying and promote committed action towards airplanes.

Prosocial Values Intervention

Brief prosocial values intervention

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Prosocial Values Intervention

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

A 15 minute prosocial values intervention. Aim is to help participants clarify their prosocial values around flying and promote committed action towards airplanes.

Control

No intervention control

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Personal Values Intervention

A 15 minute personal values intervention. Aim is to help participants clarify their own values around flying and promote committed action towards airplanes.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Prosocial Values Intervention

A 15 minute prosocial values intervention. Aim is to help participants clarify their prosocial values around flying and promote committed action towards airplanes.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Age 18 or older
• Meeting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders 5
• Good knowledge of the Greek language (adequate comprehension level, reading level, and verbal communication)

Exclusion Criteria

• Severe heart disease
• High blood pressure
• Photosensitive epilepsy

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Youth Board of Cyprus

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of Cyprus

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Maria Karekla

Associate Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Maria Karekla, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Cyprus

Locations

University of Cyprus

Nicosia, Non-US/Non-Canadian, Cyprus

Countries

Cyprus

Other Identifiers

K3_K1_3

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id