Efficacy of an Internet-based Treatment for Flying Phobia: NO-FEAR Airlines

NCT02298478 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: UJaumeI05
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 69
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of a computer-aided self-help treatment for flying phobia with or without support by the therapist, compared to a waiting list control group. Secondary objectives: a) to explore two ways of delivering NO-FEAR Airlines, with or without therapist guidance and b) to study the patients' acceptability through expectations, preferences and satisfaction towards the online program. In this work, we present the study design. The principal hypothesis is that the two intervention groups will improve significantly compared to the waiting list control group.

Conditions

Flying Phobia

Keywords

Self-help; Computer-aided Treatment; Internet; Flying phobia; minimal contact therapies; Cognitive-Behavioural Treatment; Waiting list control group

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• The Fear of Flying Questionnaire-II (FFQ-II; Bornas, Tortella-Feliu, García de la Banda, Fullana, & Llabrés, 1999).

  The FFQ is a 30-item self-report instrument describing situations related to flying: anxiety during flight, anxiety experienced getting on the plane, and anxiety experienced by the observation of neutral or unpleasant flying related situations. For each item, respondents rated their degree of discomfort associated with the situation on a scale of 1 to 9 (1 = not at all, 9 = very much). Scores ranged from 30 to 270. As reported by Bornas et al. (1999), internal consistency was α = .97 and retest reliability (15-day retest period) was r = .92.

  up to 12 months

• The Fear of Flying scale (FFS; Haug et al. (1987)

  FFS is a 21-item self-report measure for assessing fear associated with various air travel situations. Fear elicited by each situation was rated on a 5-point scale (0 = not at all, 4 = very much), with scores ranging from 0 to 84. In the original FFS (Haug et al., 1987) Cronbach's alpha was .94 and retest reliability (at three months) was .86.

  up to 12 months

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Fear and Avoidance Scales (adapted from Marks & Mathews, 1979)

  up to 12 months

• The Fear of flying scale (FFS; Haug et al., 1987)

  up to 12 months

Other Outcomes (3)

• The Patient improvement Scale (Adapted from the Clinical Global Impression scale, CGI; Guy, 1976).

  up to 12 months

• Treatment Preferences Questionnaire (Labpsitec, 2015)

  up to 12 months

• Qualitative interview (Labpsitec, 2015).

  up to 12 months

Study Arms (3)

Group without support by the therapist

EXPERIMENTAL

Intervention group that do the "NO-FEAR Airlines" program and does not receive support by the therapist.

Behavioral: NO-FEAR Airlines

Group with support by the therapist

EXPERIMENTAL

Intervention group that do the "NO-FEAR Airlines" program and receives support by the therapist (a brief weekly five-minutes call).

Behavioral: NO-FEAR Airlines

Waiting list control group

OTHER

Control group that could access the "NO-FEAR Airlines" program after waiting for 6 weeks. After that time, those participants still interested were randomly assigned to one of two intervention conditions (with or without support by the therapist).

Behavioral: NO-FEAR Airlines

Interventions

NO-FEAR Airlines BEHAVIORAL

"NO-FEAR Airlines" is a computer program that allows people who are afraid to fly to be exposed to images and sounds related to their phobic fears on a standard personal computer. The treatment can be totally self-applied. "NO-FEAR Airlines" divides the flight process into six sequential stages: (1) flight preparation, (2) a series of activities immediately prior to flying on the day of the flight, (3) boarding and taking off, (4) the central part of the flight, (5) the airplane's descent, approach to the runway and landing, (6) sequence with images and auditory stimuli related to plane crashes.

Also known as: SIN MIEDO Airlines, Computer-aided Self-help Treatment for Flying Phobia, Internet-based treatment for flying phobia

Group with support by the therapist; Group without support by the therapist; Waiting list control group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Be older than 18 years of age,
• To meet current DSM-5 criteria for specific phobia (flying phobia).
• Be willing to participate in the study.
• Be able to use a computer and having an Internet connection at home.
• Be able to understand and read Spanish.
• Have an e-mail address.

You may not qualify if:

• Be receiving psychological treatment for fear of flying.
• A severe mental disorder: abuse or dependence of alcohol or other substances, psychotic disorder, dementia or bipolar disorder.
• Presence of depressive symptomatology, suicidal ideation or plan.
• Presence of heart disease.
• Pregnant women (from the fourth month).

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Universitat Jaume I: lead

Study Sites (1)

University Jaume I

Castellon, Castellon, 12006, Spain

Location

Related Publications (8)

• Tortella-Feliu M, Botella C, Llabres J, Breton-Lopez JM, del Amo AR, Banos RM, Gelabert JM. Virtual reality versus computer-aided exposure treatments for fear of flying. Behav Modif. 2011 Jan;35(1):3-30. doi: 10.1177/0145445510390801.

  PMID: 21177516 BACKGROUND

• Bornas, X., Fullana, M.A., Tortella-Feliu, M., Llabrés, J. & García de la Banda, G. Computer-assisted therapy in the treatment of flight phobia: a case report. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 8, 234-240, 2001.

  BACKGROUND

• Bornas, X., Tortella-Feliu, M. & Llabrés, J. Do all treatments work for flight phobia? Computer-assisted exposure versus a brief multicomponent nonexposure treatment. Psychotherapy Research, 16, 41-50, 2006.

  BACKGROUND

• Bornas, X., Tortella-Feliu, M., García de la Banda, G., Fullana, M. A., & Llabrés, J. Validación factorial del Cuestionario de Miedo a Volar [Factorial validation of the Fear of Flying Questionnaire]. Análisis y Modificación de Conducta, 25, 885-907, 1999.

  BACKGROUND

• Botella C, Quero S, Banos RM, Garcia-Palacios A, Breton-Lopez J, Alcaniz M, Fabregat S. Telepsychology and self-help: the treatment of phobias using the internet. Cyberpsychol Behav. 2008 Dec;11(6):659-64. doi: 10.1089/cpb.2008.0012.

  PMID: 18991528 BACKGROUND

• Quero S, Campos D, Riera Del Amo A, Breton-Lopez J, Tortella-Feliu M, Banos RM, Botella C. NO-FEAR Airlines: A Computer-aided Self-help Treatment for Flying Phobia. Stud Health Technol Inform. 2015;219:197-201.

  PMID: 26799907 BACKGROUND

• Campos D, Breton-Lopez J, Botella C, Mira A, Castilla D, Mor S, Banos R, Quero S. Efficacy of an internet-based exposure treatment for flying phobia (NO-FEAR Airlines) with and without therapist guidance: a randomized controlled trial. BMC Psychiatry. 2019 Mar 6;19(1):86. doi: 10.1186/s12888-019-2060-4.

  PMID: 30841930 DERIVED

• Campos D, Breton-Lopez J, Botella C, Mira A, Castilla D, Banos R, Tortella-Feliu M, Quero S. An Internet-based treatment for flying phobia (NO-FEAR Airlines): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. BMC Psychiatry. 2016 Aug 20;16:296. doi: 10.1186/s12888-016-0996-1.

  PMID: 27544428 DERIVED

Related Links

• Laboratory of Psychology and Technology of the University Jaume I (Labpsitec)
• NO-FEAR Airlines website

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Aerophobia

Study Officials

• Soledad Quero, Full professor

  University Jaume I, Castellon, Spain.

  STUDY DIRECTOR

• Juana Bretón, Assistant professor

  University Jaume I, Castellon, Spain.

  STUDY DIRECTOR

• Daniel Campos, PhD student

  University Jaume I, Castellon, Spain

  STUDY CHAIR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: INVESTIGATOR
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: FACTORIAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 3, 2014
• First Posted: November 24, 2014
• Study Start: September 1, 2015
• Primary Completion: September 1, 2017
• Study Completion: October 1, 2017
• Last Updated: March 13, 2018

Record last verified: 2018-03

Locations

ES (1)