Biobehavioral Correlates of Acute Phobic Fear

NCT03813823 | Unknown

• 1 other identifier: 18-0284
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 30
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

This study seeks to measure the time course of circulating proinflammatory markers (interleukin-1 beta \[IL-1β\], interleukin-6 \[IL-6\], tumor necrosis factor alpha \[TNF-α\], and C-reactive protein \[CRP\]) and salivary alpha amylase (sAA) following laboratory fear arousal. Further, this study seeks to implement neurocognitive, physiological, and self-report measures to explore the role of threat sensitivity as a predictor of this response. The broad research question seeks to better understand the relationship between neurocognitive fear and subsequent stress responding elicited by both the immune system (i.e., proinflammatory markers) and autonomic nervous system (i.e., sAA). In light of these aims, the primary outcomes of the current study are the proinflammatory markers (IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, CRP), while secondary outcomes consist of sAA, neurocognitive measures (i.e., dot-probe task), physiological correlates (i.e., heart rate, galvanic skin response), and self-report measures.

Conditions

Phobia

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Blood plasma concentration of IL-1 beta

  interleukin-1 beta (pg/mL) via blood draw

  4 hours

• Blood plasma concentration of IL-6

  interleukin-6 (pg/mL) via blood draw

  4 hours

• Blood plasma concentration of TNF-alpha

  Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (pg/mL) via blood draw

  4 hours

• Blood plasma concentration of CRP

  C-reactive protein (mg/L) via blood draw

  4 hours

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Autonomic marker: alpha amylase

  50 minutes

• Autonomic marker: galvanic skin response

  4 hours

• Autonomic marker: heart rate

  4 hours

• Threat sensitivity: neurocognitive task

  10 minutes

• Threat sensitivity: self-report

  10 minutes

Study Arms (2)

Phobic

Adults aged 18-40 exhibiting high levels of self-reported phobic symptoms to spiders

Behavioral: Fear tasks

Nonphobic

Adults aged 18-40 exhibiting low levels of self-reported phobic symptoms to spiders

Behavioral: Fear tasks

Interventions

Fear tasks BEHAVIORAL

All participants will be exposed to 5 fear tasks involving spiders, with increasing fear intensity.

Nonphobic; Phobic

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 40 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Healthy participants exhibit high or low fear towards spiders.

You may qualify if:

• years old
• Phobic or nonphobic fear of spiders.
• Willing to proceed through 5-stimulus fear hierarchy or maintain 7 or higher subjective units of distress through fear task (see Procedures section).

You may not qualify if:

• Lifetime history of serious mental illness
• Lifetime history of intellectual or developmental delays
• Lifetime history of chronic physical or medical illness including blood clotting disorders
• Lifetime history of allergies to latex
• Lifetime history of hormonal replacement therapy
• Lifetime history of blindness
• Lifetime history of blood/injection phobia or aversion to needles/injection (based on IPS-Anx and MQ)
• Substance abuse in the past 2 years
• Cigarette/tobacco use in the past 2 years
• Major depression within the past 12 months
• Traumatic stress within the past 12 months
• Pregnancy within the past 12 months
• Anesthesia within the past 3 months
• Night shift work within the past month
• Use of medication within the past month (except for oral contraception)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Colorado, Boulder: lead

Biospecimen

Retention: SAMPLES WITHOUT DNA

Blood plasma; saliva

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Phobic Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Anxiety Disorders; Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Alex Kirk, M.A.

  University of Colorado, Boulder

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Joanna Arch, Ph.D.

  University of Colorado, Boulder

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Alex Kirk, M.A.

CONTACT

303-210-8106; alex.kirk@colorado.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: COHORT
• Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Graduate Student

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 17, 2018
• First Posted: January 23, 2019
• Study Start: February 4, 2019
• Primary Completion: August 1, 2019
• Study Completion: August 1, 2019
• Last Updated: January 23, 2019

Record last verified: 2019-01