Generalized Fear Extinction to Untreated Fear Stimuli in Specific Phobias After Exposure

NCT03907345 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: AZ 032019
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 50
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study investigates whether a one-session exposure treatment for spider-related stimuli can lead to a generalization of extinguished fear to height-related stimuli in individuals with comorbid fear of spiders and fear of heights.

Conditions

Fear of Spiders; Fear of Heights

Keywords

Exposure Therapy; Fear of Spiders; Fear of Heights; Anxiety Disorders; Generalization; Extinction; Specific Phobias

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Behavioral Approach Test (BAT) for Spiders

  Change in the Behavioral Approach Test (BAT) with spiders (treated fear stimulus) \[Time Frame: Pretreatment (approx. 1 week before the treatment), Posttreatment (1 day after treatment), Follow-up (4 weeks between treatment and follow-up)\]. During the Behavioral Approach Test (BAT) the closest distance to a spider as well as subjective fear and heart rate is measured.

  Change in BAT scores from pre- to posttreatment (across one week from pretreatment to posttreatment)

• Behavioral Approach Test (BAT) for Heights

  Change in the Behavioral Approach Test with heights (untreated fear stimulus) \[Time Frame: Pretreatment (approx. 1 week before the treatment), Posttreatment (1 day after treatment), Follow-up (4 weeks between treatment and follow-up)\]. During the Behavioral Approach Test (BAT) the level of the approached height as well as subjective fear and heart rate is measured.

  Change in BAT scores from pre- to posttreatment (across one week from pretreatment to posttreatment)

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Fear of Spiders Questionnaire (FSQ)

  Change in FSQ scores from pre- to posttreatment (across one week from pretreatment to posttreatment)

• Spider Fear Questionnaire (SPQ)

  Change in SPQ scores from pre- to posttreatment (across one week from pretreatment to posttreatment)

• Spider Beliefs Questionnaire (SBQ)

  Change in SBQ scores from pre- to posttreatment (across one week from pretreatment to posttreatment)

• Acrophobia Questionnaire (AQ)

  Change in AQ scores from pre- to posttreatment (across one week from pretreatment to posttreatment)

Other Outcomes (1)

• Fear and Disgust Rating

  Change in Fear and Disgust Rating from pre- to posttreatment (across one week from pretreatment to posttreatment)

Study Arms (2)

Exposure

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants of this arm receive one 120-minute session of exposure treatment for spider fear.

Behavioral: Exposure

No Exposure

NO INTERVENTION

Participants of this arm receive no exposure or other adequate treatment.

Interventions

Exposure BEHAVIORAL

The exposure session comprises a hierarchy of 7 steps, reaching from (1) holding a glass with the spider 30cm in from the body / face, to (7) letting the spider walk on the arm. The exposure session has a duration of 120 minutes. Prior to the exposure, participants receive psychoeducation on anxiety and phobias. A house spider (Tegenaria domestica) is used for the exposure.

Exposure

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 40 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Comorbid presence of fear of spiders and fear of heights \[Potential diagnosis of specific phobias (arachnophobia and acrophobia) assessed by application of the Diagnostic Short-Interview for Mental Disorders (Mini-Dips)\].

You may not qualify if:

• Any acute or chronic mental and / or somatic disease
• Psychological, psychiatric, neurological or pharmacological treatment (Application of the Mini-DIPS to screen for the presence of a psychological condition)
• Drug or alcohol abuse
• Pregnancy

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Ruhr University of Bochum: lead

Study Sites (1)

Mental Health Research and Treatment Center

Bochum, 44787, Germany

Location

Related Publications (2)

• Preusser F, Margraf J, Zlomuzica A. Generalization of Extinguished Fear to Untreated Fear Stimuli after Exposure. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2017 Dec;42(13):2545-2552. doi: 10.1038/npp.2017.119. Epub 2017 Jun 7.

  PMID: 28589965 BACKGROUND

• Margraf, J. & Cwik, J. C. (2017). Mini-DIPS Open Access: Diagnostic Short-Interview for Mental Disorders. [Mini-DIPS Open Access: Diagnostisches Kurzinterview bei psychischen Störungen]. Bochum: Forschungs- und Behandlungszentrum für psychische Gesundheit, Ruhr-Universität. doi:10.13154/rub.102.9

  BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Arachnophobia; Acrophobia; Anxiety Disorders; Phobia, Specific

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Armin Zlomuzica, PhD

  Ruhr-University Bochum

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 28, 2019
• First Posted: April 8, 2019
• Study Start: June 6, 2019
• Primary Completion: October 7, 2022
• Study Completion: October 7, 2022
• Last Updated: March 30, 2023

Record last verified: 2023-03

Locations

DE (1)