Attention Bias Modification for Reducing Health Anxiety During the Coronavirus Pandemic

NCT04365972 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: TAU-COVID-19
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 20
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The outbreak of the 2019 Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is a major stressor leading to increased levels of anxiety, and specifically, an excessive fear of being infected and affected by the disease among major parts of the population. At the same time, the access to mental health services is limited due to the lockdown policy applied in many countries worldwide, warranting the development of home-delivered interventions aimed at reducing stress and anxiety symptoms. Attention Bias modification (ABM) has been found to be an efficacious computerized intervention to reduce anxiety symptoms. In this open pilot trial, participants reporting on elevated levels of health anxiety concerning the COVID-19 epidemic will receive one session of ABM over 5 consecutive days (5 sessions total). Symptoms of health anxiety, state anxiety, generalized anxiety, and depression will be measured at baseline and post-treatment.

Conditions

Anxiety

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change from baseline of the total score of a novel COVID-19 anxiety inventory

  The COVID-19 anxiety inventory is a self-report questionnaire screening for concerns and fears regarding COVID-19 contagion. The Inventory consists of 6 items. Scores can range from 6 to 30, with higher scores denoting higher symptom severity.

  up to 2 days pre-treatment and 1-2 days post-treatment

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Change from baseline of the total score of the Health Anxiety Inventory

  up to 2 days pre-treatment and 1-2 days post-treatment

• Change from baseline of the total score of the State Anxiety Inventory

  up to 2 days pre-treatment and 1-2 days post-treatment

• Change from Baseline of the total score of the PHQ-9

  up to 2 days pre-treatment and 1-2 days post-treatment

• Change from Baseline of the total score of the GAD-7

  up to 2 days pre-treatment and 1-2 days post-treatment

Study Arms (1)

Home-delivered attention bias modification (ABM)

EXPERIMENTAL

A home-delivered ABM comprised of 5 sessions using a variant of the dot-probe task in which the target probe always replaces neutral rather than threat (health-related) stimuli to induce diversion of attention away from threat.

Behavioral: Attention Bias Modification (ABM)

Interventions

Attention Bias Modification (ABM) BEHAVIORAL

A home-delivered version of ABM will be administered in this open trial. ABM will be comprised of 5 sessions with a variation of the dot-probe task in which the target probe always replaces the neutral stimuli to induce diversion of attention away from threat. This condition was found effective in reducing anxiety symptoms.

Home-delivered attention bias modification (ABM)

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• or more symptoms (out of 7) reported in the COVID-19 anxiety inventory with a score of 4 or 5.
• Fluent Hebrew
• Having a PC computer at home with internet access

You may not qualify if:

• A diagnosis of dyslexia or other reading disability

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Tel Aviv University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Tel Aviv University

Tel Aviv, 6997801, Israel

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Anxiety Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Yair Bar-Haim, PhD

  Tel Aviv University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Prof. Yair Bar-Haim

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 24, 2020
• First Posted: April 28, 2020
• Study Start: April 23, 2020
• Primary Completion: April 30, 2020
• Study Completion: April 30, 2020
• Last Updated: May 8, 2020

Record last verified: 2020-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

IL (1)