NCT06182709

Brief Summary

The effectiveness of an optimized group exposure treatment is investigated in spider-fearful individuals. Participants will undergo an optimized standardized exposure treatment. After receiving information about the treatment and the phobic stimulus (spider) through a psychoeducation video, participants will observe an exposure treatment of another fearful person, either live or by watching a movie of an exposure treatment online. Subsequently, participants will undergo a live in vivo exposure treatment conducted in a group setting. The effectiveness of the treatment is measured by symptom improvement according to online behavioral avoidance tests and subjective ratings immediately after training and one week later.

Trial Health

87
On Track

Trial Health Score

Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach

Enrollment
78

participants targeted

Target at P50-P75 for not_applicable

Timeline
Completed

Started Dec 2023

Geographic Reach
1 country

1 active site

Status
completed

Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.

Trial Relationships

Click on a node to explore related trials.

Study Timeline

Key milestones and dates

First Submitted

Initial submission to the registry

December 8, 2023

Completed
3 days until next milestone

Study Start

First participant enrolled

December 11, 2023

Completed
16 days until next milestone

First Posted

Study publicly available on registry

December 27, 2023

Completed
1.7 years until next milestone

Primary Completion

Last participant's last visit for primary outcome

September 5, 2025

Completed
Same day until next milestone

Study Completion

Last participant's last visit for all outcomes

September 5, 2025

Completed
Last Updated

October 2, 2025

Status Verified

September 1, 2025

Enrollment Period

1.7 years

First QC Date

December 8, 2023

Last Update Submit

September 27, 2025

Conditions

Spider FearArachnophobia

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

  • Spider Phobia Questionnaire (SPQ)

    31-Item true/false questionnaire assessing symptoms of arachnophobia. Scores range from 0 to 31, with greater scores representing greater subjective fear of spiders, where lower scores reflect low subjective fear of spiders

    Change from baseline to immediately post treatment 1 (after modeled exposure), immediately post treatment 2 (group exposure) and follow-up (7 days after group exposure - post treatment 2)

  • Change in avoidance behavior (online virtual Behavioral Approach Task, vBATon)

    Scores range from 0 ("participant refuses entering the room with the spider") to 12 ("participant holds the spider for at least 20 seconds")

    Change from baseline to immediately post treatment 1 (after modeled exposure), immediately post treatment 2 (group exposure) and follow-up (7 days after group exposure - post treatment 2)

  • Change in spider fear: Spider Anxiety Questionnaire (FSQ/SAF)

    14-item questionnaire on a 7-point Likert-Scale (0 = "I don´t agree at all"; 6 = "I completely agree") to assess symptoms of arachnophobia. Total score can range from 0 to 98 Greater scores representing worse symptom severity of arachnophobia

    Change from baseline to immediately post treatment 1 (after modeled exposure), immediately post treatment 2 (group exposure) and follow-up (7 days after group exposure - post treatment 2)

Secondary Outcomes (3)

  • Change in spider phobia belief questionnaire (SBQ)

    Change from baseline to immediately post treatment 1 (after modeled exposure), immediately post treatment 2 (group exposure) and follow-up (7 days after group exposure -- post treatment 2)

  • Change in Spider Anxiety Screening (SAS)

    Change from baseline to immediately post treatment 1 (after modeled exposure), immediately post treatment 2 (group exposure) and follow-up (7 days after group exposure- post treatment 2)

  • Global success rating (GSR)

    Change from immediately post treatment 1 (after modeled exposure) to immediately post-treatment 2 (after group exposure) and follow-up (7 days after group exposure- post treatment 2)

Other Outcomes (9)

  • Anxiety Sensitivity (ASI-3)

    baseline

  • Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS)

    baseline

  • Group Entitativity Measure-Group Therapy (GEM-GP)

    immediately post-treatment 2 (after group exposure)

  • +6 more other outcomes

Study Arms (4)

online modeled exposure + mental retrieval cue group exposure

EXPERIMENTAL

online modeled exposure training followed by group exposure training, including mental retrieval cue with five standardized exposure steps

Behavioral: online psychoeducation video + modeled exposureBehavioral: group exposureBehavioral: mental retrieval cue

live modeled exposure + mental retrieval cue group exposure

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

live modeled exposure training followed by group exposure training, including mental retrieval cue with five standardized exposure steps

Behavioral: live psychoeducation video + modeled exposureBehavioral: group exposureBehavioral: mental retrieval cue

online modeled exposure + standardized group exposure

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

online modeled exposure training followed by group exposure training with five standardized exposure steps

Behavioral: online psychoeducation video + modeled exposureBehavioral: group exposure

live modeled exposure + standardized group exposure

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

live modeled exposure training followed by group exposure training with five standardized exposure steps

Behavioral: live psychoeducation video + modeled exposureBehavioral: group exposure

Interventions

online psychoeducation video + modeled exposureBEHAVIORAL

Participants will watch a short psychoeducation video online. This will be followed by a modeled exposure online. In this modeled exposure participants watch a film of an exposure treatment (about 45min) conducted with one participant and the therapist. The exposure training consists of five exposure steps (step 1: describing the spider, step 2: catching the spider with a glass, step 3: describing the spider, step 4: touching the spider with the dominant index finger, step 5: letting the spider walk on the participant hands; the following steps have to be repeated up to four times: 2,4,5).

online modeled exposure + mental retrieval cue group exposureonline modeled exposure + standardized group exposure
live psychoeducation video + modeled exposureBEHAVIORAL

Participants will watch a short psychoeducation video. This will be followed by a live modeled exposure. In this modeled exposure participants watch an exposure treatment (about 45min) conducted live with one participant and the therapist. The exposure training consists of five exposure steps (step 1: describing the spider, step 2: catching the spider with a glass, step 3: describing the spider, step 4: touching the spider with the dominant index finger, step 5: letting the spider walk on the participant hands; the following steps have to be repeated up to four times: 2,4,5).

live modeled exposure + mental retrieval cue group exposurelive modeled exposure + standardized group exposure
group exposureBEHAVIORAL

Exposure training in the group is conducted live (1 spider per participant, one therapist and co-trainers). In this group exposure participants complete exposure training (about 45 min) with five exposure steps (step 1: describing the spider, step 2: catching the spider with a glass, step 3: describing the spider, step 4: touching the spider with the dominant index finger, step 5: letting the spider walk on the participant hands; the following steps have to be repeated up to three times: 2,4,5).

live modeled exposure + mental retrieval cue group exposurelive modeled exposure + standardized group exposureonline modeled exposure + mental retrieval cue group exposureonline modeled exposure + standardized group exposure
mental retrieval cueBEHAVIORAL

Before the group exposure, participants are asked to remember the modeled exposure they had observed the day before. Therefore, the participants are asked to recall the location where they have been during the modeled exposure and the reaction of the patient during the exposure (e.g., fear decline).

live modeled exposure + mental retrieval cue group exposureonline modeled exposure + mental retrieval cue group exposure

Eligibility Criteria

Age18 Years+
Sexall(Gender-based eligibility)
Healthy VolunteersNo
Age GroupsAdult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

  • \- Elevated score on Spider Phobia Questionnaire (SPQ) \>= 17

You may not qualify if:

  • Severe allergies to bees/spiders/insects
  • Current psychiatric/psychotherapeutic treatment
  • Past psychotherapeutic/psychiatric treatment due to anxiety problems
  • Current or past psychotic symptoms
  • Current suicidal intent
  • Experience with exposure-based treatment
  • Current psychopharmacological medication
  • Severe respiratory, neurological or cardiovascular diseases

Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Study Sites (1)

Philipps-University Marburg

Marburg, Hesse, 35037, Germany

Location

Related Publications (6)

  • Craske MG, Treanor M, Conway CC, Zbozinek T, Vervliet B. Maximizing exposure therapy: an inhibitory learning approach. Behav Res Ther. 2014 Jul;58:10-23. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2014.04.006. Epub 2014 May 9.

    PMID: 24864005BACKGROUND

  • Golkar A, Selbing I, Flygare O, Ohman A, Olsson A. Other people as means to a safe end: vicarious extinction blocks the return of learned fear. Psychol Sci. 2013 Nov 1;24(11):2182-90. doi: 10.1177/0956797613489890. Epub 2013 Sep 10.

    PMID: 24022651BACKGROUND

  • Ost LG, Ferebee I, Furmark T. One-session group therapy of spider phobia: direct versus indirect treatments. Behav Res Ther. 1997 Aug;35(8):721-32. doi: 10.1016/s0005-7967(97)00028-4.

    PMID: 9256515BACKGROUND

  • Mystkowski JL, Craske MG, Echiverri AM, Labus JS. Mental reinstatement of context and return of fear in spider-fearful participants. Behav Ther. 2006 Mar;37(1):49-60. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2005.04.001. Epub 2006 Feb 24.

    PMID: 16942960BACKGROUND

  • Olsson A, Phelps EA. Social learning of fear. Nat Neurosci. 2007 Sep;10(9):1095-102. doi: 10.1038/nn1968.

    PMID: 17726475BACKGROUND

  • Wannemueller A, Appelbaum D, Kuppers M, Matten A, Teismann T, Adolph D, Margraf J. Large Group Exposure Treatment: a Feasibility Study in Highly Spider Fearful Individuals. Front Psychol. 2016 Aug 9;7:1183. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01183. eCollection 2016.

    PMID: 27555830BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Arachnophobia

Study Officials

  • Christiane A. Melzig, PhD

    Philipps University Marburg

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

  • Jana Gessner, M.Sc.

    Philipps University Marburg

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

Study Type
interventional
Phase
not applicable
Allocation
NON RANDOMIZED
Masking
TRIPLE
Who Masked
PARTICIPANT, INVESTIGATOR, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
Purpose
TREATMENT
Intervention Model
PARALLEL
Sponsor Type
OTHER
Responsible Party
SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

First Submitted

December 8, 2023

First Posted

December 27, 2023

Study Start

December 11, 2023

Primary Completion

September 5, 2025

Study Completion

September 5, 2025

Last Updated

October 2, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-09

Data Sharing

IPD Sharing
Will not share

Locations

DE(1)