NCT06977087

Brief Summary

The efficacy of an online intervention aimed at enhancing approach motivation and behavioral engagement in confronting anxiety-inducing social situations is examined among individuals with elevated social anxiety. Participants will receive psychoeducation, followed by either a prospective mental-imagery task or a verbal reasoning task. Efficacy of the intervention is measured by ratings of experienced and anticipated pleasure, approach motivation and self-reported engagement with feared situations one week later.

Trial Health

57
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Trial Health Score

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

Trial has exceeded expected completion date
Enrollment
58

participants targeted

Target at P25-P50 for not_applicable

Timeline
Completed

Started Mar 2025

Shorter than P25 for not_applicable

Geographic Reach
1 country

1 active site

Status
recruiting

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

Trial Relationships

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Study Timeline

Key milestones and dates

Study Start

First participant enrolled

March 4, 2025

Completed
2 months until next milestone

First Submitted

Initial submission to the registry

April 30, 2025

Completed
18 days until next milestone

First Posted

Study publicly available on registry

May 18, 2025

Completed
8 months until next milestone

Primary Completion

Last participant's last visit for primary outcome

January 1, 2026

Completed
Same day until next milestone

Study Completion

Last participant's last visit for all outcomes

January 1, 2026

Completed
Last Updated

January 9, 2026

Status Verified

January 1, 2026

Enrollment Period

10 months

First QC Date

April 30, 2025

Last Update Submit

January 7, 2026

Conditions

Social AnxietySocial Phobia

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (5)

  • Anticipatory Pleasure

    2-item questionnaire on a scale 0 (not at all) to 100 (extremely) assessing current pleasure when imaging approaching and having approached the feared situations.

    Baseline (prior to the assigned intervention) and immediately post-intervention (following the prospective mental imagery or verbal reasoning task)

  • Anticipated Pleasure

    2-item questionnaire on a scale 0 (not at all) to 100 (extremely) assessing expected pleasure when approaching and having approached the feared situations.

    Baseline (prior to the assigned intervention) and immediately post-intervention (following the prospective mental imagery or verbal reasoning task)

  • Reward Anticipation

    2-item questionnaire on a scale 0 (not at all) to 100 (extremely) assessing expected reward related to approaching and having approached the feared situations.

    Baseline (prior to the assigned intervention) and immediately post-intervention (following the prospective mental imagery or verbal reasoning task)

  • Motivation

    Self-reported motivation to approach the feared situations on a scale of 0 (not at all) to 100 (extremely).

    Baseline (prior to the assigned intervention) and immediately post-intervention (following the prospective mental imagery or verbal reasoning task)

  • Frequency of Exposure

    Self-reported frequency of exposure to the feared situations.

    Post-treatment (i.e., 7 days after baseline)

Secondary Outcomes (9)

  • Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN)

    Change from baseline to post-treatment (i.e., 7 days)

  • Mood State Questionnaire

    Baseline (prior to the assigned intervention) and immediately post-intervention (following the prospective mental imagery or verbal reasoning task)

  • Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS)

    Change from baseline to post-treatment (i.e., 7 days)

  • Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)

    Baseline

  • Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS)

    Baseline

  • +4 more secondary outcomes

Study Arms (2)

Psychoeducation + Prospective Mental-Imagery Task

EXPERIMENTAL

Prospective mental imagery of post-exposure experience

Behavioral: PsychoeducationBehavioral: Prospective Mental Imagery

Psychoeducation + Verbal Reasoning Task

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Verbal reasoning of pro and cons of exposure

Behavioral: PsychoeducationBehavioral: Verbal Reasoning

Interventions

PsychoeducationBEHAVIORAL

Providing information about social anxiety, role of safety and avoidance behaviors in maintaining social anxiety, rationale for exposure to feared social situations

Psychoeducation + Prospective Mental-Imagery TaskPsychoeducation + Verbal Reasoning Task
Prospective Mental ImageryBEHAVIORAL

A standard imagination script is recounted in which participants have successfully mastered the socially feared situation

Psychoeducation + Prospective Mental-Imagery Task
Verbal ReasoningBEHAVIORAL

Participants are asked to reflect on the pros and cons of facing the socially feared situation

Psychoeducation + Verbal Reasoning Task

Eligibility Criteria

Age18 Years+
Sexall
Healthy VolunteersYes
Age GroupsAdult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

  • Elevated score on Mini-Social Phobia Inventory (Mini-SPIN) \> 6
  • Moderate fear and avoidance of two specified social situations (i.e., giving a stranger a compliment and asking for a restaurant recommendation), each rated above 5 on a Likert scale ranging from 0 (not at all) to 10 (extremely), respectively
  • Avoidance of the two specified social situations (i.e., giving a stranger a compliment and asking for a restaurant recommendation), indicated by not having engaged in either behaviors in the past 7 days

Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Study Sites (1)

Germany Philipps University

Marburg, 35037, Germany

RECRUITING

Related Publications (4)

  • Hallford DJ, Farrell H, Lynch E. Increasing anticipated and anticipatory pleasure through episodic thinking. Emotion. 2022 Jun;22(4):690-700. doi: 10.1037/emo0000765. Epub 2020 Jun 18.

    PMID: 32551746BACKGROUND

  • Renner F, Werthmann J, Paetsch A, Bar HE, Heise M, Bruijniks SJE. Prospective Mental Imagery in Depression: Impact on Reward Processing and Reward-Motivated Behaviour. Clin Psychol Eur. 2021 Jun 18;3(2):e3013. doi: 10.32872/cpe.3013. eCollection 2021 Jun.

    PMID: 36397959BACKGROUND

  • Renner F, Murphy FC, Ji JL, Manly T, Holmes EA. Mental imagery as a "motivational amplifier" to promote activities. Behav Res Ther. 2019 Mar;114:51-59. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2019.02.002. Epub 2019 Feb 5.

    PMID: 30797989BACKGROUND

  • Ji JL, Geiles D, Saulsman LM. Mental imagery-based episodic simulation amplifies motivation and behavioural engagement in planned reward activities. Behav Res Ther. 2021 Oct;145:103947. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2021.103947. Epub 2021 Aug 15.

    PMID: 34433114BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Phobia, Social

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Phobic DisordersAnxiety DisordersMental Disorders

Central Study Contacts

Andrea Stoliarov, M.Sc.

CONTACT

+4964212826991andrea.stoliarov@uni-marburg.de

Christoph Benke, PhD

CONTACT

+4964212824091christoph.benke@uni-marburg.de

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

April 30, 2025

First Posted

May 18, 2025

Study Start

March 4, 2025

Primary Completion

January 1, 2026

Study Completion

January 1, 2026

Last Updated

January 9, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-01

Locations

DE(1)