Online Radical Acceptance Intervention for Social Anxiety Disorder

NCT07325929 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 457-25
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 100
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a self-guided online Radical Acceptance program helps reduce symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder. The study will also compare this program to an online relaxation skills program. The main questions are:

• Does the Radical Acceptance program lower symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder?
• Is the Radical Acceptance program more helpful than relaxation skills? Adults with Social Anxiety Disorder will be randomly assigned to one of two online programs. They will complete a baseline learning session and six short home practice sessions over two weeks. Participants will answer surveys about their symptoms and complete brief computer tasks. Researchers will measure changes in social anxiety at several points during the study and again a few weeks and a few months later.

Conditions

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD)

Keywords

social anxiety disorder; acceptance; emotion regulation; guided self-help; digital intervention

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale

  Change in social anxiety symptoms using the self-report Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS). In this questionnaire, participants are asked to respond to 24 social situations by marking how much they feel fear in each situation (anxiety subscale) and to which extent they will avoid this situation (avoidance subscale) on a 0-3 Likert scale. This measure ranges 0-144; higher scores indicate greater social anxiety severity.

  baseline, after session 4 (~1 week), 2 weeks (end of treatment), 3-week follow-up, 3-month follow-up

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7

  baseline, after session 4 (~1 week), 2 weeks (end of treatment), 3-week follow-up, 3-month follow-up

• Patient Health Questionnaire-9

  Time Frame: baseline, after session 4 (~1 week), 2 weeks (end of treatment), 3-week follow-up, 3-month follow-up

Other Outcomes (6)

• Word-sentence association task

  baseline, after session 4 (~1 week)

• Emotional faces task

  baseline, after session 4 (~1 week)

• Emotion regulation flexibility task

  baseline, after session 4 (~1 week)

Study Arms (2)

Radical Acceptance

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants will receive an online radical acceptance training based on DBT principles. The intervention consists of six guided exercises delivered over a two-week period, designed to enhance acceptance of distressing internal experiences.

Behavioral: Radical Acceptance

Relaxation Skills

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants will receive an online training in DBT TIPP relaxation skills (Temperature, Intense Exercise, Paced Breathing/Progressive Muscle Relaxation). The intervention includes six guided exercises over two weeks, aiming to rapidly decrease physiological arousal and support emotion regulation under stress.

Behavioral: Relaxation Skills

Interventions

Radical Acceptance BEHAVIORAL

Online DBT-based program focusing on implementing radical acceptance in daily life and coping with socially anxious situations.

Radical Acceptance

Relaxation Skills BEHAVIORAL

Online DBT-based program teaching relaxation techniques to achieve rapid physiological down-regulation and improve emotional control.

Relaxation Skills

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 45 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Aged 18-45
• Score \> 9 on Mini-SPIN
• Positive responses in brief phone screening
• Eligibility confirmed in Zoom interview using ADIS
• Native Hebrew speakers
• Having regular access to a computer.

You may not qualify if:

• Changes in psychiatric medication in the past 3 months
• Current or past diagnosis of bipolar disorder
• Current or past diagnosis of schizophrenia
• Current or past diagnosis of PTSD
• Current or past diagnosis of substance use disorder
• History of traumatic brain injury (TBI)
• Previous experience with Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
• Currently receiving psychotherapy specifically targeting social anxiety

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Haifa: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of Haifa

Haifa, 3498838, Israel

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Phobia, Social; Emotional Regulation

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Phobic Disorders; Anxiety Disorders; Mental Disorders; Self-Control; Social Behavior; Behavior

Study Officials

• Noam Weinbach, PhD

  School of Psychological Sciences, University of Haifa

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Noam Weinbach, PhD

CONTACT

+972542249161; nweinbach@psy.haifa.ac.il

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: This is a two-arm parallel randomized controlled trial in which participants are assigned to either a self-guided online Radical Acceptance intervention or an active relaxation skills training control condition. All participants complete the same assessment schedule, and each individual receives only the intervention assigned at random.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 2, 2025
• First Posted: January 8, 2026
• Study Start: December 16, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): January 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): April 1, 2027
• Last Updated: May 6, 2026

Record last verified: 2025-12

Locations

IL (1)