Safety Behavior Fading Versus Progressive Muscle Relaxation for Appearance Concerns
1 other identifier
interventional
300
1 country
1
Brief Summary
The current study aims to explore the efficacy of a text message based safety behavior fading intervention compared to a progressive muscle relaxation intervention for appearance concerns.
Trial Health
Trial Health Score
Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach
participants targeted
Target at P75+ for not_applicable
Started May 2026
Shorter than P25 for not_applicable
1 active site
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
First Submitted
Initial submission to the registry
May 11, 2026
CompletedFirst Posted
Study publicly available on registry
May 15, 2026
CompletedStudy Start
First participant enrolled
May 29, 2026
CompletedPrimary Completion
Last participant's last visit for primary outcome
December 1, 2026
ExpectedStudy Completion
Last participant's last visit for all outcomes
December 1, 2026
June 2, 2026
May 1, 2026
6 months
May 11, 2026
May 29, 2026
Conditions
Outcome Measures
Primary Outcomes (7)
The Social Appearance Anxiety Scale (SAAS)
Self-report scale that measures appearance anxiety symptoms. Scores range from 16 to 80 with higher scores indicating higher levels of appearance concerns.
Day 0, Day 28, Day 56
Appearance Behaviors Checklist past-week version (author constructed)
Self-report scale used to measure frequency of engaging in appearance-related safety behaviors. This scale will be used as a manipulation check. Each item is rated on a 0 to 10 scale. Total scores range from 0 to 130 with higher scores indicating greater engagement in appearance-related safety behaviors
Day 0, Day 28, Day 56
Appearance Anxiety Inventory (AAI; Veale et al., 2014)
Self-report scale that measures of body dysmorphic symptoms. Scores range from 0 to 40 with higher scores indicating higher levels of body dysmorphic symptoms.
Day 0, Day 28, Day 56
Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN; Connor et al., 2000)
Self-report scale that measures social anxiety symptoms. Scores range from 0 to 68 with higher scores indicating higher levels of social anxiety.
Day 0, Day 28, Day 56
Eating Disorder-15 (ED-15; Tatham et al., 2015).
Self-report scale that measures eating disorder symptoms. Scores range from 0 to 90 with higher scores indicating higher levels of eating pathology.
Day 0, Day 28, Day 56
The Eating Disorder Inventory-Body Dissatisfaction (EDI; Garner et al., 1983).
Self-report scale for measuring body dissatisfaction for use in clinical outcome studies. Each item is rated on a 0-5 scale with a total score range of 9-54 with higher scores indicating greater drive for thinness, bulimia, and body dissatisfaction.
Day 0, Day 28, Day 56
Credibility and Expectancy Questionnaire (CEQ; Devilly & Borkovec, 2000).
Self-report scale for measuring treatment expectancy and rationale credibility for use in clinical outcome studies. Three items are rated on a 0-10 scale and one item is rated on a 0-100 scale with higher scores meaning greater expectancy and credibility.
Day 0
Secondary Outcomes (5)
Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-10 (CESD; Andreson, 1994)
Day 0, Day 28, Day 56
Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7; Spitzer et al., 2006)
Day 0, Day 28, Day 56
Appearance Preference Task
Day 0, Day 28, Day 56
Social Interaction Scale (Author Constructed)
Day 0, Day 28, Day 56
Body Dysmorphic Disorder Symptom Scale-Cognitive Subscale (Wilhelm et al., 2016)
Day 0, Day 28, Day 56
Study Arms (2)
Safety Behavior Fading
EXPERIMENTALIndividuals randomly assigned to the safety behavior fading condition will receive instructions to decrease or eliminate their endorsed appearance-related safety behaviors. In addition, they will receive daily reminders via text message to decrease these behaviors, along with a safety behavior monitoring checklist in which the participant indicates the extent to which they engaged in each safety behavior over the previous day.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
ACTIVE COMPARATORParticipants in this condition will be instructed to try and practice progressive muscle relaxation daily for 28 days. To match safety behavior fading they will also receive daily text messages to remind them to practice relaxation and they can log which of the 10 different muscle groups they tensed and released in the past day.
Interventions
Participants are asked to reduce or eliminate safety behaviors via text message reminders and checklists to monitor progress.
Participants are asked to practice relaxation daily via text message reminder and checklists to monitor progress.
Eligibility Criteria
You may qualify if:
- being between the ages of 18 and 65 years old
- having an internet-capable smart-phone
- scoring at or above the empirical cutoff for appearance concerns measured by the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale (i.e., 52)
You may not qualify if:
- changes in psychotropic medication in the last 4 weeks
- failing attention checks in baseline data collection
Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.
Sponsors & Collaborators
Study Sites (1)
Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida, 32308, United States
MeSH Terms
Conditions
Interventions
Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)
Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)
Central Study Contacts
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
- Professor
Study Record Dates
First Submitted
May 11, 2026
First Posted
May 15, 2026
Study Start
May 29, 2026
Primary Completion (Estimated)
December 1, 2026
Study Completion (Estimated)
December 1, 2026
Last Updated
June 2, 2026
Record last verified: 2026-05
Data Sharing
- IPD Sharing
- Will not share