Building Closer Friendships in Social Anxiety Disorder

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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This study assesses whether a 4-week computerized intervention can be used to decrease fear of intimacy, and loneliness and improve perceived social support in people with Social Anxiety Disorder.

Detailed Description
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This study hopes to assess whether a month long computerized intervention aimed at giving people skills to form closer friendships. Participants will be randomized into an active treatment condition or a wait list control. We hypothesize that 1) participants in the treatment condition will have lower fear of intimacy at post treatment than those in the waitlist condition 2) participants in the treatment condition will have lower levels of loneliness than those in the waitlist condition 3) participants in the treatment condition will have higher perceived social support than those in the waitlist condition.

Official Title
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Building Closer Friendships in Social Anxiety Disorder: A Preliminary Test

Conditions
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Social Anxiety

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Building Closer Friendships


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Social Anxiety Disorder Diagnosed by the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview Social Phobia Inventory Score >19 Stable psychotropic medication for the past month and kept stable for duration of study Exclusion Criteria: Currently participating in therapy Current Substance Dependence Bipolar Disorder or psychotic illness Current suicidality (imminent risk)

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 65 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Interventional Model Description: Participants will be randomized into active treatment or waitlist control.
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Active Treatment<br>four week computerized intervention designed to reduce fear of intimacy | Behavioral: Building Closer Friendships<br>* Intervention designed to build social support and reduce loneliness by giving participants skills to strengthen their relationships<br>|
| No Intervention: Wait List Control<br>Participants will continue as usual and will be given the option to receive the active treatment after completion of the study | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support | Self-report scale that measures perceived levels of social support. Scores range from 12 to 84 with higher scores indicating higher levels of perceived social support. The three subscales (friends, family and significant other) all have a range of 4 to 28 with higher scores indicating higher levels of perceived social support. | Change in Perceived Social Support from baseline to post treatment (4weeks) and one month follow up (8 weeks) | 
| Fear of Intimacy Scale-friend version | self report scale measuring fear of intimacy in friendships. Scores range from 26 to 130 with higher scores indicating a higher level of fear of intimacy. | Change in fear of intimacy from baseline to post treatment (4weeks) and one month follow up (8 weeks) | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| UCLA Loneliness Scale | A 20 item Self report scale measuring loneliness. Scales range from 0 to 60 with higher scores indicating a higher level of loneliness. | Change in loneliness from baseline to post treatment (4weeks) and one month follow up (8 weeks) | 
| Social Phobia inventory | Self-report scale that measures Social anxiety symptoms. Scores range from 0 to 68 with higher scores indicating higher levels of social anxiety symptoms. | Change in social anxiety symptoms from baseline to post treatment (4 weeks) and one month follow up (8 weeks) | 
| State-Trait Inventory for Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety-Trait Version (STICSA-T) | Self-report measure used to assess overall anxiety symptoms. Scores range from 21 to 84 with higher scores indicating higher levels of overall anxiety. | Change in overall anxiety symptoms from baseline to post treatment (4 weeks) and one month follow up (8 weeks) | 
| Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) | Self-report measure used to assess depressive symptoms. Total scores range from 0 to 60 with higher scores indicating a higher level of depressive symptoms. | Change in depression symptoms from baseline to post treatment (4 weeks) and one month follow up (8 weeks) | 
| Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire (INQ) | Self report measure of suicide vulnerability. Total scores range from 15 to 105, with higher scores indicating a higher vulnerability for suicide. | Change in suicide vulnerability from baseline to post treatment (4 weeks) and one month follow up (8 weeks) |