Clinical trial NCT05610839: A RCT of a Fully-automated Self-help AEBT Website
Official title: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Fully-automated Self-help AEBT Website for Adults With Trichotillomania
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: AEBT Website With Check-ins
AEBT Website Without Check-ins
Lead sponsor: Utah State University
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2022-11-09
Enrollment: 101
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Trichotillomania (TTM) is characterized by hair pulling that is repetitive in nature leading to notable hair loss, causing clinically significant distress and resulting in impairments across social and functional domains (APA, 2013). Trichotillomania causes significant social impairment including affecting close relationships, pursuing occupational changes or advancement, or interfering with schooling (Grant et al., 2017; Woods, Flessner, Franklin, Wetterneck, et al., 2006). The core of the treatment of trichotillomania has traditionally been Habit Reversal Training (HRT) (Twohig, Bluett, et al., 2014). Another form of treatment that is gaining empirical support is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) which has been studied in four randomized controlled trials, one studying ACT as a standalone treatment (Lee, Homan, et al., 2018), and three examining ACT combined with HRT (Twohig et al., 2021; Lee, Haeger, et al., 2018; Woods, Wetterneck, et al., 2006) which demonstrated efficacy of the combined treatment in decreasing pulling symptom severity.

The prevalence of trichotillomania in the US is 1-2% of the population and yet treatment access is limited by many issues including processionals' lack of knowledge of the disorder and low treatment accessibility (Walther et al., 2010). ACT- enhanced behavior therapy has been implemented using telehealth to reach a larger population (42.2% decrease pre-to-post treatment), but telehealth still requires therapist time and incurs notable costs (Lee, Haeger, et al., 2018). The present study aims to address the gap in trichotillomania treatment accessibility by examining the role of check-ins on adherence and efficacy on afully automated, web-based ACT-enhanced HRT treatment for adults with trichotillomania across the United States. We predict that the condition with check-ins will increase adherence and efficacy of the treatment significantly more than the condition without check-ins. Additionally, we predict that hair pulling severity and psychological flexibility will be significantly improved by the condition with check-ins compared to the condition without check-ins.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

1. Currently meet DSM-5 criteria for trichotillomania
2. searching for trichotillomania-based treatment
3. are atleast 18 years old
4. fluent English speakers
5. living in the U.S.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. currently receiving alternative therapy
2. currently modifying or starting psychotropic medication
3. previously met DSM-5 criteria for trichotillomania but are not, at the time of intake session, engaging in hair pulling

Primary outcomes:
measure: Massachusetts General Hospital- Hair Pulling Scale (MGH-HPS)
timeFrame: 36 weeks
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Logan
country: United States
facility: Utah State University
state: Utah
Study officials:
References: