Anxiety disorders are common and impairing. Although exposure therapy is one of the most effective treatments for anxiety, some individuals do not fully respond to treatment, and these individual differences are not well understood. Exposure therapy involves repeated, deliberate, safe engagement with a feared stimulus without the feared outcome occurring. This treatment is thought to work through a type of emotional learning called fear extinction. This study aims to look at links between fear extinction learning and exposure success, with the overall goal of better understanding who is likely to respond best to exposure therapy and why.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
24
One session consisting of 4 speech exposures, each 5 minutes long.
UCSD Psychiatry Research
San Diego, California, United States
Change in peak Subjective Unit of Distress (SUDS) rating from first to fourth (last) exposure
Participants will complete 4 exposures during one 90 minute session. Change in the peak ratings on the final exposure relative to the first exposure will be the outcome measure.
Time frame: 90 minutes
Change from baseline on the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) at 2 weeks
Time frame: Baseline, week 2
Change from baseline on the Personal Report of Confidence as a Speaker (PRCS) at 2 weeks
Time frame: Baseline, week 2
This platform is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional.