Intervention to Reduce Safety Behaviors

VA Office of Research and Development23 enrolled

Overview

Social anxiety is associated with significant deficits in social and occupational functioning. The proposed study seeks to evaluate the feasibility of implementing a brief text-based intervention for decreasing social anxiety related safety behaviors among Veterans attempting to re-integrate into the workforce. Findings from this pilot will support a larger randomized controlled study examining the efficacy of the intervention for improving functional outcomes and quality of life among Veterans.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Social Anxiety

Interventions

DSB-IOTHER

Participant will receive text message every other day during active phase (30days) via ANNIE text messaging app related to the safety behaviors they identified prior to start.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Active enrollment in Compensated Work Therapy * Score of \> 25 on the Social Phobia Inventory * Score of \> 47 on the Subtle Avoidance Frequency Examination Exclusion Criteria: * Concurrent enrollment in another study related to social anxiety or improving functional status * Recent (\<3 month) history of psychiatric hospitalization, detoxification admission, or suicide attempt

Locations (1)

Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, Charleston, SC

Charleston, South Carolina, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Subtle Avoidance Frequency Examination (SAFE)

32-item self-report measure designed to assess the frequency of safety behavior (SB) use. Respondents are asked to rate how often they engage in SBs such as "Rehearse sentences in your mind" and "Avoid eye contact" on a scale of 0 (Never) to 4 (Always). Scores on the SAFE range from 0-128 with higher scores indicative or more safety behavior use. total mean score

Time frame: Baseline and immediately after intervention

Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN)

17-item measure of social anxiety severity. Participants are asked to rate items such as "I avoid doing things or speaking to people for fear of embarrassment" on a Likert-type scale of 0 (Not at all) to 4 (Extremely). Scores on the SPIN range from 0 to 68 with higher scores indicative of more severe social anxiety, total mean score

Time frame: baseline and immediately after intervention

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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