The Safety, Acceptability and Efficacy of Alena

May 4, 2023 updated by: Aya Technologies Limited

The Safety, Acceptability and Efficacy of Alena, a Modularized CBT-based Mobile App Intervention for Social Anxiety: a Randomised Controlled Trial

The present study is a randomised controlled trial that seeks to investigate the safety, acceptability and efficacy and safety of the Alena CBT programme as a treatment for social anxiety disorder.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

This is a 6-week web-based parallel-group unblinded randomised controlled trial with a 4-week intervention period and a 2-week follow-up post intervention. Participants are randomly allocated to receive access to the Alena CBT programme or to a wait list control group, in a 1:1 ratio. The programme consists of CBT-based therapy for social anxiety based on the Clark and Wells model.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
102

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • female
  • aged between 18 and 35 years old (inclusive)
  • located in the UK
  • fluent in English
  • comfortable taking part in a study that included deception (due to the nature of the cognitive assessments)
  • had an iPhone and daily access to an internet connection
  • scored over 30 on the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN; indicating at least moderate social anxiety).

Exclusion Criteria:

  • currently undergoing any mental health therapy
  • changed the usual mental health medication or dosage within the past eight weeks
  • scored eight or above on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test for consumption (AUDIT-C; indicating higher risk of alcohol dependence)
  • scored two or above on the adapted drug questions (indicating higher risk of drug dependence)
  • had previously participated in scientific studies or user research undertaken by Alena

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy program
Access to the "Alena" CBT-based therapy programme for 4 weeks. Each of the four therapy modules gradually became available on a weekly basis until all four were available in the final intervention week. Participants were instructed to complete one module per week. Each therapy module consisted of psychoeducational content, guided psychological reflection and perspective-taking exercises, and, where appropriate, skills training exercises such as attention training, public speaking, and exposure experiments to be completed in real life.
Behavioral: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy programme
This mobile application comprised CBT-based therapy for social anxiety based on the Clark and Wells model
No Intervention: Waitlist control
Waitlist control. Participants in this arm were given access to the CBT content at the end of the 4-week trial period.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Questionnaires assessing negative effects from using the app and adverse health events
Time Frame: Week 4 (primary endpoint)
The Intervention group was asked "Have you experienced any negative effects from using the Alena app? This could be a physical or emotional effect that you believe you have experienced as a result of using the app and/or engaging in the app therapy." Both groups were asked: "Have you experienced any new, serious negative health effects in the past week? This includes having to see your GP for a new reason, going to hospital, or being otherwise very unwell in terms of your physical or mental health." If participants responded positively to either question, they were prompted for additional details and to rate the severity of the experience.
Week 4 (primary endpoint)
Questionnaires assessing negative effects from using the app and adverse health events
Time Frame: Week 6 (2-week follow-up post-intervention)
The Intervention group was asked "Have you experienced any negative effects from using the Alena app? This could be a physical or emotional effect that you believe you have experienced as a result of using the app and/or engaging in the app therapy." Both groups were asked: "Have you experienced any new, serious negative health effects in the past week? This includes having to see your GP for a new reason, going to hospital, or being otherwise very unwell in terms of your physical or mental health." If participants responded positively to either question, they were prompted for additional details and to rate the severity of the experience.
Week 6 (2-week follow-up post-intervention)
Questionnaire assessing satisfaction, helpfulness and ease of use
Time Frame: Week 4 (primary endpoint)
Participants were asked how satisfied they were with the app overall (Likert rating scale from very dissatisfied to very satisfied); how helpful they found the app (Likert ratings from very unhelpful to very helpful); how likely they would be to recommend the app (Likert ratings from very unlikely to very likely); how easy they found using the app (Likert ratings from very difficult to very easy); whether they got to the end of the weekly exercise (yes/no), and what got in the way of completing the exercises, with options provided.
Week 4 (primary endpoint)
Questionnaire assessing satisfaction, helpfulness and ease of use
Time Frame: Week 6 (2-week follow-up post-intervention)
Participants were asked how satisfied they were with the app overall (Likert rating scale from very dissatisfied to very satisfied); how helpful they found the app (Likert ratings from very unhelpful to very helpful); how likely they would be to recommend the app (Likert ratings from very unlikely to very likely); how easy they found using the app (Likert ratings from very difficult to very easy); whether they got to the end of the weekly exercise (yes/no), and what got in the way of completing the exercises, with options provided.
Week 6 (2-week follow-up post-intervention)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Social phobia inventory (SPIN)
Time Frame: Week 4 (primary endpoint)
The SPIN was designed to assess the full spectrum of symptoms that characterise social anxiety, including fear, avoidance and physiological components. Total score ranging from 0 to 68, with higher scores indicating a worse outcome.
Week 4 (primary endpoint)
Social phobia inventory (SPIN)
Time Frame: Week 6 (2-week follow-up post-intervention)
The SPIN was designed to assess the full spectrum of symptoms that characterise social anxiety, including fear, avoidance and physiological components. Total score ranging from 0 to 68, with higher scores indicating a worse outcome.
Week 6 (2-week follow-up post-intervention)
Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS)
Time Frame: Week 4 (primary endpoint)
The WSAS measures the extent to which the respondent's problem impairs their ability to carry out day-to-day activities, such as work, home management and social leisure activities. Total score ranging from 0 to 40, with higher scores indicating higher impairment
Week 4 (primary endpoint)
Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS)
Time Frame: Week 6 (2-week follow-up post-intervention)
The WSAS measures the extent to which the respondent's problem impairs their ability to carry out day-to-day activities, such as work, home management and social leisure activities. Total score ranging from 0 to 40, with higher scores indicating higher impairment
Week 6 (2-week follow-up post-intervention)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Aya Technologies Limited

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Mandana Ahmadi, PhD, Aya Technologies Limited

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
October 31, 2022

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
December 4, 2022

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 18, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
April 21, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 4, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
May 15, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
May 15, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 4, 2023

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
May 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • Alena CBT RCT 2022

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings