Bright Light: A Novel Treatment for Anxiety

April 26, 2021 updated by: Shawn Youngstedt, University of South Carolina

The primary aim of this research was to examine the influence of bright light on anxiety in high-anxious young adults. In an acute exposure study, participants were randomly assigned to 45 min of either (1) bright light (3,000 lux) or (2) a placebo inactivated negative ion generator. Treatments were initiated ≤1 hr after awakening. At 10 min before and 30 min after the treatments, state anxiety, mood, and blood pressure were assessed.

Following the acute exposure study, participants performed a 5-week study. Following a a 1-week baseline, participants were randomly assigned to four weeks of daily exposure to either (1) bright light (45 min/day; 3,000 lux) or (2) placebo inactivated negative ion generator, which were initiated ≤1 hr after awakening. Before and after the experiment, clinical ratings were conducted with the Hamilton Anxiety Scale, the Hamilton Depression Scale, and the Clinical Global Impressions scale (CGI). Following baseline, and following each week of treatment, blood pressure, as well as questionnaires for state anxiety, depression, mood, sleep, and side effects were assessed.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

33

Phase

  • Phase 1

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

  • United States
    • South Carolina
      • Columbia, South Carolina, United States, 29208
        • Chronobiology Lab, University of South Carolina

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

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 35 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Having a level of trait anxiety [Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Form Y1)]{23642} that was ≥ the 75th percentile for their age (i.e., ≥ 46 and ≥ 44 for women and men, respectively)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Current treatment for anxiety or depression;
  • History of bipolar disorder, mania, or psychotic disorders;
  • History of winter depression, which might bias towards positive response to light;
  • Hypertension;
  • Ophthalmic abnormalities; and
  • Usual exposure to high levels of light such that the intervention would add little to usual exposure.

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: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Baseline
1 week period, in which subjects followed usual schedule, though they were asked to maintain a fairly stable sleep schedule. The baseline period was used for comparison with the experimental intervention.
Experimental: Experimental Intervention
Randomized exposure to the 4-week experimental treatments.
Device: Litebook Bright Light Box
Four weeks of daily exposure to bright light (3,000 lux) for 45 min/day, beginning within 60 min of arising.
Other Names:
  • Phototherapy
Device: Litebook inactivated negation ion generator (the placebo)
Four weeks of daily exposure to inactivated negative ion generator for 45 min/day, beginning within 60 min of arising
Other Names:
  • Placebo

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory
Time Frame: 5 weeks
state anxiety questionnaire
5 weeks
Hamilton Anxiety
Time Frame: 5 weeks
Hamilton Anxiety Questionnaire
5 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Beck Depression Inventory
Time Frame: 5 weeks
self-report depression questionnaire
5 weeks
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Inventory
Time Frame: 5 weeks
PSQI, a common sleep quality questionnaire
5 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of South Carolina

Collaborators

Liteboook Company

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Shawn D Youngstedt, University of Southern California

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

October 1, 2006

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2007

Study Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2007

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 4, 2010

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 5, 2010

First Posted (Estimate)

February 8, 2010

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 28, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 26, 2021

Last Verified

April 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • HSA-3469

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.

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