Mindfulness and Acceptance-Based Treatments for Social Anxiety: Defusion App

This study evaluates a self-help app in the treatment of shyness and social anxiety in adults. All participants will be assigned to the treatment group. It is expected that using this app will result in a reduction in social anxiety.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Anxiety; Shyness
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Self-Help App

Detailed Description

Over 2 million Canadians have suffered from social anxiety disorder (SAD) at some point in their lives. This disorder is characterized by a strong fear of negative evaluation in social situations and is associated with significant impairment in social interactions, educational/occupational achievement, and life satisfaction. Despite the fact that efficacious treatments have been developed and evaluated, both treatment effectiveness and treatment seeking behaviour remain below optimal levels. Combined with the many barriers to treatment (i.e., cost, stigma, access), researchers are investigating self-help modalities as an alternative to conventional psychotherapy.

The Defusion App is based on content from Fleming & Kocovski's (2013) self-help book "The Mindfulness & Acceptance Workbook for Social Anxiety & Shyness." Specifically, the app teaches users about the tendency of socially anxious individuals to fuse with their anxious thoughts (i.e., cognitive fusion), and strategies to reduce it.

In this experimental research study, a smartphone app designed to help with social anxiety and shyness will be evaluated for both effectiveness and frequency of use. The objectives will be to determine whether participants use the app, and whether use of the app is associated with a reduction in social anxiety.

Preliminary evidence has indicated that smartphone apps for mental health are associated with promising results. It is expected that the use of the app in the present research will be associated with reductions in social anxiety symptom severity and a greater use of cognitive defusion strategies.

The participants will be a community sample of individuals interested in seeking help with social anxiety and shyness as recruited by the use of posters around the Wilfrid Laurier University campus and in the community, as well as online.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 15
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Ontario
    • Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3C5
      • Wilfrid Laurier University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• must be seeking help for shyness/social anxiety
• must own a smartphone

Exclusion Criteria:

• none

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Self-Help App; Smartphone app designed to teach cognitive defusion.	Behavioral: Self-Help App

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change from Baseline in Social Anxiety Interaction Scale at 7 days	Self-reported social anxiety scores. Each item is scored 0 (not at all ) to 4 (extremely) yielding a total between 0 and 80.	Baseline and 7 days
Change from Baseline in Social Phobia Scale at 7 days	Self-reported social anxiety scores. Each item is scored 0 (not at all ) to 4 (extremely) yielding a total between 0 and 80.	baseline and 7 days
Change from Baseline in Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire at 7 days	Self-reported cognitive fusion scores. Each item is scored 1 (never true ) to 7 (always true) yielding a total between 7 and 49.	baseline and 7 days
Change from Baseline in Believability of Anxious Feelings and Thoughts Questionnaire at 7 days	Self-reported believability of anxious feelings and thoughts scores. Each item is scored 1 (not at all believable) to 7 (completely believable) yielding a total between 16 and 112.	baseline and 7 days
Change from Baseline in Experiences Questionnaire at 7 days	Self-reported decentering scores. Each item is rated from 1 (never) to 5 (all the time) yielding a total between 20 and 100.	baseline and 7 days
Change from Baseline in Brief Social Anxiety - Acceptance and Action Questionnaire at 7 days	Self-reported acceptance of social anxiety scores. Each item is rated from 1 (never true) to 5 (always true) yielding a total between 1 and 56..	baseline and 7 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Readiness Ruler	Self-reported readiness to change ruler. Participants indicate the degree to which they are ready to change on a visual analogue scale ranging from 0 (not prepared to change) to 10 (already changing).	baseline
Credibility/Expectancy Questionnaire	Self-reported app credibility. Participants indicate how credible the treatment app seems.	baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Wilfrid Laurier University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Meagan B MacKenzie, Ph.D., Wilfrid Laurier University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: October 1, 2014
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 1, 2015
• Study Completion (Actual): June 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 6, 2014
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 9, 2014
• First Posted (Estimate): October 15, 2014

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): June 16, 2015
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 15, 2015
• Last Verified: June 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Anxiety Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: 4207