Scientific Information and Beliefs About Psychological Therapy

The Effects of Science Education on Beliefs and Wellness

The success of psychological therapy can be impacted by patients' beliefs, such as their belief in their own ability to complete therapy and their belief that therapy will work. The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether and when scientific information about distress and coping can affect beliefs about psychological therapy in adults who experience anxiety. This study will compare two different types of scientific information in a one-hour study. Participants will view educational videos for 30 minutes and complete surveys, including quiz questions about the videos and surveys about their beliefs about psychological therapy.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Anxiety
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: neuro-education; Behavioral: psycho-education

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 262
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Irvine, California, United States, 92697
      • University of California

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Probable anxiety disorder based on the Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale (OASIS) score
• Fluent in English
• Willingness and ability to comply with the protocol
• Age 18-80
• The ability to enroll in the study through Prolific.com

Exclusion Criteria:

• Having previously seen the study's videos

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Neuro-Ed Group; neuroscience education	Behavioral: neuro-education; 30 minutes of videos about the neuroscience of stress, fear, emotion-regulation, and therapy.; Other Names: neuroscience education; Neuro-Ed; NeuroEd
Active Comparator: Psycho-Ed Group; psychological science education	Behavioral: psycho-education; 30 minutes of videos about the psychological science of stress, fear, emotion-regulation, and therapy.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Treatment Self-Efficacy	Measured through self-report on selected items from a version of the validated Bergen Genetic Counseling Self-Efficacy Scale that was previously adapted for treatment self-efficacy in anxiety disorders. The items are rated on a scale of 1-10, with higher numbers indicating greater self-efficacy.	Immediately before and immediately after watching the videos
Treatment Expectancy	Measured through self-report on a subscale of the validated Credibility/Expectancy Questionnaire, assessing participants' expectation of treatment efficacy. Each item is rated on a scale of 1-9 or 0%-100%, with higher numbers indicating more optimistic expectancy.	Immediately before and immediately after watching the videos

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Treatment Acceptability	Participants will rate on a scale of 1-7 how useful, interesting, credible, and easy-to-understand they found the information in the videos. Greater numbers indicate greater acceptability.	Immediately after watching the videos

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of California, Irvine
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Golnaz Tabibnia, PhD, University of California, Irvine

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 21, 2025
• Primary Completion (Actual): October 9, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): October 17, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 23, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 8, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): February 13, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 14, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 12, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: exposure therapy; psycho-education; neuroscience education; mindsets; beliefs; neuro-education
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Anxiety Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: 3274

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: De-identified IPD that underlie results in a publication may be provided to qualified researchers with academic interest in science education and mental health. Approval of the request and execution of all applicable agreements may be prerequisites to the sharing of data with the requesting party.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Data requests can be submitted starting 9 months after article publication, and the data will be made accessible for up to 5 years after study completion.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Researchers requesting data will first be asked to provide a research proposal. Pending approval of the proposal, they will then be asked to sign a data sharing agreement, which will include restrictions against attempting to identify study participants, on redistribution of the data to third parties, on use of the data for commercial purposes, as well as requirements to electronically secure the data while in use, to destroy the data after analyses are completed, for reporting responsibilities, and for proper acknowledgement of the data resource.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; SAP; ICF; ANALYTIC_CODE

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No