Online Study on the Impact of a Self-Help Tool for Social Anxiety

September 14, 2026 updated by: Trustees of Princeton University
The goal of this clinical trial is to understand which individuals benefit most from an internet-based cognitive behavioral intervention for social anxiety. Adults aged 18-65 will complete a self-guided online program designed to reduce anxiety symptoms. The investigators will use a combination of self-reported clinical information and data from computerized decision-making and cognitive tasks to predict behavioral change due to the intervention.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

200

Phase

  • 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 Contact

Study Locations

  • United States
    • New Jersey
      • Princeton, New Jersey, United States, 08540
        • Princeton University, but recruitment and study are conducted completely online and can occur anywhere in the US.
        • Contact:
          • Jamie C Chiu, PsyD

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age 18 to 65 years
  • Live in the United States
  • Comfortable reading and writing in English
  • Have regular access to the internet and a desktop/laptop computer
  • Report wanting to feel more comfortable in social situations, to improve social confidence, and/or to reduce symptoms of social anxiety as primary reason for joining the study
  • Have a valid photo ID and be willing to complete a video-based identity verification call if requested

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Lack of attention when completing parts of the study, and/or not completing the study tasks as instructed

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

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention Group
All participants are assigned to the e-couch social anxiety program. Over a 5-week study period, participants are instructed to complete specific modules on a weekly schedule. They are asked to engage with the program at least once per week for approximately 30 minutes. Participants receive weekly reminders and guidance indicating which modules to complete each week.
Behavioral: Internet-delivered self-help for social anxiety based on principles of cognitive behavioral therapy
Participants will be offered the use of a self-help tool, e-couch (https://ecouch.com.au), for 5 weeks. e-couch is an online, self-directed tool that provides interactive self-help and evidence-based information to help users understand and manage common mental health challenges including symptoms of depression and anxiety. The e-couch social anxiety program will be used in this study. It is structured like an interactive self-help book and participants can log back into at any time to learn and review skills. The e-couch social anxiety program includes a comprehensive information module, as well as self-help modules with interactive exercises and workbooks that teach evidence-based strategies. The content will cover topics such as cognitive restructuring and exposure, with an emphasis on learning strategies to reduce social anxiety.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Cumulative Score for Self-Selected Goals Over a 5-Week Intervention
Time Frame: From baseline (goal selection) to the end of Week 5 of the intervention, assessed weekly at the end of each intervention week.
At baseline, participants select three personal goals. At the end of each intervention week, participants rate their progress toward each goal. The primary outcome is cumulative per-goal scores across the 5 intervention weeks.
From baseline (goal selection) to the end of Week 5 of the intervention, assessed weekly at the end of each intervention week.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change from Baseline in Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) Avoidance Subscale Score at End of Week 5
Time Frame: From baseline to the end of Week 5 of the intervention.
The LSAS Avoidance subscale is a self-report measure assessing avoidance of social interaction and performance situations, rated across 24 items on a 0-3 scale (0 = never, 3 = usually), yielding a total avoidance subscale score ranging from 0-72. Higher scores indicate greater avoidance. This outcome is the change in total subscale score from baseline to end of Week 5.
From baseline to the end of Week 5 of the intervention.

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Trustees of Princeton University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Yael Niv, PhD, Princeton University
  • Principal Investigator: Jamie C Chiu, PsyD, Princeton University

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 (Estimated)

October 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

February 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

April 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 12, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 5, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

February 12, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

September 17, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 14, 2026

Last Verified

February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 18016

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Researchers will share de-identified individual participant data used in the results publication, including questionnaire data and data from computerized cognitive and decision-making tasks, with other researchers upon reasonable request and after publication.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

Within one year after study completion

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Upon reasonable request and providing that the requesters will treat the data in line with the researchers' ethical principles. Researchers may also make de-identified data publicly available.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • 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

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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