Breathing Focused Yoga in Social Anxiety Disorder

Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Social Anxiety Disorder

Treatments: Behavioral: Yoga Treatment Group

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02266680

150/2011

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this study is to determine the safety and effectiveness of Breathing Focused Yoga (BFY) in improving symptoms of social anxiety disorder (SAD). Patients with SAD will be randomized to 8 weeks of yoga or 8 weeks of wait-list. Symptom severity and quality of life will be compared between the two groups before and after the 8 weeks.

Full description

This is an exploratory 8-week study with a randomized controlled, parallel group design, and will be carried out in two phases: 1) 8-week treatment phase and 2) a 3-month follow-up phase.

60 patients meeting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV Text Revision, (DSM-IV-TR), diagnostic criteria for social anxiety disorder will be recruited. Patients who have provided written consent, have met study criteria, and are stabilized on pharmacotherapy will be enrolled into the study.

In the treatment phase, patients will be randomized, to one of two groups 1) Breathing Focused Yoga (BFY); or 2) wait-list group.

A sub-set of 15 drug- naïve patients and matched healthy controls will undergo functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans before and after yoga treatment.

A blood sample for genetic analysis will be taken from all SAD patients, to investigate to presence of genes linked to SAD and t treatment response.

The primary aim of the study is to determine the safety and effectiveness of Breathing Focused Yoga (BFY) in improving symptoms of SAD.

There are two secondary aims:

1. To enhance the limited research data on the effect of treatment on neural circuitry in SAD, the investigators will also conduct fMRI scans on SAD patients and matched healthy controls pre- and post-BFY intervention.
2. As well, to add to the literature on the genetics of SAD, the investigators will validate the links between specific gene polymorphisms and SAD that are already identified in the literature, and evaluate if they predict treatment response following BFY intervention.

Primary Hypotheses

1. Subjects with Social Anxiety Disorder will show significant improvement in symptoms after BFY, compared to the wait-list group.
2. Improvement in quality of life scores will be significantly greater in the BFY group compared to the wait-list group.

Secondary Hypotheses

1. At baseline, the fMRI indications of neural circuitry of SAD subjects will differ from that of healthy controls.
2. After yoga treatment, the fMRI indications of neural circuitry of treatment responders in the SAD group will be similar to that of healthy controls.
3. The presence of specific gene polymorphisms in SAD patients will predict treatment response.

Enrollment: 60 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. Male or female patients aged 18-65 years
2. Primary diagnosis of SAD, per the DSM-IV-TR (APA, 2000)
3. LSAS score of ≥50
4. Absence of serious medical illness
5. Not on any psychotropic medications currently, or on stable medications for at least 8 weeks prior to starting treatment
6. Short-acting benzodiazepines (e.g. lorazepam 1 mg prn) and sleep medications (e.g. zopiclone 7.5 mg prn) may be used, but not within 12 hours prior to a study visit

Exclusion criteria

1. Current primary diagnosis of major depressive episode, mania or psychosis
2. A score of ≥15 on the first 17 items of the HAM-D at Screening or Baseline
3. Diagnosis of a substance abuse disorder within the prior 6 months
4. Presence of medical or mental health conditions that would inhibit the patient's ability to participate in the study
5. Currently receiving any structured formal psychotherapy (supportive therapy is allowed)

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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60 participants in 2 patient groups

Yoga Treatment Group

Experimental group

Description:

BFY will be taught by a trained yoga instructor. Group sessions will be offered twice a week for 60 minutes each (i.e., a total of 2 hours per week), for 8 weeks.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Yoga Treatment Group

Waitlist Group

No Intervention group

Description:

Waitlisted participants will receive BFY at the next available group after their waitlist period is completed