Dysfunctional Attention Processes in Fear of Blushing: Specificity and Changeability

Technische Universität Dresden

Status: Completed

Conditions: Phobia, Social

Treatments: Behavioral: Standard CBT; Behavioral: Task Concentration Training

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT00751465

EK198082007

DFG HO1900/5-1 (Other Grant/Funding Number)

Details and patient eligibility

About

Blushing is associated with a heightened self-focused attention. In our study we are interested if this self-focused attention can be shown experimentally and if it can be changed by therapy and training. For the experimental part of the study, we want to compare blushing fearful individuals to social anxious participants who are not fearful of blushing and to healthy controls who report to blush either seldom or quite often. In the therapeutical part of our study, we compare an attention training to the standard cognitive behavioral therapy for social anxiety disorder in an intensive group therapy approach.

Full description

Fear of blushing is a specific syndrome in social anxiety disorder. Although attentional biases for social anxiety disorders have often been reported, specific data for fear of blushing are still missing. In this study, dysfunctional attention processes are examined by the use of various questionnaire measures and attention tests (e.g. Stroop test, task switching paradigm) comparing fear of blushers, other social phobia patients, healthy volunteers who report to blush seldomly respectively often. The second goal of the study is to examine if these attention processes can be changed by training and therapy. Therefore, individuals who fulfill DSM-IV criteria for social anxiety disorder and report fear of blushing as main problem, are treated with attention training and with CBT for social anxiety disorder. Therapy will be held in the form of intensive weekend group therapy. Differences in outcomes for both therapy types and in changeability of attention processes on objective test data are examined. Stability of results are tested up to 6-month and 12-month after post-assessment.

Enrollment: 82 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 70 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Social anxiety disorder (DSM-IV criteria) and fear of blushing as main complaint
• age: 18-70

Exclusion criteria

• acute severe depression or bipolar disorder
• any disorder of ICD group F2
• acute and severe substance misuse
• any bodily illness which hinders from study participation

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Factorial Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

---

82 participants in 3 patient groups

Task Concentration Training

Active Comparator group

Description:

Task Concentration Training TCT following Bögels et al. (1997)

Treatment:

Behavioral: Task Concentration Training

Standard CBT

Active Comparator group

Description:

standard Cognitive Behavior Therapy, standard CBT following the model of Clark and Wells (1995).

Treatment:

Behavioral: Standard CBT

Wait list control

No Intervention group

Description:

Wait list control group