Evaluation of a Smartphone Application for Self-help for Social Anxiety (SMASH)

Goethe University

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Social Anxiety

Treatments: Behavioral: Self-help Smartphone App; Behavioral: Therapist-guided App Use

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05554718

SoPho-App-Evaluation

Details and patient eligibility

About

The present study examines whether a self-help app can reduce symptoms of social anxiety disorder.

Full description

The study will test the effectiveness of a newly developed mobile app in treating patients with social anxiety. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of the following groups: app use only, therapist-guided app use, and a wait-list control group. Over a 12-week period, the study will examine whether mobile app use leads to significant reductions in symptoms associated with social anxiety, as well as improvements in secondary outcomes such as quality of life, depression, or psychological impairment.

Enrollment: 165 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Current diagnosis of Social Anxiety Disorder
• Written informed consent before the start of the study
• Age: 18 to 65 years
• Possession of smartphone
• Familiarity with using smartphone apps

Exclusion criteria

• Acute suicidality
• Active substance abuse or dependence
• Severe medical conditions (e.g., chronic cardiovascular disease)
• Severe depression
• Psychotic disorder
• Bipolar disorder
• Borderline personality disorder
• Current psychotherapeutic treatment
• Current psychopharmacological treatment
• No proficient skills in the German language

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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165 participants in 3 patient groups

App condition

Experimental group

Description:

All participants will receive access to the developed social anxiety disorder (SAD) treatment app for 12 weeks.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Self-help Smartphone App

App with accompanying therapy sessions

Experimental group

Description:

In addition to being able to use the app to treat social anxiety over a 12-week period, participants will receive a total of 8 video therapy sessions based on cognitive behavioral therapy to accompany their use of the app.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Therapist-guided App Use

Behavioral: Self-help Smartphone App

Waitlist control condition

No Intervention group

Description:

Delayed use of the mobile application after 12 weeks.