Social phobia is characterized by severe social anxiety leading to functional impairment (Schneider et al., 1992). Despite its high prevalence (13%, Kessler et al., 1994) over 30% of individuals with social anxiety who need treatment do not receive treatment (Olfson, et al., 2000) and 40% of individuals who present for treatment do not respond (39%, Heimberg, et al., 1998; 42%, Liebowitz et al., 2005). Thus, there is a clear need to develop highly effective and efficient treatments for GSP. Reducing negative interpretation of social events is an efficacious treatment for SP because:1) benign interpretations is associated with improvement in social anxiety after treatment (e.g., Franklin, Huppert, Langner, Leiberg, & Foa, 2005), 2) negative interpretations are implicated in the pathogenesis of SP (e.g., Rapee & Heimberg, 1997), 3) SPs have more negative interpretations of social events than non-anxious controls and individuals with other anxiety disorders (e.g., Amir et al, 1998), and 4) this bias ameliorates after successful treatment (e.g., Stopa & Clark, 2000). Therefore, changing negative interpretations is an efficacious treatment for SP, and current cognitive- behavioral therapies use cognitive restructuring (CR) to target negative interpretations and replace them with more benign interpretations (Heimberg, et al., 1998). The goal of the current application is to test a new computerized treatment for SP that is designed to change negative interpretations. We chose a computerized intervention to increase efficiency and ease of delivery. We chose to test this intervention in GSP because interpretation bias is especially relevant to this clinical population. The long-term goal of this project is to improve service delivery using a widely available and economical intervention for GSP. More specifically, we will test three hypotheses in this application: 1) Individuals with GSP completing the Interpretation Modification Program (IMP) will show a reduction in their negative interpretation, 2) Participants in the IMP will show a decrease in their social anxiety symptoms, 3) Change in social anxiety symptoms will be mediated by the change in interpretation scores, suggesting that interpretation change reduced social anxiety symptoms. Pilot data (n=34) suggest that this intervention is efficacious. Thus, we aim to develop further and validate this highly efficient treatment for changing interpretations as a cost-effective treatment for patients with social phobia. Social phobia has high prevalence (13%, Kessler et al., 1994) and leads to functional impairment (Schneider et al., 1992). However, over 30% of individuals with social phobia do not receive treatment (Olfson, et al., 2000) and 40% of individuals who present for treatment do not respond (39%, Heimberg, et al., 1998; 42%, Liebowitz et al., 2005). The goal of this project is develop and test a new computerized treatment for social phobia. ? ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Planning Grant (R34)
Project #
5R34MH077129-02
Application #
7494136
Study Section
Interventions Committee for Adult Mood and Anxiety Disorders (ITMA)
Program Officer
Kozak, Michael J
Project Start
2007-09-07
Project End
2010-05-31
Budget Start
2008-06-01
Budget End
2009-05-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2008
Total Cost
$201,825
Indirect Cost
Name
San Diego State University
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
073371346
City
San Diego
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
92182
Kuckertz, Jennie M; Strege, Marlene V; Amir, Nader (2017) Intolerance for approach of ambiguity in social anxiety disorder. Cogn Emot 31:747-754
Amir, Nader; Kuckertz, Jennie M; Najmi, Sadia et al. (2015) Preliminary Evidence for the Enhancement of Self-Conducted Exposures for OCD using Cognitive Bias Modification. Cognit Ther Res 39:424-440
Kuckertz, Jennie M; Amir, Nader; Tobin, Anastacia C et al. (2013) Interpretation of Ambiguity in Individuals with Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms. Cognit Ther Res 37:
Amir, Nader; Kuckertz, Jennie M; Najmi, Sadia (2013) The effect of modifying automatic action tendencies on overt avoidance behaviors. Emotion 13:478-84
Najmi, Sadia; Kuckertz, Jennie M; Amir, Nader (2012) Attentional impairment in anxiety: inefficiency in expanding the scope of attention. Depress Anxiety 29:243-9
Amir, Nader; Prouvost, Caroline; Kuckertz, Jennie M (2012) Lack of a benign interpretation bias in social anxiety disorder. Cogn Behav Ther 41:119-29
Amir, Nader; Taylor, Charles T (2012) Combining computerized home-based treatments for generalized anxiety disorder: an attention modification program and cognitive behavioral therapy. Behav Ther 43:546-59
Amir, Nader; Taylor, Charles T (2012) Interpretation training in individuals with generalized social anxiety disorder: a randomized controlled trial. J Consult Clin Psychol 80:497-511
Bomyea, Jessica; Amir, Nader (2012) Disgust Propensity as a Predictor of Intrusive Cognitions Following a Distressing Film. Cognit Ther Res 36:190-198
Carlbring, Per; Apelstrand, Maria; Sehlin, Helena et al. (2012) Internet-delivered attention bias modification training in individuals with social anxiety disorder--a double blind randomized controlled trial. BMC Psychiatry 12:66

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