Brief observable anxiety sensitivity treatment: intervention development and a pilot randomized-controlled acceptability and feasibility trial to evaluate a brief intervention for anxiety sensitivity social concerns

ABSTRACT

Social anxiety disorder is one of the most prevalent anxiety disorders. There is a need to develop brief, virtual, single-session interventions targeting constructs associated with social anxiety, such as anxiety sensitivity social concerns (ASSC). ASSC is the maladaptive belief about consequences arising from observable symptoms of anxious arousal. This study was designed to evaluate the initial acceptability and feasibility of a brief ASSC reduction program (Brief Observable Anxiety Sensitivity Treatment [BOAST]) which included a single clinician-led intervention session followed by a two-week ecological momentary intervention (EMI), delivered via mobile app. Participants (N = 36) were adults with elevated ASSC who were randomly assigned to receive BOAST (n = 19) or a waitlist control (n = 17). The trial was prospectively registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04859790). Results supported the acceptability of BOAST with mixed findings for feasibility. Feasibility metrics for the EMI component were below pre-defined thresholds; however, there was evidence that homework completion was associated with symptom reduction. Preliminary efficacy metrics indicated that participants in the BOAST condition had large reductions in ASSC and one measure of social anxiety at 1-month follow-up. This study provides preliminary support for the acceptability of BOAST and elucidates avenues for future clinical and research efforts.

KEYWORDS:

• Social anxiety
• anxiety sensitivity
• social concerns
• clinical trial
• acceptability/feasibility
• intervention development

Acknowledgments

This research is supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Academic Affiliations Advanced Fellowship Program in Mental Illness Research and Treatment, the Ann Arbor VA Healthcare System, and the Serious Mental Illness Treatment Resource and Evaluation Center (SMITREC).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Ohio University via the Original Work Grant mechanism (PI: Saulnier).