4 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
The proposed study will design and evaluate a computerized-delivered single-session anxiety sensitivity reduction program (i.e., Anxiety Sensitivity Training; AST). The AST will be designed to achieve three primary aims: (1) provide psycho-educational information on AS and its consequences, (2) present psycho-educational information on the relationship between AS and obesity-related health behavior correlates, and (3) offer concrete, evidence-based strategies to facilitate motivation to change their obesity-related lifestyle behaviors.
Hazardous alcohol consumption is one of the leading causes of preventable deaths in the United States. Further, it is highly comorbid with anxiety and depressive symptoms and disorders; hazardous alcohol use is associated with increased anxiety/depression. Indeed, 'affectively-vulnerable hazardous drinkers' (i.e., drinkers with elevated negative mood states or psychopathology) are 'at risk' for higher drinking rates, more problematic drinking, worsened mental health, and greater disability. Specialty care options are needed to address the unique 'affective needs' of hazardous drinkers. One promising intervention approach is to employ personalized feedback interventions (PFI). These interventions are brief, efficient, and have been shown to be effective in a number of settings and across an array of populations. However, PFIs have not been evaluated among affectively vulnerable hazardous drinkers. In order to address the heterogeneity of negative mood states and disorders among hazardous drinkers, there is a need to theoretically orient the intervention approach on underlying transdiagnostic processes that underpin affective psychopathology. Anxiety sensitivity (AS), the tendency to fear anxiety-related sensations, is a core transdiagnostic vulnerability factor underlying the etiology and maintenance of anxiety disorders, other emotional disorders, and hazardous drinking. AS is malleable in response to psychosocial interventions, making it a prime risk factor to target in prevention/intervention programs, including PFI approaches. Integrated treatments that address hazardous drinking via AS are nonexistant. As most hazardous drinkers typically do not access treatment because of such barriers as cost, time commitments, stigma, and logistics (e.g., travel, scheduling appointments), there is a need to develop an accessible, brief, integrated tool to explicitly address the drinking-affective vulnerability comorbidity via AS. To address this public health gap, the current proposal seeks to employ a computer-delivered integrated PFI that directly addresses hazardous drinking-AS in a personalized manner. Hazardous drinkers with elevated AS will be randomly assigned to receive one session of PFI or attention information control with follow-up assessments at one week and one month post-intervention. The PFI will focus on targeted feedback about drinking behaviors, AS, and adaptive coping strategies.
This project will develop and refine a computer-delivered integrated Personalized Feedback Intervention (PFI) that directly addresses smoking and anxiety sensitivity (AS). The PFI will focus on feedback about smoking behavior, AS, and adaptive coping strategies.
The current study seeks to test differences between a single-session large-group format of standard exposure, enhanced exposure, and a control condition in treating anxiety sensitivity. It is hypothesized that 1) participants assigned to either exposure condition will evidence greater reductions in anxiety sensitivity from pre-treatment to posttreatment relative to those in the control condition; 2) participants assigned to the enhanced exposure condition will evidence greater reductions in anxiety sensitivity from pre-treatment to posttreatment relative to those in the standard exposure condition. The investigators will test putative moderators and mechanisms of action. Prior to initiating the study for purposes of data analyses, the investigators will pilot study procedures during Spring 2020.