An interventional study of Experimental Scent and Control Scent in Claustrophobia, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Arachnophobia, sponsored by University of Texas at Austin. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 65 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2020-12-11.
Sponsored by University of Texas at Austin · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
This study evaluates whether a scent applied during exposure therapy and during subsequent sleep will increase the durability of treatment effects for individuals with fear of spiders, contamination, and enclosed spaces.
Newly acquired memories encoded during wakefulness are spontaneously re-activated during sleep, resulting in synaptic potentiation and strengthening of the re-activated traces. Targeted memory reactivation (TMR) typically involves a period of initial learning in the presence of an olfactory or auditory contextual cue, coupled with later presentation of the cue during sleep to ostensibly facilitate memory reactivation and consolidation. Numerous studies have found evidence of improved task performance subsequent to cue-induced neuronal replay, however application of TMR to treatment of naturally acquired, clinically significant fear has been limited.
The present study will will provide a rigorous test of TMR's efficacy as an augmentative strategy for exposure therapy. It is hypothesized that participants who sleep in the presence of the same odor that they are exposed to during exposure therapy will exhibit reduced fear at follow up, relative to participants who sleep in the presence of a different odor, or a non-odorous control.
606 studies on the registry are indexed under Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder; 160 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 158 is above the median of 45 across 492 interventional studies indexed under Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
Browse Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder studies →University of Texas at Austin is the lead sponsor of 319 studies on the registry; 78 are open to participants now.
Of its 10 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 5 (50%) have results posted.
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Marked anxiety in at least one fear domain (spiders, contamination, or enclosed spaces), as determined by the presence of both:
Exclusion Criteria:
Participants will undergo exposure treatment for their target fear while in the presence of a distinctive odor. Exposure will occur in repeated 4-minute trials. Exposure will continue for 40 minutes or until peak fear decreases by at least 35 points on a 100 point scale, compared to peak fear during the initial trial. Participants will subsequently sleep in the presence of the exposure scent.
Other: Experimental Scent · Behavioral: In-Vivo Exposure
Participants will undergo exposure treatment for their target fear while in the presence of a distinctive odor. Exposure will occur in repeated 4-minute trials. Exposure will continue for 40 minutes or until peak fear decreases by at least 35 points on a 100 point scale, compared to peak fear during the initial trial. Participants will subsequently sleep in the presence of a novel scent.
Other: Control Scent · Behavioral: In-Vivo Exposure
Participants will undergo exposure treatment for their target fear while in the presence of a distinctive odor. Exposure will occur in repeated 4-minute trials. Exposure will continue for 40 minutes or until peak fear decreases by at least 35 points on a 100 point scale, compared to peak fear during the initial trial. Participants will subsequently sleep in the presence of an odorless control vehicle.
Other: No-Scent Control · Behavioral: In-Vivo Exposure
Participants will sleep in the presence of the exposure scent, delivered by an Airwick Essential Oils diffuser
Participants will sleep in the presence of a novel scent, delivered by an Airwick Essential Oils diffuser
Participants will sleep in the presence of an odorless control vehicle, delivered by an Airwick Essential Oils diffuser
Participants will receive 40 minutes of in-vivo exposure therapy to feared targets in the presence of a distinctive exposure scent.
Change in fear response during two behavioral approach tasks across time points
Change in subjective units of distress (0 = no fear, to 100 = extreme fear) and skin conductance in response to approaching a feared stimulus, from baseline to one month follow-up
Time frame: Baseline (Day 1); Post-treatment (Day 1; immediately after treatment); One Week Follow-Up (Day 8; one week after treatment); One Month Follow-Up (Day 31; one month after treatment)
Change in arachnophobia symptom severity across time-points
Change in total score on the Fear of Spiders Questionnaire from baseline to one month follow-up
Time frame: Baseline (Day 1); One Week Follow-Up (Day 8; one week after treatment); One Month Follow-Up (Day 31; one month after treatment)
Change in claustrophobia symptom severity across time points
Change in total score on the Claustrophobia Questionnaire from baseline to one month follow-up
Time frame: Baseline (Day 1); One Week Follow-Up (Day 8; one week after treatment); One Month Follow-Up (Day 31; one month after treatment)
Change in contamination fear symptom severity across time points
Change in total score on the contamination subscale of the Padua Inventory- Washington State University Revision from baseline to one month follow-up
Time frame: Baseline (Day 1); One Week Follow-Up (Day 8; one week after treatment); One Month Follow-Up (Day 31; one month after treatment)
This study is completed, as verified in Dec 2020. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder→
University of Texas at Austin