An interventional study of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Bibliotherapy in Hoarding Disorder, sponsored by Utah State University. Not yet recruiting at 2 sites in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-10-19.
Sponsored by Utah State University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
The investigators are proposing to test an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) based bibliotherapy intervention as a self-help approach to hoarding disorder. Participants will be 60 adults meeting the clinical cutoff score for the Saving Inventory-Revised, a hoarding severity measure and will be randomly assigned to receive the intervention or to a waitlist control condition.
Hoarding disorder affects approximately 2.5% of the population and is associated with significant impairment across multiple domains. Many barriers to accessing hoarding treatment exist, including lack of treatment availability and stigma. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) has shown promising results in addressing hoarding disorder via psychotherapy and a guided self-help website. This study aims to build on this research by testing a novel implementation of a bibliotherapy using a recent ACT self-help book, combined with weekly reflections designed to enhance experiential learning. We will compare the intervention to a waitlist control group in a sample of 60 individuals meeting the clinical cutoff score for the Saving Inventory-Revised, a hoarding severity measure. Outcomes will include hoarding symptoms, impairment, distress, stigma, life satisfaction, willingness to try therapy for hoarding in the future, psychological inflexibility, psychological flexibility, and acceptability of ACT bibliotherapy for hoarding. Measures will be taken at baseline, post-treatment (11 weeks after baseline), and follow up (4 weeks post treatment). If ACT bibliotherapy for hoarding is efficacious, this study will contribute to support for the usefulness of ACT in this area and provide an additional pathway for accessible self-help for hoarding.
32 studies on the registry are indexed under Hoarding Disorder; 5 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 60 is above the median of 27 across 28 interventional studies indexed under Hoarding Disorder.
Browse Hoarding Disorder studies →Utah State University is the lead sponsor of 39 studies on the registry; 5 are open to participants now.
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Exclusion Criteria:
Participants will complete the 10 chapter self-help bibliotherapy intervention based in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT).
Behavioral: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Bibliotherapy
Waitlist condition; assessment only.
Participants will complete the 10 chapter self-help bibliotherapy intervention based in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). The ACT self-help book includes content on: psychoeducation, values clarification, building patterns of committed action, mindfulness, developing a flexible sense of self, emotional acceptance and exposure to discarding/nonacquiring, organizing and decluttering effectively, distancing from thoughts, improving relationships, and maintaining consistency over time.
Saving Inventory-Revised (Frost et al., 2004)
A self-report measure of hoarding symptom severity
Time frame: Baseline, Post-treatment (11 weeks after baseline), 1-month Follow-up (15 weeks after baseline)
Acceptance and Action Questionnaire for Hoarding (Krafft et al., 2019)
A self-report measure of hoarding-related psychological inflexibility
Time frame: Baseline, Post-treatment (11 weeks after baseline), 1-month Follow-up (15 weeks after baseline)
Clutter Image Rating (Frost et al., 2008)
A self-report measure of hoarding symptom severity
Time frame: Baseline, Post-treatment (11 weeks after baseline), 1-month Follow-up (15 weeks after baseline)
Sheehan Disability Scale (Sheehan et al., 1996) adapted for hoarding
A self-report measure of functional impairment due to symptoms. Higher scores indicate greater impairment. Scores range from 0 to 30.
Time frame: Baseline, Post-treatment (11 weeks after baseline), 1-month Follow-up (15 weeks after baseline)
Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales, 21-item version (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995)
A 21 item self-report measure of distress comprised of three 7-item subscales: (1) depression, (2) anxiety, and (3) stress.
Time frame: Baseline, Post-treatment (11 weeks after baseline), 1-month Follow-up (15 weeks after baseline)
Satisfaction With Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985)
A self-report measure of global life satisfaction
Time frame: Baseline, Post-treatment (11 weeks after baseline), 1-month Follow-up (15 weeks after baseline)
Hoarding stigma items (Chasson et al., 2018)
Seven self-report items assessing stigma towards individuals with hoarding disorder
Time frame: Baseline, Post-treatment (11 weeks after baseline), 1-month Follow-up (15 weeks after baseline)
Multidimensional Psychological Flexibility Inventory, 24-item short form (Gregoire et al., 2020)
A measure of psychological flexibility and inflexibility comprised of items measuring 6 factors of psychological flexibility: acceptance, present moment awareness, self as context, defusion, values, and committed action; and the 6 factors factors of psychological inflexibility: experiential avoidance, lack of contact with present moment, self as content, fusion, lack of contact with values, and inaction.
Time frame: Baseline, Post-treatment (11 weeks after baseline), 1-month Follow-up (15 weeks after baseline)
General Help Seeking Questionnaire (Wilson et al., 2005) adapted for hoarding
A self-report measure of help-seeking intentions adapted to measure help-seeking behaviors for difficulties with clutter, hoarding, or saving belongings.
Time frame: Baseline, Post-treatment (11 weeks after baseline), 1-month Follow-up (15 weeks after baseline)
Treatment Evaluation Inventory-Short Form (TEI-SF; Kelley, Heffer, Gresham, & Elliott, 1989)
A self-report measure of treatment acceptability. Only administered to treatment condition
Time frame: Post-treatment (11 weeks after baseline)
6-item version of Multidimensional Psychological Flexibility Inventory (Gregoire et al., 2020)
A measure of psychological inflexibility comprised of items measuring the 6 factors factors of psychological inflexibility: experiential avoidance, lack of contact with present moment, self as content, fusion, lack of contact with values, and inaction.
Time frame: Weekly from week 1 of the intervention to week 10 (2 weeks after baseline to 11 weeks after baseline)
Novel Hoarding Items
Estimated number of items discarded, number of items acquired, time making decisions about whether to keep/discard items, time organizing, time discarding
Time frame: Weekly from week 1 of the intervention to week 10 (2 weeks after baseline to 11 weeks after baseline)
Novel Hoarding Improvement Items
Novel question asking about improvement or deterioration in hoarding symptoms over the past week
Time frame: Weekly from week 1 of the intervention to week 10 (2 weeks after baseline to 11 weeks after baseline)
Plan to share: No
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Start is estimated for Oct 2026; primary completion for Sep 2028, 23 months later.
Of 20 interventional studies with no phase under Hoarding Disorder, half reached primary completion within 33 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 17 and three quarters within 48. This study's planned 23 months is below that.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Oct 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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