Recruiting

Observational Study

Sponsor:

University of Colorado, Boulder

Code:

NCT06673407

Conditions

Social Anxiety Disorder

Public Speaking Fear

Public Speaking Anxiety

Social Fear

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 30

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Group Exposure for Social Anxiety

Self-Compassion Enhanced Group Exposure Therapy for Social Anxiety

Peer-Enhanced Group Exposure Therapy for Social Anxiety

Peer and Self-Compassion Enhanced Group Exposure Therapy for Social Anxiety

Study Details

Brief summary:

The purpose of the study is to investigate the effects of four versions of a workshop for social anxiety and public speaking stress. All participants are current University of Colorado Boulder undergraduate students. Participation in this research study lasts for approximately 8 weeks, and includes a pre-workshop questionnaire, 3 weekly workshop sessions (ranging from 2 to 3 hours each, including a 5-minute post-session questionnaire), a post-workshop questionnaire, and a 1-month follow-up questionnaire.

Conditions

Social Anxiety Disorder

Public Speaking Fear

Public Speaking Anxiety

Social Fear

Study ID

NCT06673407

Start date

Jun 12, 2024

Status verified date

May, 2025

Completion date

Oct 1, 2025

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Oct 1, 2025

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 30

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age = 18-30
  • Able to read and write fluently in English
  • Current undergraduate students at CU
  • Experiencing elevated social anxiety symptoms indicated by a SPIN score ≥ 19
  • Experiencing moderate to high communication anxiety indicated by a PRCA- 24 score ≥ 59
  • Open to receiving help for social anxiety or public speaking fears indicated by a help seeking score of ≥ 3 out of 5 (at both screening timepoints as explained below)
  • Able to voluntarily consent to participation
  • Able to participate fully in the study (including in the in-person group workshops and in survey completion) as assessed by screening questions and the study P

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Are currently experiencing moderately severe or severe depression represented by the validated cutoff score for major depression on the PHQ-8 of greater than 14 (Kroenke et al., 2001)
  • Score in the moderate-high range for suicide risk as indicated by the CSSRS (Salvi, 2019), report a suicide attempt in the past 12 months, or report current, ongoing suicidal ideation along with a past (lifetime) suicide attempt
  • Are current students of the PI or clients or current students of the doctoral student co-facilitators

Study Design

Enrollment

200 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Factorial

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

active comparator: Exposure Only

Group exposure therapy for social anxiety and public speaking fears.

experimental: Compassion Enhanced

Group exposure therapy for social anxiety and public speaking fears plus self-compassion exercises aimed at inducing a sense of common humanity.

experimental: Peer enhanced

Group exposure therapy for social anxiety and public speaking fears facilitated by a pair of doctoral student and undergraduate student co-facilitators who will explicitly use appropriate self-disclosure to establish the co-facilitators as individuals with lived experiences of social anxiety and public speaking fears.

experimental: Fully enhanced

Group exposure therapy for social anxiety and public speaking fears plus self-compassion exercises aimed at inducing a sense of common humanity, facilitated by a pair of doctoral student and undergraduate student co-facilitators who will explicitly use appropriate self-disclosure to establish the co-facilitators as individuals with lived experiences of social anxiety and public speaking fears.

Interventions

Group Exposure for Social Anxiety

Group exposure therapy for social anxiety and public speaking fears.

Self-Compassion Enhanced Group Exposure Therapy for Social Anxiety

Group exposure therapy for social anxiety and public speaking fears plus piloted exercises from the investigators' previous studies among socially anxious undergraduates (Slivjak et al., 2022; Slivjak \& Arch, in preparation), refined during the investigators' quality improvement project, that are designed to enhance compassion.

Peer-Enhanced Group Exposure Therapy for Social Anxiety

Group exposure therapy for social anxiety and public speaking fears facilitated by a pair of doctoral student and undergraduate student co-facilitators who explicitly use appropriate self-disclosure to establish the co-facilitators as individuals with lived experiences of social anxiety and public speaking fears.

Peer and Self-Compassion Enhanced Group Exposure Therapy for Social Anxiety

Group exposure therapy for social anxiety and public speaking fears plus piloted exercises from the investigators' previous studies among socially anxious undergraduates (Slivjak et al., 2022; Slivjak \& Arch, in preparation), refined during the investigators' quality improvement project, that are designed to enhance compassion. These groups are facilitated by a pair of doctoral student and undergraduate student co-facilitators who explicitly use appropriate self-disclosure to establish the co-facilitators as individuals with lived experiences of social anxiety and public speaking fears.

Primary outcome measure

  • Attendance rate [ Time Frame: 3 weeks during the intervention (workshops 1, 2, and 3, 1 week apart) ]
  • Enrollment rate [ Time Frame: Pre-intervention (from screening to enrollment) ]
  • Acceptability of Intervention Measure (AIM) [ Time Frame: 48 hours after the final intervention session and 1-month follow-up ]
  • Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8 (CSQ-8) [ Time Frame: 48 hours after the final intervention session and 1-month follow-up ]
  • Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) [ Time Frame: 48 hours after the final intervention session and 1-month follow-up ]
  • Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) [ Time Frame: 48 hours after the final intervention session and 1-month follow-up ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Joanna Arch, PhD

303.492.4634joanna.arch@colorado.edu

Locations

Renee Crown Wellness Institute and Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder

Recruiting

Boulder, Colorado, United States, 80302

Contacts

Joanna Arch, PhD

303.492.4634joanna.arch@colorado.edu

Principal Investigator:

Joanna Arch, PhD

More Information

Sponsor

University of Colorado, Boulder

Last update posted

May 20, 2025

Last verified

May, 2025

Keywords

  • Social Anxiety
  • Public Speaking Anxiety
  • Exposure Therapy
  • Peer-led
  • Self-compassion
  • Common Humanity

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of Colorado, Boulder on 2025-05-20.