Neural Markers of Treatment Mechanisms and Prediction of Treatment Outcomes in Social Anxiety
Trial Parameters
Brief Summary
The purpose of this clinical trial is to answer the question: can the investigators predict which adults with social anxiety disorder (SAD) will successfully respond to treatment? To answer this question, the investigators plan to recruit 190 adult participants who experience extreme forms of social anxiety to undergo brain imaging before and after 12 weeks of group cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Adults in the SAD group who do not respond enough to group CBT may be offered the opportunity to complete an additional 12 weeks of individual CBT while receiving SSRI medication (sertraline, see below) for SAD. Data collected from participants who experience anxiety will be compared to a group of 50 participants with little or no social anxiety, who will serve as a comparison group.
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion criteria for all participants: (1) Any gender or race between 18-50 years old. Additional inclusion criteria for healthy controls: (1) Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS; Mennin et al., 2002) score \<= 30, does not currently meet criteria for an Axis I psychiatric condition, as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Additional inclusion criteria for the social anxiety disorder (SAD) group: 1. Outpatients with a primary psychiatric complaint (designated by the patient as the most important source of current distress) of social anxiety with social interaction fear as defined by an Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) score \>= 60. 2. Overall clinical severity of at least mild as defined by Clinical Global Impressions Scale (CGI-S; Zaider et al., 2003) of at least 3. 3. Medical history interview and laboratory findings without clinically significant abnormalities. 4. Willingness and