Childhood Social Phobia Treatment Trial
UNSW Psychology Research and Treatment Clinic
Click to find out more information:
What is the trial? What is the medication? Who can participate?
Where is it? How much will it cost? How can my child participate?
When a child is treated for social phobia at our Psychology Clinic they receive Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT). We administer CBT because research has shown it to be effective in reducing social anxiety, and because it is based on well-grounded, established psychological principles. The aim of this trial is to develop new methods to make our CBT treatment even more effective in reducing social anxiety in children. Specifically, this study is examining the role of medication when used in combination with CBT to help children overcome social fears. Recent evidence suggests that certain medications can interact with CBT to enhance therapeutic benefits. That is, the medication on its own has no effect on fear, but when used in combination with therapy, it could make the impact of CBT greater, leading to larger reductions in social anxiety than when CBT is used alone. Previous research conducted at the UNSW Psychology Clinic has found that medication does facilitate CBT and leads to greater reductions in social anxiety in adults. Therefore, we hope to see similar results in children who have social fears.
There are several medications
that we have selected for use in this trial, all of which are thought to operate
in a similar way. The medications that we have chosen are used frequently
in humans, have few side effects, and are considered safe. In most cases,
we use only a fraction of the dose that is normally used in children. Also,
before we allow your child to participate we will ask you further information
about your child’s health to make sure that your child is suitable.
In the trial we are looking to identify the medication that provides the best
results in reducing childhood social anxiety. In order to ensure that our
research is of the highest quality, we will need to compare the effects of
CBT and medication to the effects of CBT alone. Therefore, each child in the
study will be randomly assigned to a group receiving either a medication or
a placebo pill (sugar tablet). All children will then receive high quality
evidence-based CBT treatment for social phobia provided by Clinical Psychologists.
Children will need to take the medication only on the day they attend treatment
sessions at the Psychology Clinic, under the supervision of researchers. Specifically,
they will be given one dose of a single medication on four days throughout
the entire trial. There have been a number of media reports about this research
in adults, and if you would like to read some more information about one aspect
of our research you can do so by accessing an ABC Catalyst report here.
1) Your child must have a primary diagnosis of Social Phobia. We will conduct an interview at the first appointment to assess your child’s fears. Social Phobia, in brief, can be generally thought to include severe shyness, fear and worry about being negatively evaluated by others, fear of public speaking, and avoidance of social situations.
2) Your child should be between 8 and 16 years of age
3) Your child will not be eligible to participate if s/he experiences epilepsy,
severe kidney disease, schizophrenia and other psychotic illnesses, or is
alcohol/ drug dependent. All female participants must not be pregnant and
must be able to guarantee that they will not fall pregnant over the duration
of the trial.
Top.
There are two separate locations you and your
child may contact/attend if you are interested in participating in the study:
UNSW Psychology Research and Treatment Clinic
Level 8 Matthews Building
School of Psychology
UNSW, Randwick, 2052,
Phone: (02) 9385 1697
University of Sydney Psychology Clinic
Transient Building, F12
Clinical Psychology Unit
The University of Sydney
Camperdown, NSW, 2006
