Social Support and Reduced Fear Acquisition Study

This study from UCLA is looking at whether seeing an image of someone who supports you (a "social support image") can help reduce fear, especially for people with anxiety. Researchers will show participants a social support image while they go through a procedure designed to create fear. They want to see if this helps prevent fear from developing in healthy adults and in people diagnosed with social anxiety disorder. The study will enroll 100 participants, aged 18 to 55, who are either healthy or have social anxiety. Success will be measured by how much your body shows a fear response (like changes in your skin's electrical activity, called Galvanic Skin Response or GSR) during and immediately after the fear-inducing procedure. The current status of this study is unclear.

Study design: This interventional study plans to enroll 100 participants, split between healthy adults and those with social anxiety disorder. It is not specified if it is randomized or blinded.
What's involved: You will undergo a telephone screening and an in-person screening. During the study, you will have a social support image presented while you undergo a fear acquisition procedure.
Compensation: Not stated in the trial record.
Follow-up: Your fear response will be measured during the acquisition procedure and again approximately 5 minutes directly after the procedure.

AI-generated from the public study record. Only the study team can confirm whether you're eligible — confirm details with them before making decisions.

Social Support and Reduced Fear Acquisition

Active, Not Recruiting

NAAges 18–55InterventionalBasic science

University of California, Los Angeles

~100 participants

Updated 2026-08-11 on ClinicalTrials.gov

What's tested:Social support image

At a glance

Recruiting sites

0 of 1 listed site is recruiting right now

RecruitingSuspended, closed, or not yet open

What they're measuring

Fear response during acquisition indicated by elevated Galvanic Skin Response (GSR)

Measured over during acquisition procedure

+1 more outcome measured

Conditions

Fear

Anxiety

NCT04564976

Where you'd take part

This study runs at 1 site. They're the same protocol — you choose where, and that choice sets who your contact draft is addressed to.

UCLA Department of Psychology
Los Angeles, Californiano site contact published

Sites open and close at different times, so the status above is per site — it can differ from the study's overall status.

Who to contact

This trial hasn't published a contact. View it on ClinicalTrials.gov

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Eligibility criteria

Inclusion

healthy adults 18 and 35

fluent in English

no history of mental illness (healthy participants: including anxiety, depression, phobia, or any other mental health related disorder diagnosed by a mental health professional)

diagnosis of social anxiety disorder (anxious participants: allowed co-morbid disorders include depression, other anxiety disorders, and PTSD)

Exclusion

pregnant or planning to become pregnant during the experiment period

presence of chronic mental illness (healthy participants: as determined by the report of a past diagnosis of mental illness by a physician or psychologist and/or the prescription of medication related to mental health disorder; including anxiety, depression, phobia, or any other diagnosed psychological disorder)

presence of non-allowed co-morbid disorders (anxious participants: including, bipolar disorder, psychosis, substance use disorder, neurological disorder, and/or obsessive-compulsive disorder)

current and regular use of prescription medications related to mental health disorders

What this trial measures

Fear response during acquisition indicated by elevated Galvanic Skin Response (GSR)during acquisition procedure
presence of fear response as indicated by significantly higher galvanic skin response (GSR: an index of peripheral stress responding) to a previously learned fearful image (CS+) compared to a baseline comparator (CS-: never learned to be fearful).
Fear response post-acquisition indicated by elevated GSRsame session - directly post-acquisition (approximately 5 minutes post procedure)
presence of fear response as indicated by significantly higher galvanic skin response (GSR: an index of peripheral stress responding) to a previously learned fearful image (CS+) compared to a baseline comparator (CS-: never learned to be fearful).

Trialytics