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Very Brief Exposure for Social Anxiety in Youth

This study is looking into a new way to help young people (ages 16-22) with social anxiety disorder (SAD). It's testing something called Very Brief Exposure (VBE), which involves showing rapid, quick images of things that might cause fear, like judgmental faces. The main goal is to understand how VBE affects brain activity in specific areas related to emotion and attention. Researchers also want to see if VBE can reduce feelings of fear and how aware participants are of the images. This study aims to use this information to develop a new treatment for SAD. The study plans to enroll 80 participants.

Study design
This interventional study plans to enroll 80 participants aged 16-22. The specific design (e.g., randomized) is not detailed.
What's involved
Participants will undergo brain imaging (MRI) on Day 2 to measure brain activity. The record does not specify other visits, procedures, or the overall duration of participation.
Compensation
Not stated in the trial record.
Follow-up
Brain activity and fear ratings will be measured on Day 2. The record does not specify any follow-up beyond this point.

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

NCT06526260

Very Brief Exposure: Development of a Novel Exposure Modality for Social Anxiety Disorder in Transition-Age Youth

Recruiting
NAAges 16–22InterventionalBasic science
Children's Hospital Los Angeles
~80 participants
Updated 2026-07-29 on ClinicalTrials.gov
What's tested:Very Brief Exposure to Facial Expressions

At a glance

Recruiting sites
1 of 1 listed site is recruiting right now
RecruitingSuspended, closed, or not yet open
What they're measuring
Mean Activation of Frontostriatal and Prefrontal Brain Regions to disgusted facial expression in Social Anxiety
Measured over Day 2
+1 more outcome measured

Conditions

Social Anxiety Disorder

Explore related trials

Social Anxiety Disorder

NCT06526260

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.

  • Children's Hospital Los Angeles

    Los Angeles, Californiastudy coordinator listed

    Recruiting

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

Study leadership

  • Bradley S Peterson, MD · PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR · Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Who to contact

Courtney Marcelino
[email protected]
323-361-6456
Email the study team

Opens a ready-to-send draft in your own email app — review before sending.

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Eligibility criteria

Inclusion

Patient Population
Males and females aged 16-22. This age range corresponds with our prior studies of very brief exposure (VBE) in Specific Phobia and will include older adolescents while minimizing potential developmental effects on circuit activation.
Youth with a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) diagnosis of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) on Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Aged Children, Computerized version (K-SADS-COMP) for youth ages 16-17, or the computerized version of Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-5 (NetSCID) for youth ages 18+.
Healthy Population
Parents • Parent/caregiver of all ages, no restrictions who are fluent in either English or Spanish.

Exclusion

Patient Population
Primary language other than English or Spanish.
Active suicidality on the Colombia-Suicide Severity Scale (plan, intent, or behavior)
Ferromagnetic implants (e.g., pacemaker), metal braces, retainers, tattoos or permanent make-up with metallic content, transdermal medicinal patches that cannot be removed.
Current psychoactive medication.
Lifetime diagnosis of: obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), psychotic, bipolar, autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability on the KSADS-COMP or NetSCID.
Any serious neurological or medical conditions (e.g., Lupus, cancer, human immunodeficiency virus positive (HIV+)) as reported by potential participants.
Current Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) diagnosis.
Current severe substance abuse (except tobacco/nicotine).
Pregnancy, as determined by the participant's self-report prior to the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan.
Healthy Population
Primary language other than English or Spanish.
Lifetime disorders: any anxiety disorders, OCD, psychotic, bipolar, autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability; any psychiatric disorder in the past 2 years
Current depression disorder.
Active psychiatric disorder in the past 2 years.
Serious neurological or medical conditions.
Current psychoactive medication.
Ferromagnetic implants (e.g., pacemaker), metal braces, retainers, tattoos or permanent make-up with metallic content, transdermal medicinal patches that cannot be removed.
Active suicidality on the Colombia-Suicide Severity Scale (plan, intent, or behavior).
Pregnancy, as determined by the participant's self-report prior to the MRI scan.
Parents • Primary language other than English or Spanish.

What this trial measures

  • Mean Activation of Frontostriatal and Prefrontal Brain Regions to disgusted facial expression in Social AnxietyDay 2

    A hypothesis-driven, group-level analysis will test brain activity, measured as Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) response, in 4 regions of interest while minimizing Type II error.

  • Mean activation of regions subserving emotion, emotion regulation, and attention processing. Mean deactivation of the Default Mode Network.Day 2

    To identify networks of regions subserving information processing functions, we will employ a voxel-wise, linear mixed model with random- and fixed-effects in group-level analyses. The use of a mixed model with random effects will account for highly discrepant variances between and within participants. We will use Statistical Parametric Mapping 12 Software's (SPM12) implementation of Random Field Theory (RFT) at a voxel-wise level to control for false positives. We will assess the cluster-level statistical significance of task-related brain activity using nonparametric, permutation-based statistical techniques.