Gamification in the Treatment of Spider Phobia

Spider Phobia Clinical Trial

Official title:

Testing a Gamified App to Reduce Avoidance and Fear of Spiders in Spider Phobia

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT04423783
• Other study ID #: GaSpPh
• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: July 1, 2020
• Est. completion date: August 2025

Study information

• Verified date: November 2023
• Source: Philipps University Marburg Medical Center
• Contact: Anke Haberkamp, PhD
• Phone: +49 6421 2823656
• Email: Anke.Haberkamp[@]staff.uni-marburg.de
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Mobile applications are more and more considered when implementing programs for treating mental disorders. The study aims to reduce avoidance and fear of spiders in spider-fearful individuals by combining exposure principles with gamification elements (e.g. narrative background, level progression, points, feedback). We investigate the efficacy of the gamified app in a remote online-therapy context.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Recruiting
• Enrollment: 90
• Est. completion date: August 2025
• Est. primary completion date: August 2024
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 65 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

Participants must

• be 18 years or older,
• SPQ score = 14
• BDI-II score = 18 Exclusion Criteria: Participants will be deemed ineligible if they do not meet the above inclusion criteria or
• are allergic to spiders or bee stings,
• are currently undergoing psychotherapeutic and/or psychopharmacological treatments,
• are experiencing current psychosis, mania, or substance abuse, or
• successfully complete 8 or more of 12 possible BAT steps at baseline (to ensure that participants are indeed spider fearful)
• are at higher risk from Covid-19 or
• participated in a pilot study in 2019.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Phobic Disorders
• Spider Phobia

Intervention

Behavioral:
• 7-day exposure therapy via self-developed app according to (Haberkamp et al., submitted)
Confrontation with spiders via gamified app
• Therapist-guided one-session online exposure therapy according to (Öst, 1989)
Massed exposure therapy over the course of one single session, applied in a remote-online context

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Germany	Philipps University Marburg	Marburg
Germany	Philipps-University Marburg Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy	Marburg

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Anke Haberkamp

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Germany, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Other	Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II)	Measures severity of depression; The scale ranges from 0-63: 0-13 minimal depressive symptoms; 14-19 mild symptoms; 20-28 moderate symptoms; 29-63 severe symptoms.	Baseline, Post-treatment (1-week after baseline); 3-week follow-up (4-weeks after baseline)
Other	Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI)	Measures clinically relevant psychological symptoms.	Baseline, Post-treatment (1-week after baseline); 3-week follow-up (4-weeks after baseline)
Other	German version of the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8)	Standardised satisfaction measurement	(after one-session exposure if applied), Post-treatment (1-week after baseline); 3-week follow-up (4-weeks after baseline)
Other	Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS)	Questionnaire assessing the quality of new user-oriented health applications	Post-treatment (1-week after baseline)
Primary	Change in avoidance behavior (Behavioral Approach Task; BAT)	Scores range from 0 ("participant refuses to enter the room with spider") to 12 ("participant holds the spider at least for 20 sec").	Baseline; (after one-session exposure if applied); Post-treatment (1-week after baseline); 3-week follow-up (4-weeks after baseline)
Primary	Change in spider fear (Spider Phobia Questionnaire; SPQ)	The scale ranges from 0-31. High scores reflect high subjective levels and low scores low subjective levels of spider fear.	Baseline; Post-treatment (1-week after baseline); 3-week follow-up (4-weeks after baseline)
Primary	Change in spider fear: Spider-Anxiety Questionnaire (FAS)	The scale ranges from 0-108. High scores reflect high subjective levels and low scores low subjective levels of spider fear.	Baseline; Post-treatment (1-week after baseline); 3-week follow-up (4-weeks after baseline)
Secondary	Change in disgust before and after playing the app	Seven-point rating scale scoring from 0 to 6: high scores reflect high levels and low scores low levels of experienced disgust; participants play twice a day (between 8 - 11 am and 4 - 7 pm); ratings are part of the app	Before starting and immediately after completing the game
Secondary	Change in arousal before and after playing the app	Seven-point rating scale scoring from 0 to 6: high scores reflect high levels and low scores low levels of experienced arousal; participants play twice a day (between 8 - 11 am and 4 - 7 pm); ratings are part of the app	Before starting and immediately after completing the game
Secondary	Change in anxiety before and after playing the app	Seven-point rating scale scoring from 0 to 6: high scores reflect high levels and low scores low levels of experienced anxiety; participants play twice a day (between 8 - 11 am and 4 - 7 pm); ratings are part of the app	Before starting and immediately after completing the game