Anxiety Clinical Trials

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility, safety, and effects on anxiety of high intensity focused ultrasound ablation (FUSA) in patients suffering from treatment-refractory focal epilepsy and anxiety. FUSA is a non-invasive neurosurgical procedure that uses ultrasound waves, sent directly through the scalp and skull, to precisely target small abnormal areas of the brain. For this study, the targeted area of the brain is the anterior nucleus of the thalamus. This brain region may cause seizures and may also be involved in anxiety. The study will test if FUSA is safe and tolerated, and if it reduces anxiety and brain response to threat in patients with anxiety receiving the procedure for partial-onset epilepsy that is resistant to medications. Read Less

Nearly 60% of college students use alcohol and 30% binge drink monthly. This is alarming given that heavy alcohol use is linked to serious detrimental outcomes. Despite various prevention and intervention strategies, heavy alcohol use has remained relatively stable over the past decade. Individual differences in stress response connote risk for alcohol use disorder. Anxiety sensitivity (AS) and intolerance of uncertainty (IU) are two key cognitive vulnerabilities that can hinder resilience by amplifying stress responses and promoting maladaptive coping strategies, such as alcohol use. Effective stress management is a cornerstone of resilience. The Intervention for Managing Psychological Responding to Overwhelming Emotions (IMPROVE) targets AS and IU, key barriers to resilience, by modifying cognitive processes that amplify stress and negative affect. In this study, undergraduate students who engage in heavy drinking behaviors and experience elevated anxiety symptoms will be randomized to IMPROVE or a control health promotion intervention (N=20 per arm). All participants will complete daily ecological momentary assessments (EMA) delivered to participants' mobile phones to capture real-world alcohol use before, during, and after the intervention. The investigators will evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of IMPROVE (Aim 1). The investigators will also include a multimodal battery of self-report and objective lab-based measures of AS and IU involving startle eyeblink potentiation and event-related potentials via electromyography (EMG) and electroencephalography (EEG). This will allow the investigators to examine whether IMPROVE changes IU and AS, and to assess if changes in these targets are associated with changes in alcohol use (Aim 2). Read Less

The goal of this clinical trial is to test whether inclusion of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for Uncertainty-Enhanced (CUE) with Lethal Means Counseling (LMC) is acceptable, feasible, and efficacious in addressing secure firearm storage and associated psychological constructs in active duty servicemembers. The clinical trial aims to: * Assess the preliminary efficacy of a LMC intervention, augmented with CUE, on firearm storage practices * Examine mechanisms through which CUE and LMC increase firearm storage practices * Assess credibility and acceptability of LMC Participants will complete: * One baseline visit * Two intervention sessions-CUE and LMC * Six brief surveys per day for 28 days using a mobile application * One mid-point survey and five follow-up surveys Read Less

The clinical trial aims to conduct a feasibility, acceptability, and usability clinical trial of a modular CBT-based and technologically enhanced intervention for people with an SUD and recently enrolled in IOP, probe target engagement and change in clinical outcomes, and examine attrition rates in IOP. This study will enroll 40 adults who are currently enrolled in IOP, have a substance use disorder, and experience elevated anxiety. 20 individuals will be randomized to the experimental intervention, "Intervention for Managing Physical Reactions to Overwhelming Emotions" (IMPROVE), and 20 individuals will be randomized to the active control group, "Physical Health Education Treatment" (PHET). Participants will be asked to complete a baseline assessment of mood, substance use, and psychophysiology. Participants will then completed ecological momentary assessments (EMA) via smartphone technology 4 times a day for \~ 28 days (the day following the baseline assessment until the 3rd intervention session). Participants will complete one 45 minute - 1 hour intervention each week for 3 weeks (either the IMPROVE or PHET intervention, pending randomization). Following the last intervention session, participants will return to the lab to complete a post-intervention assessment that mirrors the baseline assessment and then complete follow-up surveys 1- and 3-months post intervention. Read Less

This double-blind, 12-week study will consist include132 anxious youth who are randomized (1:1) to standard or pharmacogenetically-guided escitalopram dosing. Block randomization (1:1) will be stratified by sex and metabolizer status. Read Less

Acute, double-blind, adaptively randomized treatment with duloxetine or escitalopram, followed by open-label naturalistic follow-up. Read Less

Open enrollment study to collect data for the optimization of machine learning models for use in an app for the early detection of mental health and suicidal risk. Read Less

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the SMILE app, a Digital Health Platform (DHP), that will deliver a mindfulness intervention, designed to mitigate COVID-19 related stress. Additionally, the SMILE app will remotely collect self-reported psychological and physiological metrics of mental health and autonomic regulation. Study participants are adults who self-identify as African American, Black and/or Latino, and who have clinically significant levels of anxiety. The study aims are: * Aim 1: Establish the effectiveness and durability of an 8-week Mindfulness DHP intervention. The investigators will focus on two constructs important to mental health and hypothesize that: A) Anxiety, self-report stress and quality-of-life measures will significantly improve when comparing: A.1) Pre-to-post intervention, and; A.2) Control vs. intervention groups over 8 weeks and at 1-month follow-up. B) Arousal, autonomic indices of HRV (reflecting parasympathetic activation) will significantly improve, when comparing: B.1) Pre-to-post intervention, and; B.2) Control vs. intervention groups over 8 weeks and at 1-month follow-up. * Aim 2: Establish the sustainability of two Mindfulness DHP interventions utilizing retention, usage (frequency), and participant satisfaction. * Aim 3: Examine associations between COVID-19 related stress, mental health outcomes, and HRV. Examine the extent to which COVID-19 related stress and mental health symptoms are linked to HRV at baseline and how that relationship changes over time. Participants will be assigned to 1 of 3 arms of the study: MTIA intervention, MAPP intervention, or wait-list control. All participants will be mailed a device with the SMILE app installed, and the equipment for recording cardiac data in the home. All participants will complete the baseline psychometrics measures and physiological stress test using the instructions provided on the SMILE app. Those assigned to the MTIA or MAPP intervention groups will then participate in their assigned intervention over the subsequent 8 weeks. During these 8 weeks, psychometric and physiological data will be completed biweekly for all participants. 3 months following the initial baseline, all participants will complete a final psychometric/physiological evaluation. Read Less

The purpose of the current study is to examine the feasibility and effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy, a specific form of cognitive-behavioral therapy, for treating general mental health concerns among HIV-positive men. Read Less

Anxiety is very common in autistic youth. Recently, an intervention has been created by the investigators to target these symptoms in autistic youth in a community setting. The purpose of this study is to determine the feasibility of implementing this treatment in community care centers. Read Less

This study seeks to understand if the medication pramipexole improves social connectedness and functioning in adults (ages 18-50) who experience anxiety or depression. The study plans to enroll 108 participants total across two sites (University of California San Diego and New York State Psychiatric Institute). Pramipexole will be given in a 6-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Social reward processing will be assessed using measures of brain function (fMRI), behavior, and self-report at baseline and week 6. Knowledge gained from this study will help determine the therapeutic potential of targeting the dopamine system to remediate social disconnection as an anxiety and depression intervention. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to determine if non-invasive distracting devices (Virtual Reality headset) are more effective than the standard of care (i.e., no technology based distraction) for preventing anxiety in parental and pediatric populations Read Less