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

This study seeks to understand emotion regulation in those with young adults with anxiety using real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging neurofeedback, a tool that allows individuals to control brain activity. The goal of this project is to understand how receiving feedback about one's own brain activity relates to emotion regulation ability. This work will help the study team understand the brain areas involved in emotion regulation and could lay the groundwork to test if psychotherapy outcomes can be enhanced using neurofeedback. The study hypotheses include: * Participants receiving veritable-Neurofeedback (NF) will show a greater activation increases in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) compared to sham-NF * Participants receiving veritable-NF will show greater cognitive reappraisal (CR) ability compared to those receiving sham-NF * PFC activation will positively correlate with CR ability Read Less

Animal assisted therapy (AAT) with dogs has been shown to be beneficial for a wide range of patients with both acute and chronic illnesses, including spinal cord injuries, heart failure, myocardial infarctions, strokes, cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression. Studies have also demonstrated that even in healthy adults, the presence of dogs is associated with physiologic changes such as increased pain threshold, decreased blood pressure, and decreased heart rate. However, few studies have investigated the role of AAT in the post-operative course in adults. This study will investigate the impact of therapy dog visits on pain and anxiety scores for trauma patients at Boston Medical Center (BMC). Read Less

The overall objective of this in-lab randomized controlled trial is to test the efficacy of multi-day interruptions in sedentary behavior vs. single bouts of sustained exercise on metabolic, cognitive, affective, and cardiac autonomic nervous system responses in children with overweight and obesity who are at risk for type 2 diabetes. The use of continuous glucose monitoring will provide insight into the daily and cumulative metabolic effects of each condition that have thus far not been studied. In-lab studies demonstrating sustained efficacy of this approach in ameliorating negative effects of sedentary behaviors in children are necessary for the optimization of field-based interventions. Given the lack of success of interventions to prevent obesity-related diseases and increasing rates of type 2 diabetes in children and its related healthcare costs, this study addresses a critical public health need by testing of novel intervention strategies to reduce obesity-related diseases in children with overweight and obesity. Read Less

In this study, using three phases, the investigators will use an iterative development approach to refine a behavioral intervention for managing concomitant psychosocial distress in glaucoma. Phase 1: The investigators will begin by developing a baseline intervention using strategies from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and delivered using a mobile application. Phase 2: The investigators will refine the baseline intervention for glaucoma patients using qualitative interviews conducted with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) patients with psychosocial distress (N=20), and health professionals (N=5). Phase 3: Finally, the investigators will measure acceptability and feasibility of the refined intervention through a single-armed pilot study (N=25). The investigators hypothesize that the refined intervention will yield an acceptable and feasible intervention in a POAG patient population, setting the stage for a future efficacy study. Read Less

A growing number of patients are surviving a stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) but may experience long-lasting psychological problems, but research evaluating such treatment for ICU patients is scant. The goal of this pilot randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and potential benefit of an evidence-based psychological intervention for anxiety and associated outcomes for ICU patients. The main question\[s\] it aims to answer are: * Is this intervention feasible and acceptable in ARF patients? * Is this intervention in the ICU and hospital associated with reduced anxiety symptoms? Participants will participate in a cognitive behavioral therapy informed self-management intervention aimed to reduce anxiety symptoms. Researchers will compare the intervention group to patients who receive usual care to see if the intervention reduces symptoms at the the conclusion of the intervention and at 3 months follow-up. Read Less