Transdiagnostic Preventative Intervention for Subclinical Anxiety

描述（由申请人提供）：焦虑症是最常见的精神病理学形式之一，导致焦虑症患者的日常功能严重受损，并给社会带来沉重的经济负担。认知行为疗法（CBT）是治疗焦虑症的有效方法之一。尽管这些治疗有效，但焦虑症的患病率仍然很高，这表明需要加大努力预防这些疾病。几个风险因素（例如，焦虑敏感性、亚临床焦虑）与焦虑症的发展相关。然而，针对这些风险因素的预防性干预措施的发展仍处于初期阶段。迄今为止，预防性干预往往针对特定的焦虑症症状（例如，惊恐发作）。虽然这些干预措施在降低目标疾病的风险方面是有效的（例如，恐慌症），干预的重点是狭窄的，从而限制了这些干预措施的传播。一 一个可能扩大我们预防工作范围的办法是制定一种跨诊断干预措施。跨诊断治疗旨在通过创建旨在治疗被认为性质相似的多种疾病的方案来提供一种简约的治疗方法。目前，这些方案仅用于诊断出疾病的患者（例如，焦虑症）;然而，跨诊断方法也可能有助于那些有患焦虑症风险的人。这对于经历亚临床焦虑症状的个体尤其如此，因为这些个体可能表现出各种焦虑症状（即，社交焦虑、担忧），这些都可以在跨诊断方法中作为目标。事实上，为这一群体开发跨诊断干预措施可能是为这些疾病提供具有成本效益的预防方法的关键下一步。所提出的研究的主要目标是适应现有的跨诊断治疗，错误安全行为消除治疗（F-SET;施密特et al.，2012），作为亚临床焦虑症患者的预防性干预。这项拟议的研究是一种新的方法，建立在当前的预防工作基础上，结合了我们对CBT使用的了解和跨诊断治疗方法的好处。拟议的干预措施将用于一系列焦虑症状组（例如，亚临床恐慌，社交焦虑，担心），并将提供一个初步测试的疗效transdiagnosis干预的风险，为那些发展的问题与焦虑。拟议的研究将使F-SET方案适应于缩短的、易于使用的预防性干预。具体而言，我们感兴趣的是，F-SET治疗亚临床焦虑是否能有效减少干预后和一个月随访时的焦虑症状。我们也有兴趣研究潜在的机制（例如，安全援助利用的中介作用）， 减少焦虑症状。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Anxiety disorders constitute one of the most prevalent forms of psychopathology, resulting in significant impairment in daily functioning in those suffering from anxiety and a profound economic burden for society. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is one form of efficacious treatment for the anxiety disorders. Despite the effectiveness of these treatments, the prevalence of anxiety disorders remains high, suggesting a need for increased efforts aimed at preventing these disorders. Several risk factors (e.g., anxiety sensitivity, subclinical anxiety) associated with the development of anxiety disorders have been identified in recent years. However, the development of preventive interventions targeting these risk factors is in the nascent stage. To date, preventive interventions have tended to target specific anxiety disorder symptoms (e.g., panic attacks). Although these interventions are effective at reducing risk for the targeted disorder (e.g., panic disorder), the focus of the intervention is narrow, thereby limiting the dissemination of these interventions. One approach that may broaden the scope of our prevention efforts is the development of a transdiagnostic intervention. Transdiagnostic treatments aim to provide a parsimonious approach to treatment by creating protocols designed to treat multiple disorders that are deemed similar in nature. Currently, these protocols have only been used in those with diagnosed conditions (e.g., anxiety disorders); however, it makes sense that a transdiagnostic approach may also be helpful for those at-risk for developing anxiety disorders. This is especially true for individuals experiencing subclinical anxiety symptoms, as these individuals are likely displaying a variety of anxiety symptoms (i.e., social anxiety, worry) that can be targeted in a transdiagnostic approach. Indeed, the development of a transdiagnostic intervention for this group may be a key next step in providing a cost-effective preventative approach of these disorders. The primary goal of the proposed study is to adapt an existing transdiagnostic treatment, False Safety Behavior Elimination Treatment (F-SET; Schmidt et al., 2012), to use as a preventative intervention for those with subclinical anxiety. The proposed study is a novel approach building on current prevention work by incorporating what we know about the use of CBT and the benefits of transdiagnostic treatment approaches. The proposed intervention will be used across a range of anxiety symptom groups (e.g., subclinical panic, social anxiety, worry) and will provide an initial test of the efficacy of a transdiagnostic intervention for those at risk for developing problems with anxiety. The proposed study will adapt the F-SET protocol to a shortened, easy to use, preventive intervention. Specifically, we are interested in whether F-SET for subclinical anxiety would be effective in reducing anxiety symptoms at post- intervention and at a one-month follow-up. We are also interested in examining the potential mechanisms (e.g., mediating role of safety aid utilization) involved in the reduction of anxiety symptoms.