A RCT of a Fully-automated Self-help AEBT Website

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: AEBT Website With Check-ins, AEBT Website Without Check-ins

In brief

Trichotillomania (TTM) is characterized by hair pulling that is repetitive in nature leading to notable hair loss, causing clinically significant distress and resulting in impairments across social and functional domains (APA, 2013). Trichotillomania causes significant social impairment including affecting close relationships, pursuing occupational changes or advancement, or interfering with schooling (Grant et al., 2017; Woods, Flessner, Franklin, Wetterneck, et al., 2006). The core of the treatment of trichotillomania has traditionally been Habit Reversal Training (HRT) (Twohig, Bluett, et al., 2014). Another form of treatment that is gaining empirical support is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) which has been studied in four randomized controlled trials, one studying ACT as a standalone treatment (Lee, Homan, et al., 2018), and three examining ACT combined with HRT (Twohig et al., 2021; Lee, Haeger, et al., 2018; Woods, Wetterneck, et al., 2006) which demonstrated efficacy of the combined treatment in decreasing pulling symptom severity. The prevalence of trichotillomania in the US is 1-2% of the population and yet treatment access is limited by many issues including processionals' lack of knowledge of the disorder and low treatment accessibility (Walther et al., 2010). ACT- enhanced behavior therapy has been implemented using telehealth to reach a larger population (42.2% decrease pre-to-post treatment), but telehealth still requires therapist time and incurs notable costs (Lee, Haeger, et al., 2018). The present study aims to address the gap in trichotillomania treatment accessibility by examining the role of check-ins on adherence and efficacy on afully automated, web-based ACT-enhanced HRT treatment for adults with trichotillomania across the United States. We predict that the condition with check-ins will increase adherence and efficacy of the treatment significantly more than the condition without check-ins. Additionally, we predict that hair pulling severity and psychological flexibility will be significantly improved by the condition with check-ins compared to the condition without check-ins.

Key facts

Study ID
NCT05610839
Run by
Utah State University
People needed
101
Starts
2022-11-08
Expected to finish
2023-09-29
Last updated by the study team
2023-12-14

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

You may not qualify if…

Where it is running

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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