Neural Markers of Treatment Mechanisms and Prediction of Treatment Outcomes in Social Anxiety

The purpose of this clinical trial is to answer the question: can the investigators predict which adults with social anxiety disorder (SAD) will successfully respond to treatment? To answer this question, the investigators plan to recruit 190 adult participants who experience extreme forms of social anxiety to undergo brain imaging before and after 12 weeks of group cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Adults in the SAD group who do not respond enough to group CBT may be offered the opportunity to complete an additional 12 weeks of individual CBT while receiving SSRI medication (sertraline, see below) for SAD. Data collected from participants who experience anxiety will be compared to a group of 50 participants with little or no social anxiety, who will serve as a comparison group.

NCT Number	NCT05683223
Lead Sponsor	Boston University Charles River Campus Collaborators: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mclean Hospital, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Conditions	Social Anxiety Disorder
Enrollment	240 participants
Start Date	2023-05-26
Primary Completion	2027-06-30 (estimated)
Study Completion	2027-06-30 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2026-07-23