title: Guided and unguided CBT for social anxiety disorder and/or panic disorder via the Internet and a smartphone application: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Smartphone technology presents a novel and promising opportunity to extend the reach of psychotherapeutic interventions by moving selected parts of the therapy into the real-life situations causing distress. This randomised controlled trial will investigate the effects of a transdiagnostic, Internet-administered cognitive behavioural (iCBT) self-help program for anxiety, supplemented with a smartphone application. The effect of added therapist support will also be studied.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and fifty participants meeting diagnostic criteria for social anxiety disorder and/or panic disorder will be evenly randomised to either one of three study groups: 1, smartphone-supplemented iCBT with therapist support; 2, smartphone-supplemented iCBT without therapist support; or 3, an active waiting list control group with delayed treatment. Primary outcome measure will be the Generalised Anxiety Disorder 7-item self-rating scale. Secondary measures include other anxiety, depression and quality of life measures. In addition to pre- and post-treatment measurements, the study includes two mid-treatment (days 24 and 48) and two follow-up assessments (12 and 36 months) to assess rapid and long-term effects.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the effectiveness of smartphone-supplemented iCBT for anxiety disorders. Hence, the findings from this trial will constitute great advancements in the burgeoning and promising field of smartphone-administered psychological interventions. Limitations are discussed.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT01963806.
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lindner
authors.forename: Ekaterina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ivanova
authors.forename: Kien Hoa
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Ly
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Andersson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden. per@carlbring.se.
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Carlbring
mesh_terms: D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D040421:Cell Phone; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D063731:Mobile Applications; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012107:Research Design; D012920:Social Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden; D013813:Therapy, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome