Exposure Therapy for Reactivity to Symptoms

It is unclear to what degree systematic exposure exercises contribute to the overall effects of exposure therapy (exposure and response prevention). This trial recruits individuals with high somatic symptom burden or reactivity to symptoms who, based on previous work, are likely to benefit specifically from exposure therapy. The aim of the study is to evaluate to what degree the effect of exposure therapy for this group is driven by the addition of structured exposure exercises to response prevention. This will be evaluated on the basis of a randomized controlled trial (N=360) where participants are enrolled either in response prevention (n=180), or exposure and response prevention (n=180). Primary outcome will be the between-group differences in the reduction in reactivity to symptoms, as measured week-by-week using the somatic symptom disorder B-criteria scale (SSD-12). Results from this project will be informative for exposure-based and various multicomponent behavioral treatments for individuals with persistent physical symptoms worldwide.