Social Avoidant Behavior

The purpose of this study is to use transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to better understand the neural circuits associated with social motivation. Participant includes four study visits each that range from 1.5 - 3.0 hours in duration over approximately a one month period. The first study visit involves answering survey questions, a clinical interview, and computer tasks. The second study visit involves a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, computer tasks, and a brief TMS protocol. The second and third study visits involve a full session of TMS followed by an MRI scan and computer tasks. Adults in the Auburn/Opelika area and surrounding areas who avoid social situations, experience symptoms of depression or social anxiety, and are between 25 years old and 50 years old are eligible to participate.

The goal of this clinical trial is to examine the effectiveness of a Virtual Reality (VR) social avoidance intervention in reducing social avoidance symptoms among adolescents with special educational needs. Participants will complete tasks in the VR scenario with increasing difficulty and learn that they can cope in situations that they previously avoid. We hypothesize that, comparing with usual care (i.e. waitlist control), the intervention group will experience a significant reduction on social avoidance symptoms after treatment and this benefit will persist till 1-month follow-up.