Disorders - Social phobia
Botella, C., Gallego, M. J., Garcia-Palacios, A., Guillen, V., Banos, R. M., Quero, S., Alcaniz, M.
This study offers data about the efficacy of "Talk to Me," an Internet-based telepsychology program for the treatment of fear of public speaking that includes the most active components in cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) for social phobia (exposure and cognitive therapies). One hundred twenty-seven participants with social phobia were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions: (a) an Internet-based self-administered program; (b) the same program applied by a therapist; (c) a waiting-list control group. Results showed that both treatment conditions were equally efficacious. In addition, Talk to Me and the same treatment applied by a therapist were more efficacious than the waiting-list condition. Treatment gains were maintained at 1-year follow-up. The results from this study support the utility of Internet-delivered CBT programs in order to reach a higher number of people who could benefit from CBT. Internet-delivered CBT programs could also play a valuable role in the dissemination of CBT.
Cyberpsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, 13(4) : 407-421
- Year: 2010
- Problem: Social phobia (social anxiety disorder)
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
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Stage: Disorder established (diagnosed disorder)
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Treatment and intervention: Service Delivery & Improvement, Psychological Interventions (any)
, Cognitive & behavioural therapies (CBT)
, Technology, interventions delivered using technology (e.g. online, SMS)
Anari, A., Ddadsetan, P., Saleh-Sedghpour, B.
The effectiveness of Drama therapy on decreasing of the symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder (Performance Anxiety, Performance Avoidance , Social Anxiety & Social Performance Subtests) in 10- 11 years old children was investigated in this study. 2 schools were randomly selected from elementary schools of Tehran city. First, Validation the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale for Children and Adolescents (Liebowitz, Klein & Masia-Warner, 2003) is done in one of that school; Then, in two schools, from 300 children ages 10- 11, 32 children whose had received the highest scores on the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale for Children and Adolescents (LSASCA) were selected. Subjects were divided into control and experimental groups. Experimental group received Drama therapy intervention for 6 weeks, twice a week sessions lasting two hours. The results were analyzed using covariance and indicated the children in experimental group reported a significant decrease in symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder (Performance Anxiety, Performance Avoidance, Social Anxiety & Social Performance Subtests) as compared to the control group. In addition, in 3 month follow up, results had stabilized in experimental group as compared to the control group. The emerged findings can have clinical application in prevention and treatment of social anxiety disorder in children.
European Psychiatry, 24 : S514
- Year: 2009
- Problem: Social phobia (social anxiety disorder)
- Type: Controlled clinical trials
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Stage: At risk (indicated or selected prevention)
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Treatment and intervention: Complementary & Alternative Interventions (CAM)
, Creative expression: music, dance, drama, art
Aune, T., Stiles, T. C.
This article reports results from a universal preventive program aimed at (a) reducing social anxiety and (b) preventing the development of syndromal social anxiety among a population-based sample of older children and young adolescents during a 1-year period. Pupils (N = 1,748) from 2 counties were cluster randomized to either an intervention or a control condition. In the intervention condition, the Norwegian Universal Preventive Program for Social Anxiety (NUPP-SA)-which educates pupils, parents/guardians, teachers/school staff, and county health workers-was administered. The results indicate that NUPP-SA had a significant specific intervention effect for reducing social anxiety in the total sample as well as among the syndromal subjects. Further, significantly fewer subjects from the intervention county developed syndromal social anxiety during the 1-year period, thus showing a prevention effect. The results demonstrate the value of an intervention specifically aimed at reducing social anxiety and preventing the development of syndromal social anxiety among young people. (copyright) 2009 American Psychological Association.
Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 77(5) : 867-879
- Year: 2009
- Problem: Social phobia (social anxiety disorder)
- Type: Controlled clinical trials
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Stage: Universal prevention
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Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Psychoeducation, Skills training
Herbert, J. D., Gaudiano, B. A., Rheingold, A. A., Moitra, E., Myers, V. H., Dalrymple, K. L., Brandsma, L. L.
Early identification and treatment of social anxiety disorder (SAD) is critical to prevent development of a chronic course of symptoms, persistent functional impairment, and progressive psychiatric comorbidity. A small but growing literature supports the effectiveness of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for anxiety disorders, including SAD, in adolescence. The present randomized controlled trial evaluated the efficacy of group vs. individual CBT for adolescents with generalized SAD in relation to an educational/supportive psychotherapy that did not contain specific CBT elements. All three treatments were associated with significant reductions in symptoms and functional impairment, and in improved social skills. No differences between treatments emerged on measures of symptoms, but the CBT conditions demonstrated greater gains on behavioral measures. The implications of the findings are discussed. (copyright) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 23(2) : 167-177
- Year: 2009
- Problem: Social phobia (social anxiety disorder)
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
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Stage: Disorder established (diagnosed disorder)
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Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Cognitive & behavioural therapies (CBT)
, Psychoeducation, Supportive therapy
Parr, C. J., Cartwright-Hatton, S.
Background: A negative self-generated image is thought to play a role in the development and maintenance of social anxiety. Video feedback (VF) is an effective therapeutic technique for correcting this distorted image with adults during stressful social tasks. This study investigated the effectiveness of VF with adolescents. Method: Thirty-six highly socially anxious adolescents (13 to 17-year-olds) were randomly assigned to one of two groups: VF or no VF. Both groups gave two brief speeches to a video camera. Self-rated measures of anticipatory anxiety, predicted performance and actual performance during the speeches were completed at several time points. The speeches were also rated by two independent observers. Results: Adolescents who received VF, in comparison with control participants, developed more positive appraisals of their performance during the first speech. Predictions of their performance on the second speech also improved, and a reduction in state anxiety was observed. Furthermore, a more positive appraisal of performance was generalized to the second speech. The independent observers could not distinguish between the participants who received VF and those who did not. Conclusions: When used with socially anxious adolescents, VF may be a benefi cial therapeutic technique in correcting a distorted self-perception of performance, reducing anxiety prior to entering a stressful social task and enhancing predictions of performance for future tasks. Copyright (copyright) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 16(1) : 46-54
- Year: 2009
- Problem: Social phobia (social anxiety disorder)
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
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Stage: At risk (indicated or selected prevention)
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Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Biofeedback, neurofeedback, audio/video feedback
Vassilopoulos, S. P., Banerjee, R., Prantzalou, C.
We report on an experimental manipulation of interpretation bias in socially anxious youths. A non-clinical sample of 10-11-year-olds selected for high social anxiety was trained over three sessions to endorse benign rather than negative interpretations of potentially threatening social scenarios. This group was subsequently less likely to endorse negative interpretations of new ambiguous social situations than children in a test-retest condition. Children who received interpretation training also showed reduced trait social anxiety and reported significantly less anxiety about an anticipated interpersonal encounter, compared with the control group. (copyright) 2009 Elsevier Ltd.
Behaviour Research & Therapy, 47(12) : 1085-1089
- Year: 2009
- Problem: Social phobia (social anxiety disorder)
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
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Stage: At risk (indicated or selected prevention)
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Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Attention/cognitive bias modification
Schmidt, Norman B., Richey, J. Anthony, Buckner, Julia D., Timpano, Kiara R.
Attentional bias toward negative social cues is thought to serve an etiological and/or maintaining role in social anxiety disorder (SAD). The current study tested whether training patients to disengage from negative social cues may ameliorate social anxiety in patients (N = 36) with a primary diagnosis of generalized SAD. Patients were randomly assigned to either an attention training condition (n = 18), in which patients completed a modified dot-probe task designed to facilitate attentional disengagement from disgusted faces, or a control dot-probe task condition (n = 18). As predicted, patients in the attention training condition exhibited significantly greater reductions in social anxiety and trait anxiety, compared with patients in the control condition. At termination, 72% of patients in the active treatment condition, relative to 11% of patients in the control condition, no longer met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) criteria for SAD. At 4-month follow-up, patients in the attention training condition continued to maintain their clinical improvement, and diagnostic differences across conditions were also maintained. Results support attention-based models of anxiety and suggest that attention training is a promising alternative or complementary intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract)
Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 118(1) : 5-14
- Year: 2009
- Problem: Social phobia (social anxiety disorder)
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: Disorder established (diagnosed disorder)
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Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Attention/cognitive bias modification
Walkup, J. T., Albano, A. M., Piacentini, J., Birmaher, B., Compton, S. N., Sherrill, J. T., Ginsburg, G. S., et-al
Background: Anxiety disorders are common psychiatric conditions affecting children and adolescents. Although cognitive behavioral therapy and selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors have shown efficacy in treating these disorders, little is known about their relative or combined efficacy. Methods: In this randomized, controlled trial, we assigned 488 children between the ages of 7 and 17 years who had a primary diagnosis of separation anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, or social phobia to receive 14 sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy, sertraline (at a dose of up to 200 mg per day), a combination of sertraline and cognitive behavioral therapy, or a placebo drug for 12 weeks in a 2:2:2:1 ratio. We administered categorical and dimensional ratings of anxiety severity and impairment at baseline and at weeks 4, 8, and 12. Results: The percentages of children who were rated as very much or much improved on the Clinician Global Impression-Improvement scale were 80.7% for combination therapy (P<0.001), 59.7% for cognitive behavioral therapy (P<0.001), and 54.9% for sertraline (P<0.001); all therapies were superior to placebo (23.7%). Combination therapy was superior to both monotherapies (P<0.001). Results on the Pediatric Anxiety Rating Scale documented a similar magnitude and pattern of response; combination therapy had a greater response than cognitive behavioral therapy, which was equivalent to sertraline, and all therapies were superior to placebo. Adverse events, including suicidal and homicidal ideation, were no more frequent in the sertraline group than in the placebo group. No child attempted suicide. There was less insomnia, fatigue, sedation, and restlessness associated with cognitive behavioral therapy than with sertraline. Conclusions: Both cognitive behavioral therapy and sertraline reduced the severity of anxiety in children with anxiety disorders; a combination of the two therapies had a superior response rate. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00052078.) Copyright (copyright) 2008 Massachusetts Medical Society.
New England Journal of Medicine, 359(26) : 2753-2766
- Year: 2008
- Problem: Anxiety Disorders (any), Social phobia (social anxiety disorder)
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: Disorder established (diagnosed disorder)
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Treatment and intervention: Biological Interventions (any)
, Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), Psychological Interventions (any)
, Cognitive & behavioural therapies (CBT)
Segool, N. K., Carlson, J. S.
Childhood social anxiety is associated with significant social and academic impairment. The purpose of this study was to compare and contrast the efficacy of two major treatments for social anxiety disorders in children: cognitive-behavioral therapy and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) drug treatment. Treatment studies in the literature were evaluated using meta-analytic techniques to compare pre- and post-treatment measures of social anxiety symptoms, general anxiousness, social competency, and impairment. Results indicate that the core symptoms of social anxiety and impairment were reduced by both cognitive-behavioral treatment (ES = 0.86 and 1.56) and SSRI treatment (ES = 1.30 and 2.29), respectively. Similarly, peripheral symptoms of general anxiousness were reduced by both cognitive-behavioral treatment (ES = 0.75) and SSRI treatment (ES = 1.29). Finally, both cognitive-behavioral (ES = 0.68) and SSRI treatment (ES = 0.68) resulted in moderate improvements in social competence. Implications and the limitations of these meta-analytic findings are discussed with respect to the evidence-based intervention movement. copyright 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Depression & Anxiety., 25(7) : 620-631
- Year: 2008
- Problem: Social phobia (social anxiety disorder)
- Type: Systematic reviews
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Stage: Disorder established (diagnosed disorder)
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Treatment and intervention: Biological Interventions (any)
, Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), Psychological Interventions (any)
, Cognitive & behavioural therapies (CBT)
Silverman, W. K., Pina, A. A., & Viswesvaran, C.
The article reviews psychosocial treatments for phobic and anxiety disorders in youth. Using criteria from Nathan and Gorman (2002), 32 studies are evaluated along a continuum of methodological rigor. In addition, the treatments evaluated in each of the 32 studies are classified according to Chambless et al.'s (1996) and Chambless and Hollon's (1998) criteria. Findings from a series of meta-analyses of the studies that used waitlists also are reported. In accordance with Nathan and Gorman, the majority of the studies were either methodologically robust or fairly rigorous. In accordance with Chambless and colleagues, although no treatment was well-established, Individual Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Group Cognitive Behavior Therapy (GCBT), GCBT with Parents, GCBT for social phobia (SOP), and Social Effectiveness Training for children with SOP each met criteria for probably efficacious. The other treatments were either possibly efficacious or experimental. Meta-analytic results revealed no significant differences between individual and group treatments on diagnostic recovery rates and anxiety symptom reductions, as well as other youth symptoms (i.e., fear, depression, internalizing and externalizing problems). Parental involvement was similarly efficacious as parental noninvolvement in individual and group treatment formats. The article also provides a summary of the studies that have investigated mediators, moderators, and predictors of treatment outcome. The article concludes with a discussion of the clinical representativeness and generalizability of treatments, practice guidelines, and future research directions.
Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 37(1) : 105-130
- Year: 2008
- Problem: Anxiety Disorders (any), Social phobia (social anxiety disorder)
, Specific Phobia
- Type: Systematic reviews
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Stage: Disorder established (diagnosed disorder)
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Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
Olivares-Olivares, PJ, Rosa-Alcazar, AI, Olivares-Rodríguez, J
The objective of this experimental study is to provide empirical evidence on the efficacy-efficiency of individual attention in the treatment of adolescents with generalized social phobia. Individual attention is one of the components of the structured psychological treatment program known as IAFS (Intervención en Adolescentes con Fobia Social--Treatment for Adolescents with Social Phobia). Fifty-seven subjects (63% female) between 14 and 18 years of age participated in this study. They were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions: a) the IAFS without individual attention, b) the IAFS with 6 sessions of individual attention, and c) the IAFS with 12 sessions of individual attention. The results show that the groups that included individual attention obtained better results in most of the measures assessing anxiety and social avoidance at 6- and 12-month follow-up, but not at posttest. The same trend was also found for the variables self-esteem and adaptation. However, costs are much higher in both treatment conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract)
International Journal of Clinical & Health Psychology, 8(2) : 465-481
- Year: 2008
- Problem: Social phobia (social anxiety disorder)
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
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Stage: Disorder established (diagnosed disorder)
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Treatment and intervention: Service Delivery & Improvement, Psychological Interventions (any)
, Exposure therapy, Exposure and response prevention, Psychoeducation, Skills training, Other service delivery and improvement interventions
Liber, J. M., VanWidenfelt, B. M., Utens, E. M. W. J., Ferdinand, R. F., VanDerLeeden, A. J. M., Gastel, W. V., Treffers, P. D. A.
Background: The present study compares an individual versus a group format in the delivery of manualised cognitive-behavioural therapy (FRIENDS) for children with anxiety disorders. Clinically referred children (aged 8 to 12) diagnosed with Separation Anxiety Disorder (n = 52), Generalised Anxiety Disorder (n = 37), Social Phobia (n = 22) or Specific Phobia (n = 16) were randomly assigned to individual (n = 65) or group (n = 62) treatment. Method: Analyses were conducted separately for the intent-to-treat sample and the sample of children who completed treatment. Analyses included chi-square comparisons and regression analyses with treatment format as a predictor. Results: Forty-eight percent of the children in the individual versus 41% in the group treatment were free of any anxiety disorder at post-treatment; 62% versus 54% were free of their primary anxiety disorder. Regression analyses showed no significant difference in outcome between individual and group treatment. Conclusions: Children improved in both conditions. Choice between treatments could be based on pragmatic considerations such as therapeutic resources, referral rates, and the preference of the parents and the child. copyright 2008 The Authors.
Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry & Allied Disciplines., 49(8) : 886-893
- Year: 2008
- Problem: Anxiety Disorders (any), Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Social phobia (social anxiety disorder)
, Specific Phobia
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: Disorder established (diagnosed disorder)
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Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Cognitive & behavioural therapies (CBT)