Deborah C Beidel1, Candice A Alfano2, Michael J Kofler3, Patricia A Rao4, Lindsay Scharfstein3, Nina Wong Sarver3. 1. Department of Psychology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, United States. Electronic address: Deborah.Beidel@ucf.edu. 2. Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States. 3. Department of Psychology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, United States. 4. Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, United States.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:Social anxiety disorder (SAD) impacts social, occupational and academic functioning. Although many interventions report change in social distress, improvement in social behavior remains under-addressed. This investigation examined the additive impact of social skills training (SST) for the treatment of SAD. METHOD: Using a sample of 106 adults who endorsed SAD across numerous social settings, participants were randomized to exposure therapy (imaginal and in vivo) alone, a combination of SST and exposure therapy known as Social Effectiveness Therapy (SET), or a wait list control. The assessment strategy included self-report measures, blinded clinical ratings and blinded assessment of social behavior. RESULTS: Both interventions significantly reduced distress in comparison to the wait list control and at post-treatment, 67% of patients treated with SET and 54% of patients treated with exposure therapy alone no longer met diagnostic criteria for SAD, a difference that was not statistically significant. When compared to exposure therapy alone, SET produced superior outcomes (p<.05) on measures of social skill and general clinical status. In addition to statistical significance, participants treated with SET or exposure reported clinically significant decreases on two measures of self-reported social anxiety and several measures of observed social behavior (all ps<.05). CONCLUSIONS: Both interventions produced efficacious treatment outcome, although SET may provide additional benefit on measures of social distress and social behavior.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVE:Social anxiety disorder (SAD) impacts social, occupational and academic functioning. Although many interventions report change in social distress, improvement in social behavior remains under-addressed. This investigation examined the additive impact of social skills training (SST) for the treatment of SAD. METHOD: Using a sample of 106 adults who endorsed SAD across numerous social settings, participants were randomized to exposure therapy (imaginal and in vivo) alone, a combination of SST and exposure therapy known as Social Effectiveness Therapy (SET), or a wait list control. The assessment strategy included self-report measures, blinded clinical ratings and blinded assessment of social behavior. RESULTS: Both interventions significantly reduced distress in comparison to the wait list control and at post-treatment, 67% of patients treated with SET and 54% of patients treated with exposure therapy alone no longer met diagnostic criteria for SAD, a difference that was not statistically significant. When compared to exposure therapy alone, SET produced superior outcomes (p<.05) on measures of social skill and general clinical status. In addition to statistical significance, participants treated with SET or exposure reported clinically significant decreases on two measures of self-reported social anxiety and several measures of observed social behavior (all ps<.05). CONCLUSIONS: Both interventions produced efficacious treatment outcome, although SET may provide additional benefit on measures of social distress and social behavior.
Keywords:
Exposure therapy; Generalized social anxiety disorder; Social Effectiveness Therapy; Social skills training; Treatment of social anxiety disorder
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