Evaluation of the effectiveness of a Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder: Randomized Clinical Trial

Author(s)

Priscila de Camargo Palma

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: Ribeirão Preto.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (PCARP/BC)
• Defense date: 2017-06-08

Examining board members

Carmem Beatriz Neufeld; Antonio Egidio Nardi; Flavia de Lima Osorio; Bernard Pimentel Rangé; Priscila Goergen Brust Renck

• Advisor: Carmem Beatriz Neufeld

Abstract

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) consists of a marked and persistent fear of social or performance situations in which the individual could feel shame. Among the anxiety disorders, SAD is one of the most prevalent, considered the fifth most disabling disorder, however, the search for treatment is very low. Different randomized clinical trials show that Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy (CBGT) presents satisfactory and long-lasting results, which is considered the gold standard of intervention for SAD, however, a portion of patients with SAD do not respond to treatment. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the effect of a group intervention related to high social cost exposure in patients with SAD about psychological variables and memory quality. The intervention used in this study was proposed by Hofmann and Otto (2008). Among the psychological variables studied changes in symptoms of social anxiety, anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, avoidance and social discomfort, depression and symptoms of common psychiatric disorders were evaluated. Fifty-five adults participated in this study, composing three different experimental groups: the comparison group without SAD, which consists of participants without clinical symptoms, the comparison group with SAD, participants with SAD who did not receive intervention during the research (Waitlist control condition), and the group of SAD patients who participated in the intervention. An independent researcher to study distributed randomly the participants with SAD between CBGT or Waitlist condition. Assessments were made at pre and post-test using Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), Fear of Negative Evaluation (FNE), Social Avoidance and Distress Scale (SADS), Patient Health-Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Self-Report Questionnaire (SRQ), and false memories test in the three groups. The results showed that the intervention achieved a significant reduction in the symptoms of social anxiety, general anxiety, depression and symptoms of common mental disorders, showing that it was an effective intervention. In addition, the scores related to general anxiety, depression and common mental disorder symptoms after the intervention were similar to the scores obtained by the group of healthy participants, evidencing the excellent efficacy of the intervention process. Efficacy can also be seen from the measurement of the large effect size found in the study evaluated by the main evaluation instrument of SAD used (SPIN), this study achieved the expected goal of the gold standard considered intervention. Concerning measures related to memory quality, the initial hypothesis was that social anxious individuals would present a greater number of false memories and / or a reduction of true memories, but this hypothesis was not confirmed. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/19273-7 - Evaluation of a group intervention for social anxiety disorder on memory distortions
• Grantee: Priscila de Camargo Palma
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate