RESUMO
The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral group therapy and exposure therapy on the reduction of interpretation bias and fear of negative evaluation in social anxiety disorder. In a pre-posttest experimental design with control group, 24 students studying at B.Sc. level in the Health School of Iran University of Medical Sciences with the diagnosis of social anxiety disorder were selected by convenience sampling. Then, all of the subjects were randomly allocated into three groups [cognitive-behavioral group therapy, exposure therapy, and waiting list control group]. Twelve sessions of cognitive-behavioral group therapy and exposure therapy were carried out according to a standard manual of therapy, and the waiting list control group did not receive any treatment. Data were gathered through administration of Social Phobia Inventory [SPIN], Interpretation Questionnaire- Revised, and Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale [BFNE-S]. Univariate analysis of covariance was used for data analysis. The cognitive-behavioral group therapy comparing to the exposure therapy [p<0.01] and the waiting list control group [p<0.001] significantly led to the reduction of interpretation bias in the socially anxious subjects. It was also found that exposure therapy alone did not significantly reduce interpretation bias in the social anxiety patients and showed no difference with the waiting list control group. On the other hand, both cognitive-behavioral group therapy and exposure therapy in comparison with the waiting list control group significantly reduced fear of negative evaluation [p<0.001 and p<0.001 respectively], but there was no significant difference between these groups themselves. Both cognitive- behavioral group therapy and exposure therapy, reduced fear of negative evaluation in social anxiety disorder. On the other hand, the cognitive-behavioral group therapy also reduced interpretation bias, but the exposure therapy could not do so.
RESUMO
Although the effectiveness of paroxetine and Attention Modification Program has been studied separately in treating social anxiety disorder, there has been no research comparing them according to the literature. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of paroxetine, Attention Modification Program [AMP] and combination of both on improving the Social Anxiety Symptoms. 33 patients meeting DSM-IV-TR criteria for social anxiety disorder were randomly assigned in 3 groups: 11 in paroxetine group, 11 in AMP group and 11 in combined group. Treatment intervention was done during 8 weeks period. Social Phobia Inventory [SPIN], Beck Depression Inventory [BDI-II] and Sheehan Disability Scale [SDS] were administered before and after treatment intervention. One-way Analysis of Covariance [ANCOVA] was used to determine the differences and efficacy of treatment interventions between groups. Data analysis was done by SPSS-16 software. 28 participants completed the treatment period. One-way ANCOVA results showed statistically significant differences in post-treatment scores of social phobia [p=0/007], depressive symptoms [p=0.007] and daily life functioning treatment is significantly more effective than AMP in reducing social phobia symptoms [p=0.007], depressive symptoms [p=0.022] and enhancing daily life functioning [0.019%]. Yet, there were no significant differences between Paroxetine and combined treatment in all post-treatment scores [p=0.890], p=1.000, p=1.000 for social phobia, depressive symptoms and daily life functioning respectively]. paroxetine showed more significant improvement of depressive symptoms [p=0.016] and enhancing daily life functioning [p=0.045] than AMP. Also, there were no significant differences between paroxetine and AMP in reducing social anxiety symptoms. It seems that paroxetine has wider effect in reducing social anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms and enhancing daily life functioning than AMP and adding to paroxetine does not make significant changes than medicating with paroxetine alone