An Interpersonal Approach to the Treatment of Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia): A Component Analysis.

Background: Most treatments of social anxiety disorder aim at anxiety reduction. To what extent this leads to improved social functioning remains unclear. An effective alternative aiming primarily at social functioning- the Interpersonal Approach- is available. The present study sought to identify its active ingredients. Methods: This is a randomized controlled study; 102 social anxiety disorder individuals were randomly assigned to 3 versions of the Interpersonal Approach. A total of 76 patients completed treatment and 67, a 1-year follow-up. The patients met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition criteria for social anxiety disorder. The study was carried out in an experimental clinic for the treatment of social anxiety disorder at the Research Center of Louis-H. Lafontaine Hospital in Montreal, Canada. Results: No clinically meaningful change occurred during the waiting list. A significant and equivalent improvement was obtained in all treatment conditions in social functioning, anxiousness, and general psychopathology, maintaining over a 12-month follow-up. Remission rates improved progressively with 54% remission at 1-year follow-up. All variants of the Interpersonal Approach resulted in similar improvements. Conclusion: The Interpersonal Approach in all its versions has proved to be effective in reducing anxiety complaints and improving social functioning. The combined improvement in these 2 outcomes accounts for the significant remission rates seen at 1-year follow-up. Two active features were common to all: (1) targeting and ultimately dissolving long-standing habits of self-protection across various spheres of life and (2) fostering participatory interpersonal patterns of behavior, enacted by patients systematically and repeatedly between sessions.

Social phobia and sexual problems: A comparison of social phobic, sexually dysfunctional and normal individuals.

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to test the putative link between social phobia and sexual functioning. METHODS: Three groups consisting of 106 social phobic, 164 sexually dysfunctional and 111 normal participants were assessed in terms of sexual functioning, social anxiety, social functioning and general psychopathology. RESULTS: Although social phobic men were less sexually active than normal men, they were as sexually satisfied. Social phobic women were alike their normal counterparts in all respects. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, social phobic individuals were not more prone to report sexual problems than normal individuals despite reporting the severest levels of social anxiety. Theoretically, our results are best understood as supporting an interpersonal conception of social phobia and a related socio-cultural perspective regarding sexual roles.

Cognitive causes of social phobia: a critical appraisal.

This review examined critically studies issuing from the cognitive therapy (CT) model claiming to have unveiled cognitive causal factors of social phobia. Additionally, it examined outcome studies of CT-inspired interventions and other treatments having included measurements of cognitive constructs. Overall, we found no evidence consistently supporting the claim that social phobics are characterized by typical cognitive processes. Moreover, we found neither corroborating evidence for a controlling effect of such cognitive processes on social phobic conduct, nor consistent indications that cognitive therapies or techniques effect cognitive changes differently than other approaches. The evidence suggests rather, that cognitive factors change concurrently with other features of psychopathology as part of an overall improvement during or after effective therapy, regardless of therapeutic approach.

[What is the specific importance of therapeutic factors in the psychological treatment of social phobia?]. / Quelle est l'importance spécifique des facteurs thérapeutiques dans le traitement psychologique de la phobie sociale?

This article describes the psychological interventions developed or adapted specifically for the treatment of social phobia. Two main strategies have been identified : anxiety reduction and improvement of social functioning. Exposure and cognitive restructuring are the main procedures for anxiety reduction. For the improvement of social functioning, social skills training is the principal procedure. The outcomes on a short and long term basis are analyzed and compared to psychopharmacology. Tasks (homework) to be performed in real-life situations between sessions are considered as an essential element of all interventions. However, these tasks are guided by the different theoretical principles inherent to each approach.