Social Anxiety Intervention Study

A psychologist conducted a study to investigate the effectiveness of different interventions for social anxiety in young adults.

Thirty-six young adults diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder participated. At the start of the study, the researchers recorded the frequency of weekly avoidance behaviours for each participant.

The participants were randomly allocated to one of three groups of 12:

• Group A received 8 weeks of intensive Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).
• Group B received 8 weeks of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).
• Group C acted as a waitlist control group and received no active intervention.

At the end of the 8-week period, the researchers again recorded the frequency of weekly avoidance behaviours. Results showed a significant reduction in avoidance behaviours for Groups A and B, but no change for Group C.