Self-Help for Social Anxiety: Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing a Mindfulness and Acceptance-Based Approach With a Control Group

Background. The purpose of the study was to examine whether the addition of a brief individual self-help package to standard primary-care treatment of depression with antidepressants is associated with any additional improvements in clinical outcome.Method. Individuals with major depressive disorder who were prescribed an antidepressant were recruited through their general practitioner (GP) and allocated randomly to standard treatment alone or standard treatment plus self-help. Assessments of symptoms, social adjustment, global functioning, satisfaction with treatment and knowledge about the management of the disorder were completed at three time points over 26 weeks.Results. One hundred and twelve individuals agreed to participate and 96 met criteria for inclusion in the randomized controlled trial. Subjects in both treatment conditions improved substantially over the study period; the mean Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) score fell from 27·3 to 13·9 in the intention-to-treat analysis. There were no between group differences in outcome on any of the primary outcome measures, nor did these approach even marginal significance. Patients and GPs were highly satisfied with the self-help programme, and the intervention as compared to the control group reported significantly greater improvements in knowledge about depression and satisfaction with information received about depression.Conclusions. An individualized self-help package improved perceived knowledge about depression but did not have identifiable effects on outcome when offered to patients treated in primary care. The study was sufficiently well powered to detect relatively small effects.

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Combining attention training with cognitive-behavior therapy in Internet-based self-help for social anxiety: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Trials ◽

10.1186/1745-6215-14-68 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 68 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Johanna Boettcher ◽

Gerhard Andersson ◽

Per Carlbring ◽

Keyword(s):

Randomized Controlled Trial ◽

Social Anxiety ◽

Behavior Therapy ◽

Study Protocol ◽

Cognitive Behavior Therapy ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Attention Training ◽

Cognitive Behavior ◽

Randomized Controlled ◽

Self Help

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Physical Activity as a Treatment for Social Anxiety in Clinical and Non-clinical Populations: A Systematic Review and Three Meta-Analyses for Different Study Designs

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fnhum.2021.653108 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 ◽

Author(s):

Maya A. Zika ◽

Linda Becker

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Systematic Review ◽

Randomized Controlled Trial ◽

Social Anxiety ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Clinical Samples ◽

Medium Size ◽

Control Group ◽

Promising Alternative ◽

Randomized Controlled

The fear of being in the focus of attention in social situations can develop into a social anxiety disorder (SAD). The classical treatment for SAD is cognitive behavioral therapy, which is in many cases accompanied by drug treatments. A promising alternative treatment is physical activity (PA) interventions, because regular PA has been shown to be suitable for reducing anxiety in general. We conducted a pre-registered systematic review and meta-analysis (PROSPERO registration no. CRD42020191181) as well as two additional searches. Our aim was to investigate whether PA interventions are a suitable treatment for SAD and whether PA is suitable for reducing social anxiety (SA) in general. For studies with randomized controlled trial designs, a not statistically significant effect of medium size toward lower general SA symptomatology was found in the PA group in comparison with the control group (d = −0.24, p = 0.377). For studies with longitudinal designs, significantly lower SA symptoms were found after PA treatments (d = −0.22, p = 0.001). The effect of PA on SA was stronger for adults than for children and adolescents (p = 0.003). For cross-sectional studies, a small negative association between SA symptoms and the amount of PA was found, i.e., lower SA was found for people who were more physically active (r = −0.12, p = 0.003). We conclude that PA is a promising means for the (additional) treatment of SAD or to reduce SA in general in non-clinical samples, but more research in which high-quality studies with randomized controlled trial designs are used is needed. Furthermore, open questions with respect to moderating variables (e.g., age, sex, BMI, type of intervention, stress, amount of regular PA before the intervention, and comorbidities) remain still open.

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Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness of a Self-Guided Internet Intervention for Social Anxiety Symptoms in a General Population Sample: Randomized Controlled Trial (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.16804 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

John Powell ◽

Veronika Williams ◽

Helen Atherton ◽

Kylie Bennett ◽

Yaling Yang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Randomized Controlled Trial ◽

Cost Effectiveness ◽

Social Anxiety ◽

General Population ◽

Primary Outcome ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Anxiety Symptoms ◽

Cognitive Behavioral ◽

Randomized Controlled ◽

Self Help

BACKGROUND Many people are accessing digital self-help for mental health problems, often with little evidence of effectiveness. Social anxiety is one of the most common sources of mental distress in the population, and many people with symptoms do not seek help for what represents a significant public health problem. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a self-guided cognitive behavioral internet intervention for people with social anxiety symptoms in the general population. METHODS We conducted a two-group randomized controlled trial in England between May 11, 2016, and June 27, 2018. Adults with social anxiety symptoms who were not receiving treatment for social anxiety were recruited using online advertisements. All participants had unrestricted access to usual care and were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to either a Web-based unguided self-help intervention based on cognitive behavioral principles or a waiting list control group. All outcomes were collected through self-report online questionnaires. The primary outcome was the change in 17-item Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN-17) score from baseline to 6 weeks using a linear mixed-effect model that used data from all time points (6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months). RESULTS A total of 2122 participants were randomized, and 6 were excluded from analyses because they were ineligible. Of the 2116 eligible randomized participants (mean age 37 years; 80.24%, 1698/2116 women), 70.13% (1484/2116) had follow-up data available for analysis, and 56.95% (1205/2116) had data on the primary outcome, although attrition was higher in the intervention arm. At 6 weeks, the mean (95% CI) adjusted difference in change in SPIN-17 score in the intervention group compared with control was −1.94 (−3.13 to −0.75; <italic>P</italic>=.001), a standardized mean difference effect size of 0.2. The improvement was maintained at 12 months. Given the high dropout rate, sensitivity analyses explored missing data assumptions, with results that were consistent with those of the primary analysis. The economic evaluation demonstrated cost-effectiveness with a small health status benefit and a reduction in health service utilization. CONCLUSIONS For people with social anxiety symptoms who are not receiving other forms of help, this study suggests that the use of an online self-help tool based on cognitive behavioral principles can provide a small improvement in social anxiety symptoms compared with no intervention, although dropout rates were high. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02451878; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02451878

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Effectiveness of self-help workbook intervention on quality of life in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy: results of a randomized controlled trial

10.21203/rs.3.rs-19471/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Toshimi Takano ◽

Ayako Matsuda ◽

Noriko Ishizuka ◽

Yukinori Ozaki ◽

Koichi Suyama ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Randomized Controlled Trial ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Emotional Functioning ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Intervention Group ◽

Control Group ◽

Randomized Controlled ◽

Self Help

Abstract Background: A self-help workbook is expected to support cancer patients to cope with physical and psychosocial distress, to facilitate communication with medical staff, and to improve quality of life (QOL). We conducted a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a self-help workbook intervention on QOL and survival. Methods: From June 2014 to March 2015, patients with breast, colorectal, gastric, and lung cancer receiving outpatient chemotherapy were randomized into an intervention group (n = 100) or control group (n = 100). Intervention group participants received workbooks originally made for this study, read advice on how to cope with distress, and filled out questionnaires on the workbooks periodically. EORTC QLQ-C30 was evaluated at baseline, at 12 weeks, and at 24 weeks. The primary endpoint was Global Health Status / QOL scale (GQOL). Results: No significant interaction was observed between the intervention and time in terms of GQOL or any of the functional scales. Among the 69 patients who continued cytotoxic chemotherapy at 24 weeks, the intervention was significantly associated with improved emotional functioning scores (P = 0.0007). Overall survival was not significantly different between the two groups. Conclusions: Self-help workbook intervention was feasible in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Although the effect of the intervention was limited, the intervention may improve emotional functioning among patients who receive long-term cytotoxic chemotherapy.Trial registration: UMIN Clinical Trials Registry, UMIN000012842. Registered 14 January 2014, https://upload.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr_e/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000015002

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