scholarly journals Effectiveness of a Participatory and Interactive Virtual Reality Intervention in Patients With Social Anxiety Disorder: Longitudinal Questionnaire Study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyun-Jin Kim ◽  
Seulki Lee ◽  
Dooyoung Jung ◽  
Ji-Won Hur ◽  
Heon-Jeong Lee ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by excessive fear of negative evaluation and humiliation in social interactions and situations. Virtual reality (VR) treatment is a promising intervention option for SAD. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to create a participatory and interactive VR intervention for SAD. Treatment progress, including the severity of symptoms and the cognitive and emotional aspects of SAD, was analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. METHODS In total, 32 individuals with SAD and 34 healthy control participants were enrolled in the study through advertisements for online bulletin boards at universities. A VR intervention was designed consisting of three stages (introduction, core, and finishing) and three difficulty levels (easy, medium, and hard) that could be selected by the participants. The core stage was the exposure intervention in which participants engaged in social situations. The effectiveness of treatment was assessed through Beck Anxiety inventory (BAI), State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Internalized Shame Scale (ISS), Post-Event Rumination Scale (PERS), Social Phobia Scale (SPS), Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS), Brief-Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (BFNE), and Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS). RESULTS In the SAD group, scores on the BAI (<i>F</i>=4.616, <i>P</i>=.009), STAI-Trait (<i>F</i>=4.670, <i>P</i>=.004), ISS (<i>F</i>=6.924, <i>P</i>=.001), PERS-negative (<i>F</i>=1.008, <i>P</i>&lt;.001), SPS (<i>F</i>=8.456, <i>P</i>&lt;.001), BFNE (<i>F</i>=6.117, <i>P</i>=.004), KSAD (<i>F</i>=13.259, <i>P</i>&lt;.001), and LSAS (<i>F</i>=4.103, <i>P</i>=.009) significantly improved over the treatment process. Compared with the healthy control group before treatment, the SAD group showed significantly higher scores on all scales (<i>P</i>&lt;.001), and these significant differences persisted even after treatment (<i>P</i>&lt;.001). In the comparison between the VR treatment responder and nonresponder subgroups, there was no significant difference across the course of the VR session. CONCLUSIONS These findings indicated that a participatory and interactive VR intervention had a significant effect on alleviation of the clinical symptoms of SAD, confirming the usefulness of VR for the treatment of SAD. VR treatment is expected to be one of various beneficial therapeutic approaches in the future. CLINICALTRIAL Clinical Research Information Service (CRIS) KCT0003854; https://cris.nih.go.kr/cris/search/search_result_st01.jsp?seq=13508

10.2196/23024 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. e23024
Author(s):  
Hyun-Jin Kim ◽  
Seulki Lee ◽  
Dooyoung Jung ◽  
Ji-Won Hur ◽  
Heon-Jeong Lee ◽  
...  

Background Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by excessive fear of negative evaluation and humiliation in social interactions and situations. Virtual reality (VR) treatment is a promising intervention option for SAD. Objective The purpose of this study was to create a participatory and interactive VR intervention for SAD. Treatment progress, including the severity of symptoms and the cognitive and emotional aspects of SAD, was analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. Methods In total, 32 individuals with SAD and 34 healthy control participants were enrolled in the study through advertisements for online bulletin boards at universities. A VR intervention was designed consisting of three stages (introduction, core, and finishing) and three difficulty levels (easy, medium, and hard) that could be selected by the participants. The core stage was the exposure intervention in which participants engaged in social situations. The effectiveness of treatment was assessed through Beck Anxiety inventory (BAI), State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Internalized Shame Scale (ISS), Post-Event Rumination Scale (PERS), Social Phobia Scale (SPS), Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS), Brief-Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (BFNE), and Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS). Results In the SAD group, scores on the BAI (F=4.616, P=.009), STAI-Trait (F=4.670, P=.004), ISS (F=6.924, P=.001), PERS-negative (F=1.008, P<.001), SPS (F=8.456, P<.001), BFNE (F=6.117, P=.004), KSAD (F=13.259, P<.001), and LSAS (F=4.103, P=.009) significantly improved over the treatment process. Compared with the healthy control group before treatment, the SAD group showed significantly higher scores on all scales (P<.001), and these significant differences persisted even after treatment (P<.001). In the comparison between the VR treatment responder and nonresponder subgroups, there was no significant difference across the course of the VR session. Conclusions These findings indicated that a participatory and interactive VR intervention had a significant effect on alleviation of the clinical symptoms of SAD, confirming the usefulness of VR for the treatment of SAD. VR treatment is expected to be one of various beneficial therapeutic approaches in the future. Trial Registration Clinical Research Information Service (CRIS) KCT0003854; https://cris.nih.go.kr/cris/search/search_result_st01.jsp?seq=13508


Author(s):  
Esmail Soltani ◽  
◽  
Seyed Abdolmajid Bahrainian ◽  
Ali Farhoudian ◽  
Abbas Masjedi Arani ◽  
...  

Objectives: The purpose of the current study was to examine the effectiveness of ACT on symptom severity, fear about negative evaluation, quality of life and mediation role of acceptance, cognitive fusion and value among patients with Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). Methods: Thirty patients diagnosed with SAD were randomized in the intervention (n=15) or waiting list groups (n=15). The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI), Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (BFNE), WHO Quality of Life (WHOQOL), Social Anxiety - Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (SA-AAQ), Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire (CFQ) and Valued Living Questionnaire (VLQ) were administered before, immediately after, and at one month follow up. Repeated measurement design was used in the intervention group to investigate the changes of mediation and outcomes variables in the pretest, during, and post- therapy. Twenty-four patients completed the study. One-way analysis of covariance, Multivariate analysis of covariance and repeated measures was used for analysis. Results: Results showed that there were differences between the intervention and waiting list groups on the severity of symptoms (p=0.001), fear of negative evaluation (p=0.002), and quality of life (p=0.03), as well as in terms of specific measures of SA-AAQ(p=0.001), cognitive fusion (p=0.001), and important section of VLQ(p=0.001). Repeated measurement result showed that acceptance and action of social anxiety and cognitive fusion had a mediating role in the severity of anxiety, fear about negative evaluation, and quality of life. Discussion: Results of the study indicate the effectiveness of ACT for SAD and highlighted mediator contribution acceptance and action and cognitive fusion in severity of social anxiety.


2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (S1) ◽  
pp. 1-1 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Anari ◽  
P. Ddadsetan ◽  
B. Saleh Sedghpour

The effectiveness of Drama therapy on decreasing of the symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder (Performance Anxiety, Performance Avoidance, Social Anxiety & Social Performance Subtests) in 10-11 years old children was investigated in this study. 2 schools were randomly selected from elementary schools of Tehran city. First, Validation the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale for Children and Adolescents (Liebowitz, Klein & Masia-Warner, 2003) is done in one of that school; Then, in two schools, from 300 children ages 10-11, 32 children whose had received the highest scores on the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale for Children and Adolescents (LSAS-CA) were selected. Subjects were divided into control and experimental groups. Experimental group received Drama therapy intervention for 6 weeks, twice a week sessions lasting two hours. The results were analyzed using covariance and indicated the children in experimental group reported a significant decrease in symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder (Performance Anxiety, Performance Avoidance, Social Anxiety & Social Performance Subtests) as compared to the control group. In addition, in 3 month follow up, results had stabilized in experimental group as compared to the control group. The emerged findings can have clinical application in prevention and treatment of social anxiety disorder in children.


2011 ◽  
Vol 108 (3) ◽  
pp. 955-962 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ebrahim Rezaei Dogaheh ◽  
Parvaneh Mohammadkhani ◽  
Behrooz Dolatshahi

Previous studies have established the efficacy of group and individual formats of cognitive-behavioral therapy in reducing fear of negative evaluation in social anxiety disorder, but the effectiveness of the group and individual therapies has not been widely assessed. This study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of cognitive-behavior group therapy to individual cognitive-behavioral therapy in social anxiety disorder. 28 patients were randomly allocated to two groups of 14. Each group participated in 12 weekly sessions. The final sample was 22 participants after drop-out. Pretest and posttest data were collected using the Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory-II. Controlling for pretest fear of negative evaluation and depression, cognitive-behavioral group therapy was more effective than individual cognitive-behavioral therapy in reducing fear of negative evaluation, but the clinical significance and improvement rates of the two treatment formats were equivalent.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ofelia Romero-Cerecero ◽  
Ana Laura Islas-Garduño ◽  
Alejandro Zamilpa ◽  
Ma. Dolores Pérez-García ◽  
Jaime Tortoriello

Social anxiety is one of the most common disorders found in the population attending the first level of health care. Galphimia glauca has been used for many years in Mexican traditional medicine to treat “nervous disorders”. A standardized extract of this species has been evaluated in clinical studies that have proven its efficacy and safety in patients with generalized anxiety disorder. In this work, a double-blind clinical trial was carried out, using sertraline as a control. Patients from both sexes (18 to 35 years old) with moderate or severe social anxiety were included. Experimental group was treated daily (orally), for 10 weeks, with an extract from G. glauca containing 0.374 mg/dose of Galphimine-B (G-B, active compound). Patients in the control group were given sertraline (50 mg) in the same conditions. All patients were evaluated every two weeks. Another assessment was done one month after the end of the administration period. A total of 34 patients was included, 17 in each group. Women were predominant, and the mean age was 25 ± 4.7 years. In patients who received the G. glauca standardized extract, a significant reduction in anxiety was observed, with a value (in the Brief Social Phobia Scale) of 41.1±10.3 points at the start and 11.2±5.6 points at the end of treatment, while patients treated with sertraline had a value of 37.7±7.3 points at the beginning and 11.1±5.2 points at the end. No significant difference was observed between the treated groups. In a similar way, the health scale showed a gradual and continuous improvement in each of the five evaluations. In conclusion, the 10-week oral administration of G. glauca standardized extract showed efficacy and safety in patients with social anxiety disorder, without showing a significant difference from patients treated with sertraline.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanieh Abeditehrani ◽  
Corine Dijk ◽  
Mahdi Sahragard Toghchi ◽  
Arnoud Arntz

Background Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is generally considered to be the most effective psychological treatment for social anxiety disorder (SAD). Nevertheless, many patients with SAD are still symptomatic after treatment. The present pilot study aimed to examine integrating CBT, with a focus on cognitive and behavioral techniques, and psychodrama, which focuses more on experiential techniques into a combined treatment (CBPT) for social anxious patients in a group format. This new intervention for SAD is described session-by-session. Method Five adult female patients diagnosed with social anxiety disorder participated in a twelve-session CBPT in a group format. Pretest and posttest scores of social anxiety, avoidance, spontaneity, cost and probability estimates of negative social events, depression, and quality of life were compared, as were weekly assessments of fear of negative evaluation. Results Results demonstrated a significant reduction of the fear of negative evaluation and social anxiety symptoms. It is noteworthy that also the scores of the probability and cost estimates decreased. However, there were no significant differences between pre and post measures in any of other measures. Conclusion The current study suggests that group CBPT might be an effective treatment for SAD. However, our sample size was small and this was an uncontrolled study. Therefore, it is necessary to test this intervention in a randomized controlled trial with follow-up assessments.


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