Meta-analysis of Effectiveness of Group Interventions in Social Anxiety Disorder

The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of group interventions and compare the efficacy of behavioral group therapy, cognitive group therapy and cognitive-behavioral group therapy in social anxiety disorder by using meta-analysis method based on the Hunter and Schmidt approach. Forty seven studies which were accepted methodologically and conducted within the last 20 years in Iran were included in the meta-analysis. The checklist of meta-analysis with 1743 participants and 51 effect sizes were used. The results indicated that the effect size of the group interventions on social anxiety disorder was 0.62, and this was true of children, adolescents and adults groups. The effect size of behavioral group therapy, cognitive group therapy, and cognitive-behavioral group therapy were 0.59, 0.69, and 0.68, respectively. This study suggested that the effect size of group interventions on social anxiety disorder was large, and this was true of all age groups. Although all group therapies were effective, the efficacy of cognitive group therapy and cognitive-behavioral group therapy were more than behavioral group therapy.