The Effectiveness of Group Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention on The Reduction of Social Phobia in Male Students

Social phobia is a common anxiety disorders that is associated with decline or failure in academic performance due to withdrawal from peers and fear of their negative evaluation. The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of group cognitive-behavioral therapy on the reduction of social phobia among male students. The study used a semi-experimental design with pretest–posttest, control group and follow-up. The study population consisted of male students in seventh and eighth grade in Tehran district 6, who were diagnosed with social phobia. Of this, 30 students were selected through convenience sampling method and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (n=15). Subjects in both groups were evaluated for Social Phobia in three stages of pre and post intervention and follow up. The experimental group received eight sessions of group cognitive-behavioral intervention based on social phobia. The results of analysis of covariance by Spss showed that the level of social phobia was significantly reduced in experimental group compared to the control group, both in the posttest and the two-and-a-half-month follow-up. It could be concluded that group cognitive behavioral interventions can be used as an effective treatment method in reduction of social phobia among male students.