The Effects of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Based on Hofmann's Model on Anxiety Sensitivity and Positive and Negative Affects Among Undergraduate Female Students with Social Anxiety Symptoms in Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences

Social anxiety is the most prevalent psychiatric disorder in the student population and is known to affect many aspects of one’s life. This disorder cannot be treated spontaneously without medical and educational interventions and may lead to more serious mental damages.
The purpose of the current research was to study the effects of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) based on Hofmann’s model on anxiety sensitivity and positive and negative affects among undergraduate female students with social anxiety symptoms in Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences.
The statistical population consisted of all female BA students of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences. This study was conducted on 32 female students with symptoms of social anxiety, who were selected through simple random sampling among BA students. The participants were assigned into two groups: experimental and control (16 students per group). The research instruments included the social phobia inventory (SPIN), anxiety sensitivity index-revised (ASI-R), and positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS). Before starting the intervention, a pretest (using ASI-R and PANAS) was performed in each group. Then, the experimental group was exposed to Hofmann-based CBT intervention for 8 weekly sessions (90 minutes), whereas the control group received no intervention. The two questionnaires were administered again at the post-test stage.
The results of covariance analysis showed that Hofmann-based CBT could decrease anxiety sensitivity and negative affect, while it increased positive affect among the participants.
CBT based on Hoffman’s model is an effective treatment for reducing social anxiety; therefore, this method is recommended to psychologists and consultants.