The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Attention Bias to Threat and Safety Behaviors in Students with Social Anxiety Disorder

The purpose of the present study was evaluation of the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on attention bias to threat and safety behaviors in students with social anxiety disorder (SAD) symptoms. The research design was quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest, follow-up with the control group. The statistical population of the research included all students aged 16-19 with SAD symptoms in Songhor city in 2022. By purposeful sampling method, 28 students were selected and assigned equally to experimental and control groups. Pictorial Dot Probe Task and Social Phobia Safety Behaviors Scale were used in three stages. The experimental group received eight 90-minute treatment sessions based on acceptance and commitment therapy protocol for social anxiety disorder in Adolescence (Alves et al.). Data were analyzed by mixed analysis of variance with repeated measure. The results showed that there was a significant difference in the average scores of the experimental group compared to the control group in the post-test stage. Also, therapeutic gains had maintained in the follow-up stage. Therefore, to reduce attention bias and safety behaviors in students with this disorder, acceptance and commitment therapy can be used by psychotherapists.