Comparison of Effectiveness of Cognitive- behavioral Group Therapy and Exposure Therapy in Social Anxiety Disorder

The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of cognitive- behavioral group therapy and exposure therapy on reduction of social anxiety disorder symptoms and also to compare the effect of these two therapeutic methods on reduction of general anxiety and depression in this disorder. In a pre-post test experimental design with control group, 24 students studying at B.S level in health school of Iran university of medical sciences with diagnosis of social anxiety disorder were selected by convenience sampling and then in a complete randomly method all of the subjects allocated to three groups of8- subject groups (cognitive- behavioral group therapy, exposure therapy, and waiting list control group). Twelve sessions of cognitive- behavioral group therapy and exposure therapy were carried out according to a standard manual of therapy, and waiting list control group did not receive any kind of treatment. Data were gathered through administration of Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN), BECK Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and BeckDepression Inventory-II (BDI-II). For data analysis statistical methods such as frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and covariance were used. Findings indicated thatthere is no significant difference between cognitive- behavioral group therapy and exposure therapy in reduction of intensity on social anxiety disorder (P= 0.84). In addition, result indicated that both cognitive- behavioral group therapy and exposuretherapy reduced intensity of general anxiety in comparison with waiting list control group (P=0.002) significantly. Results also indicated that both of these therapeutic methods reduced intensity of depression in socially anxious subjects in comparison with waiting list control group (P=0.001 & P=0.01), significantly. Cognitive- behavioral group therapy and exposure therapy do not differ from each other considering their global efficacy in social anxiety disorder, and due to these therapy methods the general anxiety and depression will be reduced.