Effect of Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy in Combination with Social Skill Training on Fear of Negative Evaluation and Social Avoidance

Introduction: Individuals with social phobia suffer from both cognitive distortions and social avoidance and perform poorly in using the appropriate social skills. Thus, the present study aims at studying the combined effect of the Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy and Social Skills Training [CBGT+SST] on Social Avoidance [SAD] and Fear of Negative Evaluation [FNE] in students.
Method: This study is an Experimental type [Pre-test and Post-test, with Control group and random assignment].
The clients were subjected to structured clinical interviews according to DSM-IV and social anxiety inventory. They were assigned randomly into Experimental groups [intervention of combining Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy And Social Skills Training] and the Control group [Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy] by using convenient sampling method [13 persons in each group]. After a 12-session treatment [three months, each session being 2 hours], the social anxiety inventory was repeated as a post-test in both groups.
Results: The results of the statistical analysis of t test shows that, a combination of the cognitive behavioral group therapy and social skills training in comparison to merely cognitive-behavioral group therapy would significantly reduce Social Avoidance and Fear of Negative Evaluation in students.
Conclusion: It is recommended that social skills training be added to common treatments of social phobia.