Does reducing safety behaviours improve treatment response in patients with social phobia?

OBJECTIVE

This study assessed the efficacy of instructions to drop 'safety behaviours' during exposure tasks in a cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT) group treatment program for social phobia.

METHOD

Fourteen subjects with social phobia received a standardised CBT treatment program and were compared to 16 subjects with social phobia who were given additional instructions to drop safety behaviours.

RESULTS

Repeated measures of ANOVA between groups on a specific social phobia measure (SPAI) demonstrated significant benefit when instructions to drop safety behaviours were added to the treatment program.

CONCLUSIONS

The addition of instruction to drop safety behaviours in exposure tasks in the course of CBT treatment for social phobia may be useful. This result supports the cognitive model of social phobia developed by Clark and Wells (1995), which postulates that anxiety and negative beliefs about social situations are in part maintained by engaging in safety behaviours. Further replication with larger samples is required and warranted on the basis of the present study.