Comparison of the Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Neurofeedback: Reducing Anxiety Symptoms

Abstract

Objectives:The current study aimed at investigating the effect of neurofeedback (NF) therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) on reduction of anxiety symptoms in females with social anxiety disorders. Methods: The current pseudo-experimental study with pretest-posttest design and a control group was conducted on a population of patients with social anxiety disorder referring to a psychology clinic in Kurdistan Province, Iran. The sample size comprised of 30 females selected by random sampling method and assigned to groups of NF and CBT. Data elicited from the Libowitz social anxiety questionnaire to detect the subjects with social anxiety and the Millon clinical multiaxial inventory (MCMI III) in order to exclude subjects with personality disorder. Data were analyzed with SPSS. Covariance analysis test and dependent t test were performed on CBT and NF groups. Results: The current study findings showed that both CBT and NF groups were impressive in reducing the level of social anxiety in the study subjects. Also, based on the results of the current study the therapy methods had no significant differences between the two groups. Conclusions: Both treatments were significantly effective, and therefore both NF and CBT can be applied as choice therapies to treat social anxiety.

Personalized Brain-Computer Interface-based Intervention for Mindful Anxiety Regulation in Young Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial

“…Assuming an attrition rate of 20%, a total sample size of 30 can give a precision level (width of 95% confidence interval) of about ±20% margin of error. A sample size of 30 participants was considered adequate to find significant differences in the main outcome variables [e.g., 15,16,17].…”

“…Given its non-invasiveness and portability [16], and that 96-97% of individuals aged [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] years in Singapore regularly use technology [14], BCI technology may serve as a feasible means for self-administration of treatment at home.…”

“…Recent preliminary studies suggest that biofeedback-based relaxation and mindfulness training are useful for both healthy and anxious individuals [13]. Given its non-invasiveness and portability [16], and that 96–97% of individuals aged 15–34 years in Singapore regularly use technology [14], BCI technology may serve as a feasible means for self-administration of treatment at home.…”

Effect of Neurofeedback Training on Aggression and Impulsivity in Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Double-Blinded Randomized Controlled Trial

“…According to these, determining therapeutic approaches to reduce impulsivity and aggression in ADHD are important issues. Medical treatment is proven to decrease aggression similar to the core symptoms of ADHD (Connor et al, 2002); In addition to medical treatments that have side effects such as decreased appetite, dry mouth, excessive sweating, headache, and so on (Morton and Stockton, 2000), there are non-medical treatments to reduce aggression (Murphy et al, 2014).Among the non-medical treatments in ADHD, neurofeedback (NF) training is one of the behavioral therapeutic methods that is more efficient than other behavioral approaches such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (Abbasi et al, 2018, Khodabakhsh Pirkalani et al, 2019, Pendar et al, 2018, Shokhmgar et al, 2019. NF facilitates emotion regulation through operant conditioning and learned control (Enriquez-Geppert et al, 2017, Sherlin et al, 2011.…”

“…( Morton and Stockton, 2000 ), there are non-medical treatments to reduce aggression ( Murphy et al, 2014 ). Among the non-medical treatments for ADHD, Neurofeedback (NF) training is one of the behavioral therapeutic methods that are more efficient than other behavioral approaches, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy ( Abbasi, Shariati, & Tajikzadeh, 2018 ; Khodabakhsh Pirkalani, Taghavi, & Rastgoo, 2020 ; Pendar et al, 2018 ; Shokhmgar et al, 2019 ). NF facilitates emotion regulation through operant conditioning and learned control ( Enriquez-Geppert, Huster, & Herrmann, 2017 ; Sherlin et al, 2011 ).…”