Effectiveness of the Internet-Based Self-Help Program for Social Anxiety Disorder

Abstract

This study examined the effectiveness of the Internet-based self-help program for social anxiety disorder.Twenty six individuals with social anxiety disorder were assigned to eight sessions of the internet-based self-help program or to a waiting list control group. Korean version of Social Avoidance and Distress Scale (SADS), Brief Fear of negative Evaluation Scale (BFNE), Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS), Social Phobia Scale (SPS), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were administered before, after four sessions, and after treatment to all participants. The effectiveness of the Internet-based self-help program was analyzed using repeated-measure ANOVAs. Participants in the self-help program showed significant improvement on SADS, SPS, but changes were not significant on BFNE and SIAS. In addition, there were moderate to large effect sizes (0.70 to 1.21). These findings demonstrated that the Internet-based self-help program could provide a cost effective intervention method for individuals with social anxiety disorder.

The effects of a group cognitive behavioral therapy program using video communication for pregnant women with depressed mood in Korea: a pilot study

“…The minimum number of participants required in a single group was 12 when estimated using G*Power version 3.1.9 with a significance level of .05, an effect size of .80, and a power of .80 with a one-sided test. In previous Korean experimental studies involving pregnant women [12,19], the number of participants was around 10. Due to the low participation during the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, a total of 13 people who agreed to participate in the study were included in the final analysis.…”

“…The program involved eight sessions (twice a week for 4 weeks) based on previous studies [12,18] and is presented in Table 1. Each session was 80 minutes, with CBT content consisting of 50 minutes and 30 minutes for introduction, overview, and checking on assignments.…”

“…In CBT, feedback and communication between the therapist and the client are important; thus, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has made the application of face-to-face CBT difficult. However, online CBT is advantageous insofar as it enables interventions involving interactions between the therapist and the client without restrictions on time and place [12]. Compared to individual treatment, group CBT is more efficient in terms of time and cost, since it provides the benefits of treatment to many people [12] and is effective at alleviating negative psychological effects such as depression, automatic thoughts [8], emotion regulation [9], and anxiety [12].…”

“…However, online CBT is advantageous insofar as it enables interventions involving interactions between the therapist and the client without restrictions on time and place [12]. Compared to individual treatment, group CBT is more efficient in terms of time and cost, since it provides the benefits of treatment to many people [12] and is effective at alleviating negative psychological effects such as depression, automatic thoughts [8], emotion regulation [9], and anxiety [12]. Furthermore, the ability of video communication to enable real-time communication among users and immediate feedback is expected to augment the effect of therapeutic interventions in CBT.…”