Current, therapeutic models tend to mix cognitive and behavioral methods. The patient’s evidence for his or her negative belief is cognitive ly questioned, but. emphasis is also put. on behavioral experiments to

test the irrational assumptions. Treatment, classically involves about, 15 to 20 sessions in individual and/or group. Outcomes The effectiveness of BT on various types of social anxiety has been demonstrated in several controlled trials. Social phobia, as such, attracted the interest of clinical researchers after its inclusion in DSM-III,42-44 and was studied in controlled trials of SST, buy AZD8931 systematic desensitization, and in vivo exposure.92,93 CT, too, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical demonstrated its effectiveness in studies using waiting list, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical or other therapies as control.94-96 Two studies reported some advantages of CT

combined with exposure over exposure alone,97,98 while one did not.99 Another study100 found, in a mixed sample of socially inadequate and phobic patients, that role playing and exposure were superior to cognitive restructuring at. a 6-month follow-up. Some researchers noticed that the gains of exposure therapy were often limited by the negative influence of cognitive factors that impeded anxiety reduction.101 To deal with this problem, a. study102 designed a Cognitive Behavioral Group Treatment (CBGT), which was compared with a credible placebo: lectures and ST. At a 6month follow-up, CBGT demonstrated clearly higher effects: 75% Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of the patients in CBGT were improved versus 40% of those in ST. This was confirmed in follow-ups ranging between 4 and

6 years.103 A dismantling study104 comparing CBGT with Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical exposure found that, each of the two methods was superior to a waiting list, with a slight, advantage of exposure over CT on some measures. The rate of responders Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical was not, statistically different in the two active conditions. Surprisingly, there was no greater improvement, on cognitive measures in the CBGT group. At. a 6-month follow-up there was no longer any between-group difference. Another trial105 showed, in limited social phobias, that CT followed by exposure, exposure followed by CT, or the combination of both had the same positive effects without significant, difference at a 3-month follow-up. The same authors106 demonstrated that CT followed by exposure was better than their combination or exposure followed by CT in generalized social phobia, at a 3month follow-up. A meta-analysis107 of 12 CBT and 9 exposure studies STK38 concluded that CBT did not, yield better outcomes than exposure therapy, on self-report measures of social anxiety, cognitive symptoms, and depressed/anxious mood, at posttest and follow-up. Another meta-analysis108 included 42 treatment outcome trials and tested 6 conditions: waiting list, placebo, exposure, CT, CT plus exposure, and SST. All the interventions, including placebo, produced larger effect, sizes than a waiting list, and did not. differ in dropout, proportions (12% to 18%).