Group CBT versus MBSR for social anxiety disorder: A randomized controlled trial.
Philippe R. Goldin, Amanda S Morrison, Hooria Jazaieri, Faith Brozovich, Richard G. Heimberg, James J. Gross
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology May 2016 DOI: 10.1037/ccp0000092 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 108 |
| Population | Unmedicated adults with generalized social anxiety disorder (55.6% female; mean age 32.7 years; 43.5% Caucasian, 39% Asian, 9.3% Hispanic, 8.3% other) |
| Interventions | Cognitive-behavioral group therapy (CBGT) Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) |
| Duration | Assessments at baseline, posttreatment/waitlist, and 1-year follow-up |
| Measures | Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale-Self-Report (primary outcome), measures of treatment-related processes |
| Topics | Anxiety Meditation |
| Key findings | CBGT and MBSR both produced greater improvements in social anxiety symptoms than a waitlist, with similar effects on most measures. CBGT led to greater decreases in subtle avoidance behaviors than MBSR. Improvements in reappraisal frequency, mindfulness skills, attention focusing and shifting, and reductions in subtle avoidance and cognitive distortions mediated both treatments' effects; reappraisal self-efficacy and avoidance decreases mediated CBGT's advantage over MBSR. |
Abstract
The goal of this study was to investigate treatment outcome and mediators of cognitive-behavioral group therapy (CBGT) versus mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) versus waitlist (WL) in patients with generalized social anxiety disorder (SAD). One hundred eight unmedicated patients (55.6% female; mean age = 32.7 years, SD = 8.0; 43.5% Caucasian, 39% Asian, 9.3% Hispanic, 8.3% other) were randomized to CBGT versus MBSR versus WL and completed assessments at baseline, posttreatment/WL, and at 1-year follow-up, including the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale-Self-Report (primary outcome; Liebowitz, 1987) as well as measures of treatment-related processes. Linear mixed model analysis showed that CBGT and MBSR both produced greater improvements on most measures compared with WL. Both treatments yielded similar improvements in social anxiety symptoms, cognitive reappraisal frequency and self-efficacy, cognitive distortions, mindfulness skills, attention focusing, and rumination. There were greater decreases in subtle avoidance behaviors following CBGT than MBSR. Mediation analyses revealed that increases in reappraisal frequency, mindfulness skills, attention focusing, and attention shifting, and decreases in subtle avoidance behaviors and cognitive distortions, mediated the impact of both CBGT and MBSR on social anxiety symptoms. However, increases in reappraisal self-efficacy and decreases in avoidance behaviors mediated the impact of CBGT (vs. MBSR) on social anxiety symptoms. CBGT and MBSR both appear to be efficacious for SAD. However, their effects may be a result of both shared and unique changes in underlying psychological processes.
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on anxiety, most cited first.
Citations in the library
Cited by 43
- Mindfulness Interventions Annual Review of Psychology September 30, 2016
- Mind the Hype: A Critical Evaluation and Prescriptive Agenda for Research on Mindfulness and Meditation Perspectives on Psychological Science October 10, 2017
- Mindfulness Meditation and Psychopathology Annual Review of Clinical Psychology December 11, 2018
- Testing the mindfulness-to-meaning theory: Evidence for mindful positive emotion regulation from a reanalysis of longitudinal data. PLoS One December 6, 2017
- Positive Psychological States in the Arc from Mindfulness to Self-Transcendence: Extensions of the Mindfulness-to-Meaning Theory and Applications to Addiction and Chronic Pain Treatment Current Opinion in Psychology January 14, 2019
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Cites 9
- Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness Assessment January 27, 2006
- How do mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction improve mental health and wellbeing? A systematic review and meta-analysis of mediation studies. Clinical Psychology Review April 1, 2015
- MBSR vs aerobic exercise in social anxiety: fMRI of emotion regulation of negative self-beliefs. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience May 13, 2012
- Randomized controlled trial of mindfulness-based stress reduction versus aerobic exercise: effects on the self-referential brain network in social anxiety disorder. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2012
- The Effect of Mindfulness-Based Therapy on Anxiety and Depression: A Meta-Analytic Review Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology April 1, 2010
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