Systemic Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorders

Heidelberg University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Social Anxiety Disorder

Treatments: Behavioral: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder; Behavioral: Systemic Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02360033

SOPHO-PT-2014

Details and patient eligibility

About

Goals of the study:

Systemic Therapy was approved in 2008 by the Scientific Advisory Board on Psychotherapy (Wissenschaftlicher Beirat Psychotherapie: WBP) for a variety of disorders which, at the time, did not include anxiety disorders. According to the 2007 joint methods paper of the WBP and the Mutual Federal Committee (Gemeinsamen Bundesausschuss: G-Ba), there must be three randomized-controlled trials (RCT) for anxiety disorders. These studies are available now but lack explicit details about the clinical significance of the reductions they show in social anxiety symptoms. This project is funded by the German Association for Systemic Therapy, Counseling and Family Therapy (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Systemische Therapie, Beratung und Familientherapie: DGSF).

Study design:

The study is planned as a mono-centric, balanced pilot RCT. It investigates the feasibility of an RCT comparing Systemic Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorders (SAD) in 32 patients.

Enrollment: 38 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Social Anxiety Disorder (SKID: ICD-Diagnosis: F40.1, Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale > 30);
• Agreement to participate in the study and to be randomized into the two treatment groups

Exclusion criteria

• Acute drug or alcohol intoxication or dependency
• Anorexia with BMI < 14
• Psychotic disorder
• Severe physical diseases

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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38 participants in 2 patient groups

Systemic Therapy

Experimental group

Description:

Systemic Therapy deals with the experience in private social systems (e.g. couples. Family, friends) and organizational systems (e.g. work teams), their appraisals and the attitude of the members towards each other within the system. It is analyzed how these systems can lead to the development and maintenance of psychological disorders.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Systemic Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Experimental group

Description:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy deals with individual behavior as well as individual attitude, thoughts, appraisals and beliefs, which can have an influence on the development and maintenance of psychological disorders.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder