Logo image
Back
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Generalized Social Anxiety Disorder: A Pilot Study
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Generalized Social Anxiety Disorder: A Pilot Study

Kristy L. Dalrymple and James D. Herbert
Behavior modification, v 31(5), pp 543-568
Sep 2007
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0145445507302037
PMID: 17699117
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel

Abstract

Despite the demonstrated efficacy of cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) for social anxiety disorder (SAD), many individuals do not respond to treatment or demonstrate residual symptoms and impairment posttreatment. Preliminary evidence indicates that acceptance-based approaches (e.g., acceptance and commitment therapy; ACT) can be helpful for a variety of disorders and emphasize exposure-based strategies and processes. Nineteen individuals diagnosed with SAD participated in a 12-week program integrating exposure therapy and ACT. Results revealed no changes across a 4-week baseline control period. From pretreatment to follow-up, significant improvements occurred in social anxiety symptoms and quality of life, yielding large effect size gains. Significant changes also were found in ACT-consistent process measures, and earlier changes in experiential avoidance predicted later changes in symptom severity. Results suggest the acceptability and potential efficacy of ACT for SAD and highlight the need for future research examining both the efficacy and mechanisms of change of acceptance-based programs for SAD.

Metrics

16 Record Views
185 citations in Web of Science
216 citations in Scopus

Details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

InCites Highlights

Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:

Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Psychology, Clinical
Logo image