Scientific article: Systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of psychotherapy for social anxiety disorder

This study synthesizes evidence from 66 randomized controlled trials on psychotherapy for social anxiety disorder (SAD). The findings of this study demonstrate that psychotherapy is effective across various approaches (e.g., CBT, exposure, third-wave therapies).

Although treatment formats differed significantly, all showed moderate to high effect sizes, supporting the use of (guided) self-help, especially in low-resource settings.

The results support broad dissemination of psychotherapy to improve SAD treatment availability. However, more high-quality, long-term studies, particularly in under-resourced contexts, are needed to confirm both short- and long-term effectiveness.

Organisations involved: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Reference:
de Ponti, N., Matbouriahi, M., Franco, P., Harrer, M., Miguel, C., Papola, D., Sicimoğlu, A., Cuijpers, P., & Karyotaki, E. (2024). The efficacy of psychotherapy for social anxiety disorder, a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of anxiety disorders, 104, 10288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2024.102881