Do worry and its associated cognitive variables alter following CBT treatment in a youth population with Social Anxiety Disorder? Results from a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) affects between 1 and 10% of children (Anderson, Williams, McGee, & Silva, 1989; Kashani & Orvaschel, 1990; Schneier, 2006), and in adolescents, has a lifetime prevalence ranging from 3.9%–13.7% (Fehm, Pelissolo, Furmark, & Wittchen, 2005; Kessler et al., 2005; Kessler et al., 2012; Ruscio et al., 2008). SAD confers significant deleterious consequences (Beesdo et al., 2007; Wittchen, Fuetsch et al., 1999; Wittchen, Stein, & Kessler, 1999), and if left untreated, tends to persist (Beesdo-Baum et al., 2012; Burstein et al., 2011; Kessler et al., 2012). It commonly co-occurs with other mood and anxiety disorders and is particularly comorbid with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), with research demonstrating that pure forms of either GAD or SAD are relatively rare (Walkup et al., 2008). Not only is SAD in youth prevalent, detrimental and persistent, but there are also less positive outcomes following CBT for those suffering with SAD compared to those afflicted with other anxiety disorders (Ginsburg et al., 2011; Hudson et al., 2015).