Effectiveness of Schema Therapy on Fear of Negative Evaluative in Female with Social Anxiety Disorder

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of group schema therapy on the fear of negative evaluation of girls with social anxiety.

The design of the present study was quasi-experimental with control and experimental groups with pre-test and post-test with a follow-up period. The statistical population included all female students with social anxiety referred to Allameh Tabatabai University Counseling Center. Available sampling method was selected from 30 people and they were assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group underwent a 10-session group schema therapy and the follow-up period continued until two months after the end of treatment. In order to collect data in the pre-test and post-test stages for the two groups, the Young Schema Scale, the Social Anxiety Inventory (LSAS), and the Fear of Negative Assessment Questionnaire (FNE) were used. The obtained data were analyzed using a mixed analysis of variance test with repeated measures.

The results of evaluations at the end of treatment showed that schema therapy significantly reduced the fear of negative evaluation and continued its effect in the two-month follow-up phase in the experimental group. In general, it can be said that group therapy based on schema has the necessary efficiency and effectiveness in reducing the main goal of treatment, namely fear of negative evaluation in the sample of Iranian female students with social anxiety.