Comparing the Effectiveness of Music Therapy and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy on Social Anxiety Disorder and Its Related Symptoms in Adolescents 15 to 18 Years Old

Social anxiety disorder, which is also very common in adolescence, refers to significant clinical anxiety experienced after confronting certain types of social or functional situations that often leads to avoidance behavior. Epidemiological reports have shown that adolescents are more likely to experience social anxiety than others. Adolescents with social anxiety are vulnerable to unhealthy relationships, emotional developmental disorders, and associated psychological problems. Anxiety disorder is reported in almost 20% of adolescents. Because limited treatments are available to treat anxiety disorders in adolescents, most of them are not adequately treated. On the other hand, because of few studies in this area, new therapeutic interventions for this psychological condition are necessary. Social anxiety is one of the most common disorders in adolescence that can damage health, awareness, and self–esteem. Previous research has shown that music therapy improves well–being by providing pleasure, social interaction, improving memory, and social participation. Music is a powerful tool to help patients with chronic schizophrenia. Music can allow teenagers to open channels of self–expression on an entirely personal level. Music can be used as a tool for socialization and promote interaction between people. Musical intervention can be a great mediator for reforming social bonds. There are relatively few studies about music intervention for adolescents. Because music intervention cannot have potential effects alone on social anxiety disorder, the role of other therapeutic methods should also be recognized. Combining music therapy with cognitive–behavioral therapy is essential. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of music therapy and cognitive–behavioral therapy on social anxiety disorder and its related symptoms in adolescents.

The research method was quasi–experimental with a pretest–posttest design with a control group. The study's statistical population consisted of all adolescents 15 to 18 years old with a social anxiety disorder and related symptoms who were referred to psychological counseling centers in Karaj City, Iran, in 2019. A total of 60 eligible adolescents were selected and randomly divided into two experimental groups and one control group (each group of 20 participants). Cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT) and music therapy were applied to the experimental groups in eight 90–minute sessions at weekly intervals, while the control group did not receive any treatment. The study data were collected using social anxiety disorder questionnaire (Connor et al., 2000) and analyzed by univariate analysis of covariance in SPSS.22 software. A p value less than 0.05 was considered significant.

The results showed that both music therapy and CBT were effective in avoidance, social fear, and physiological discomfort (p<0.001) of the samples. However, CBT was more effective in reducing avoidance, social fear, and physiological discomfort than music therapy (p<0.001).

Based on the study's findings, cognitive–behavioral therapy has a greater effect on reducing the symptoms of social anxiety disorder than music therapy, and this treatment can be used to reduce psychological problems in adolescents.