Comparison of the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy and mindfulness therapy on fear the negative of evaluation in individuals with social anxiety disorder

Social anxiety disorder is characterized by the fear of negative evaluation. This psychological construct results in individual’s poor functioning.

The present research aimed to compare the effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness therapy on the fear of negative evaluation in individuals with social anxiety disorder.

This quasi-experimental study, with a pretest-posttest control group design, was conducted on a population of individuals with social anxiety symptoms, who were referred to the psychological clinics of Shiraz, Iran, in 2019. Sampling was performed using the convenience sampling method. After initial evaluations, 45 people were randomly divided into three equal groups (two intervention groups and one control group). The CBT protocol proposed by Hoffman and Otto (2008) and the Acceptance and Mindfulness protocol by Fleming and Kukowski (2007) were used to implement the interventions (12 two-hour sessions). The participants also completed the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) by Connor et al. (2000) and the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale by Leary (1983) before and after the intervention. Data analysis was performed in SPSS-24, using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA).

The results of MANCOVA test showed a significant difference between the scores of the control and experimental groups (P<0.001). Compared to the control group, the fear of negative evaluation reduced in the experimental groups. Although there was no significant difference between the two treatment approaches (P>0.05), the effect of mindfulness treatment was slightly higher than CBT.

In this study, comparison of the two mindfulness and CBT approaches indicated no significant difference between these two methods in reducing the fear of negative evaluation among individuals with social anxiety. Therefore; it is suggested to use acombination of these two methods to reduce the fear of negative evaluation.