Comparing the effectiveness of paradoxical time table therapy and virtual reality technology therapy on the focused – attention and symptoms of social anxiety disorder

Social anxiety disorder often has a poorer recovery rate than other anxiety disorders. A review of previous studies shows that two variables, social anxiety disorder and the focused – attention (which is one of the predictors of social anxiety disorder), respond less well to conventional psychological treatments. Among the newest integrated alternative approaches are paradoxical time table therapy and virtual reality technology therapy, there is a research gap regarding the comparison of their effectiveness in improving the focused – attention and reducing the symptoms of social anxiety disorder.

The present study was conducted with the aim of comparing the effectiveness of paradoxical time table therapy and virtual reality technology therapy on the focused – attention and symptoms of social anxiety disorder.

The current research design was a semi-experimental pre-test-post-test type with a control group and a one-month follow-up. The statistical population of the research included all people who referred to counseling centers and psychotherapy clinics in Tehran in the fall and winter of 2022. The statistical sample included 45 people with social anxiety disorder who were selected as available samples and were divided into three groups of 15 people (two experimental groups and one control group). To collect data, the Focous of Attention Questionnaire (Woody et al., 1997) and the social anxiety scale (Connor et al., 2000) were used. Also, the treatment of the paradoxical time table therapy (Besharat, 2017) was implemented in six sessions on the first experimental group and and the virtual reality technology therapy was implemented in 8 sessions on the second experimental group. Data analysis was done using multivariate analysis, variance analysis with repeated measures, Bonferroni post hoc test and SPSS-25 software.

The results showed that both treatments of paradoxical time table therapy and virtual reality technology therapy had a significant effect on the focus of attention and symptoms of social anxiety disorder (P<0.001). There was no significant difference between the effectiveness of the virtual reality technology therapy and the paradoxical time table therapy in the focused – attention, However, there was a significant difference between the effectiveness of the virtual reality technology therapy and the paradoxical time table therapy on the symptoms of social anxiety disorder. In this way, the paradoxical time table therapy is more effective in reducing the symptoms of social anxiety disorder compared to the treatment based on virtual reality technology therapy (P<0.001).

According to the findings of the present research, it seems that the paradoxical time table therapy and virtual reality technology therapy can be used as a therapeutic approach that according to the needsof patients with social anxiety disorder.