Volume 26, Issue 128, October 2022

A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of internet-based cognitive-behavioral therapy on social phobia

Nazanin Ahangari¹, Maryam Bakhtiari^2♦, Amir Mahdi Katani³

¹Ph.D. student of clinical psychology, Department of clinical psychology, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
²Professor of Clinical Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychology, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
³Ph.D. student of clinical psychology, Department of clinical psychology, School of Medicine, ShahidBeheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

^♦Corresponding author
Professor of Clinical Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychology, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

ABSTRACT

This meta-analysis was aimed at evaluating the evidence related to the effectiveness of Internet-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (ICBT) in patients with social phobia. A systematic review of Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) with regard to the effectiveness of ICBT for patients with social phobia was sought across multiple databases. The outcome variable in clinical trials was decline in symptoms of social phobia. The measures used included LSAS, SPS, SP-12, BAI and SAD. Twenty clinical trials met the inclusion criteria (1211 patients overall). The results of the analysis revealed that the ICBT is more effective compared to other treatments or control conditions based on patients’ evaluation. The results of the present meta-analysis provide preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of ICBT as a clinical method for social phobia and suggest that more RCTs are needed to compare ICBT with common treatments such as medication, neurological methods, and behavioral interventions.

Keywords: Internet-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Social Phobia, Meta-Analysis

Medical Science, 2022, 26, ms414e2314

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi/v26i128/ms414e2314

Published: 17 October 2022