School-based behavioral treatment for social anxiety disorder in adolescents: Results of a pilot study

Objective: To provide preliminary estimates of feasibility and effectivenes s for school-based behavioral treatment in adolescents with social anxiety disorder. Method: Six adolescents with social anxiety disorder were treated in a 14-session group treatment program conducted at their school. Assessm ents were conducted at baseline and after treatment. Results: All participa nts were classified as treatment responders (markedly or moderately improve d). Half of the participants did not meet diagnostic criteria for social ph obia after treatment. Clinician severity ratings, as measured by the Anxiet y Disorders Interview Schedule for Children for DSM-IV: Child Version and t he Leibowitz Social Anxiety Scale for Children and Adolescents (LSAS-CA), d ecreased significantly after intervention, with effect sizes of 2.5 and 1.8 , respectively. All LSAS-CA scale scores decreased significantly after trea tment. Self-reported social phobia symptoms on the Social Phobia and Anxiet y inventory for Children were not significantly reduced. Fear and avoidance ratings of the 10 most feared situations significantly decreased after tre atment, with effect sizes of 1.5 for anxiety and 2.1 for avoidance. Conclus ions: This study provides preliminary support for the promise of school-bas ed behavioral intervention for treating social phobia in adolescents. The s chool environment may be a rich and innovative setting for implementation o f behavioral treatment because this is the setting where adolescents with s ocial phobia endure the most distress.