Effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy for social anxiety in adults with hearing loss

Background and Aim: For various reasons hearing-impaired people have stress and fear of being in social situations. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is known as one of the most valid therapies of social phobia. The aim of this research was to show the efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy on the level of social anxiety in hearing-impaired adults.\nMethods: The study population consisted of hearing-impaired people aged 20 to 30 years old. Of 30 individuals that selected through simple sampling method, 20 with high scores in anxiety disorder diagnosis interview, were assigned into experimental (n=10) and control (n=10) groups. Cognitive behavioral therapy was performed for the experimental group. Social phobia components (Fear, avoidance, and physiology) were determined by social phobia inventory and structured clinical for interview for DSM-IV.\nResults: Mean social phobia scores is less in the experimental group compared to the control group. Also mean scores of social phobia components (fear, avoidance and physiology) was less in the experimental group than in the control group (p<0.05).\nConclusion: Cognitive behavioral therapy is efficient in decreasing social phobia in hearing-impaired adults and in reducing most com­ponents such as fear, physiologic discomfort and avoidance in social situations.