Cognitive therapy versus behavioral activation therapy in the treatment of social anxiety disorder

Introduction: The aim of this study was to compare of group behavioral activation treatment and group cognitive therapy in reducing Social anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and negative attributions and improving general functioning. Materials and Methods: The sample of this clinical research consisted of 23 university students who were selected on the base of diagnosis of social anxiety disorder through the structured clinical interview for DSM disorders and being concurrently under psychotherapy or medication. All participants also completed the social phobic inventory, Beck depression inventory, interpretation of negative social events and the work and social adjustment scale. They were randomly assigned to two groups. The first group received 8 sessions of group behavioral activation treatment and the second group received 8 sessions of group cognitive therapy. The data analyzed by descriptive statistics, analysis of covariance and SPSS software. Results:Findings showed a statistically significant superiority of group behavioral activation treatment over group cognitive therapy in reducing depressive symptoms (P 0.05). The findings of follow-up also showed the effects of both treatments have been continued in overall. Conclusion: According to the results of the present research, both treatments have positive effect on treatment of social anxiety disorder but cognitive therapy has more effect on negative cognitions and behavioral activation has more effect on depressive symptoms.