Group cognitive behavior therapy for Japanese patients with social anxiety disorder: preliminary outcomes and their predictors

Junwen Chen^*¹^,2 , Yumi Nakano^*¹ , Tetsuji Ietzugu^*¹ , Sei Ogawa^*¹^,3 , Tadashi Funayama^*¹ , Norio Watanabe^*¹ , Yumiko Noda^*¹ and Toshi A Furukawa¹

¹Department of Psychiatry and Cognitive-Behavioral Medicine, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya, Japan

²Department of Psychology, Faculty of Human Relations, Tokai Gakuin University, Gifu, Japan

³Matsukage Hospital, Nagoya, Japan

author email corresponding author email* Contributed equally

BMC Psychiatry 2007, 7:69doi:10.1186/1471-244X-7-69


Published:	10 December 2007

Abstract

Background

A number of studies have provided strong evidence for the use of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) in the treatment of social anxiety disorder (SAD). However, all of the previous reports were from Europe and North America and it is unknown whether Western psychological therapies are effective for SAD in non-Western cultures. The present pilot study aimed to evaluate CBT program for SAD which was originally developed for Western patients, among Japanese patients.

Methods

Fifty-seven outpatients who participated in group CBT for SAD were evaluated using eight self-reported and one clinician-administered questionnaires to measure various aspects of SAD symptomatology at the beginning and at the end of the program. Pre- and post-treatment scores were compared and the magnitude of treatment effect was quantified as well based once on the intention-to-treat (ITT) and once among the completers only. We also examined baseline predictors of the CBT outcomes.

Results

Seven patients (12%) did not complete the program. For the ITT sample, the percentage of reduction was 20% to 30% and the pre to post treatment effect sizes ranged from 0.37 to 1.01. Among the completers, the respective figures were 20% to 33% and 0.41 to 1.19. We found no significant pretreatment predictor of the outcomes.

Conclusion

Group CBT for SAD is acceptable and can bring about a similar degree of symptom reduction among Japanese patients with SAD as among Western patients.