Skip to main content
Journal cover image

Fear, avoidance and physiological symptoms during cognitive-behavioral therapy for social anxiety disorder.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Aderka, IM; McLean, CP; Huppert, JD; Davidson, JRT; Foa, EB
Published in: Behav Res Ther
July 2013

We examined fear, avoidance and physiological symptoms during cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for social anxiety disorder (SAD). Participants were 177 individuals with generalized SAD who underwent a 14-week group CBT as part of a randomized controlled treatment trial. Participants filled out self-report measures of SAD symptoms at pre-treatment, week 4 of treatment, week 8 of treatment, and week 14 of treatment (post-treatment). Cross-lagged Structural Equation Modeling indicated that during the first 8 weeks of treatment avoidance predicted subsequent fear above and beyond previous fear, but fear did not predict subsequent avoidance beyond previous avoidance. However, during the last 6 weeks of treatment both fear and avoidance predicted changes in each other. In addition, changes in physiological symptoms occurred independently of changes in fear and avoidance. Our findings suggest that changes in avoidance spark the cycle of change in treatment of SAD, but the cycle may continue to maintain itself through reciprocal relationships between avoidance and fear. In addition, physiological symptoms may change through distinct processes that are independent from those involved in changes of fear and avoidance.

Duke Scholars

Altmetric Attention Stats
Dimensions Citation Stats

Published In

Behav Res Ther

DOI

EISSN

1873-622X

Publication Date

July 2013

Volume

51

Issue

7

Start / End Page

352 / 358

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Symptom Assessment
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Fluoxetine
  • Female
  • Fear
  • Combined Modality Therapy
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
  • Clinical Psychology
  • Avoidance Learning
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Aderka, I. M., McLean, C. P., Huppert, J. D., Davidson, J. R. T., & Foa, E. B. (2013). Fear, avoidance and physiological symptoms during cognitive-behavioral therapy for social anxiety disorder. Behav Res Ther, 51(7), 352–358. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2013.03.007
Aderka, Idan M., Carmen P. McLean, Jonathan D. Huppert, Jonathan R. T. Davidson, and Edna B. Foa. “Fear, avoidance and physiological symptoms during cognitive-behavioral therapy for social anxiety disorder.Behav Res Ther 51, no. 7 (July 2013): 352–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2013.03.007.
Aderka IM, McLean CP, Huppert JD, Davidson JRT, Foa EB. Fear, avoidance and physiological symptoms during cognitive-behavioral therapy for social anxiety disorder. Behav Res Ther. 2013 Jul;51(7):352–8.
Aderka, Idan M., et al. “Fear, avoidance and physiological symptoms during cognitive-behavioral therapy for social anxiety disorder.Behav Res Ther, vol. 51, no. 7, July 2013, pp. 352–58. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/j.brat.2013.03.007.
Aderka IM, McLean CP, Huppert JD, Davidson JRT, Foa EB. Fear, avoidance and physiological symptoms during cognitive-behavioral therapy for social anxiety disorder. Behav Res Ther. 2013 Jul;51(7):352–358.
Journal cover image

Published In

Behav Res Ther

DOI

EISSN

1873-622X

Publication Date

July 2013

Volume

51

Issue

7

Start / End Page

352 / 358

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Symptom Assessment
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Fluoxetine
  • Female
  • Fear
  • Combined Modality Therapy
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
  • Clinical Psychology
  • Avoidance Learning