Low-intensity mindfulness and cognitive-behavioral therapy for social anxiety: a pilot randomized controlled trial.
BMC psychiatry March 7, 2024 Shota Noda, Kentaro Shirotsuki, Mutsuhiro Nakao 10 citations
A four-session program combining mindfulness and cognitive-behavioral therapy (M-CBT) improved negative cognition related to probability bias, fear of negative evaluation, dispositional mindfulness, depressive symptoms, and subjective happiness in Japanese undergraduates with high social anxiety. The intervention group showed moderate to large pre-post improvements (effect sizes .51–1.55). However, M-CBT did not reduce social anxiety symptoms or self-focused attention compared to a no-treatment control group. The findings suggest the combined approach may help individuals whose negative thoughts arise from paying attention to others, but not all social anxiety symptoms.