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. 2019 Jan;19(1):41-48.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijchp.2018.11.002. Epub 2018 Dec 6.

Role of social skills training in adolescents with social anxiety disorder

Pablo José Olivares-Olivares  1 , Pedro Francisco Ortiz-González  1 , José Olivares  1
Affiliations

Role of social skills training in adolescents with social anxiety disorder

Pablo José Olivares-Olivares et al. Int J Clin Health Psychol. 2019 Jan.

Abstract
in English, Spanish

Background/Objective: Social skills training (SST) is frequently included in the treatment of social anxiety disorder (SAD) in both children and adolescents, although there is no empirical evidence to support it. Consequently, our objective is to study the role and effects of SST in the treatment of a sample of adolescents with SAD. Method: A total of 108 adolescents diagnosed with generalized social phobia were randomly assigned to two treatment conditions (with and without SST) and a control group waiting list (WLCG). The evaluation included self-report measures, observational tests and blind evaluators. Results: Both interventions significantly reduced the number of social situations feared/avoided with respect to the WLCG, which worsened. Likewise, both interventions were effective but the group with SST obtained better results in the post-test and follow-ups, as well as a lower dropout rate (6:1). Conclusions: The use of SST reduces the dropout rate of treated adolescents and increases the effectiveness of the Intervention Program for Adolescents with Social Phobia.

Antecedentes/Objetivo: El entrenamiento en habilidades sociales (EHS) se incluye frecuentemente en el tratamiento del trastorno por ansiedad social (TAS) tanto en niños como en adolescentes, pese a que no existe evidencia empírica que lo respalde. En consecuencia, nuestro objetivo es estudiar el papel y los efectos que produce el EHS en el tratamiento de una muestra de adolescentes con TAS. Método: Un total de 108 adolescentes diagnosticados con fobia social generalizada fueron asignados aleatoriamente a dos condiciones de tratamiento (con y sin EHS) y a un grupo control lista de espera (GCLE). La evaluación incluyó medidas de autoinforme, tests observacionales y evaluadores ciegos. Resultados: Ambas intervenciones redujeron significativamente el número de situaciones sociales temidas/evitadas respecto del GCLE, que empeoró. Asimismo, ambas fueron eficaces pero el grupo con EHS obtuvo mejores resultados en el post-test y en los seguimientos, así como una tasa menor de abandonos (6:1). Conclusiones: El uso del EHS reduce la tasa de abandono de los adolescentes tratados e incrementa la eficacia del Programa de Intervención en Adolescentes con Fobia Social.

Keywords: Adolescents; Experiment; Exposure; Generalized social phobia; Social skills training.

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