Recent advances in the understanding and psychological treatment of social anxiety disorder

Kate Wolitzky-Taylor; Richard LeBeau

doi:10.12703/r/12-8

Recent advances in the understanding and psychological treatment of social anxiety disorder

Fac Rev. 2023 Apr 14:12:8. doi: 10.12703/r/12-8. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Kate Wolitzky-Taylor¹, Richard LeBeau²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
² Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Abstract

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by persistent anxiety or avoidance of social situations because of a fear of negative evaluation. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) (typically with an exposure component) is a first-line treatment for social anxiety, but there remains room for improvement with regard to treatment efficacy. Therefore, the field continues to better understand the mechanisms underlying SAD and its common and complex comorbidities in order to develop targeted interventions to improve symptom outcomes. Additionally, efforts are under way to improve the efficacy and accessibility of CBT. This review outlines major advances in understanding and treating SAD in adults over the past roughly 3 years (2019 to early May 2022). Themes are identified and discussed, as are recommendations for future research.

Keywords: Social anxiety; cognitive behavioural therapy.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The authors declare that no grants were involved in supporting this work.