Videoconferencing-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy for social anxiety disorder: a randomised controlled trial.
Halaina R Winter, Alice R Norton, Bethany M Wootton
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In 30 seconds
This randomised controlled trial evaluated videoconferencing-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy (vCBT) for social anxiety disorder (SAD), comparing it with a waitlist in 78 participants. From pretreatment to post-treatment, the vCBT group showed large within-group effects on social interaction anxiety (Cohen’s d = 0.95; 95% CI: 0.45-1.41) and social phobia symptoms (d = 0.90; 95% CI: 0.41-1.37). At post-treatment, 57% of vCBT participants no longer met SAD criteria, rising to 68% at 3-month follow-up. Participants rated the program acceptable, with high treatment completion.
Key findings
- Post-treatment between-group effects were large for SPS-6 (d = 1.01; 95% CI: 0.51-1.47) and medium for SIAS-6 (d = 0.55; 95% CI: 0.09-1.00).
- In the vCBT group, 57% no longer met criteria for SAD after treatment and 68% did so at 3-month follow-up.
- Benchmarking analyses found treatment effect sizes similar to those reported for in-person CBT for SAD.
- Participants rated vCBT as acceptable, and treatment completion rates were high.
Why it matters
The findings suggest that delivering CBT by videoconference can produce meaningful symptom improvement for people with SAD and may reduce access barriers associated with in-person care. The reported similarity to in-person CBT is based on benchmarking rather than a direct comparison, so it supports consideration of remote delivery without establishing equivalence.
What to keep in mind
The comparator was a waitlist, not in-person CBT; similarity to in-person treatment was assessed through benchmarking. Follow-up was reported only to 3 months.