title: Can school counselors deliver cognitive-behavioral treatment for social anxiety effectively? A randomized controlled trial.
abstract: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) typically onsets in adolescence and is associated with multiple impairments. Despite promising clinical interventions, most socially anxious adolescents remain untreated. To address this clinical neglect, we developed a school-based, 12-week group intervention for youth with SAD, Skills for Academic and Social Success (SASS). When implemented by psychologists, SASS has been found effective. To promote dissemination and optimize treatment access, we tested whether school counselors could be effective treatment providers.
  
  
  
  We randomized 138, ninth through 11th graders with SAD to one of three conditions: (a) SASS delivered by school counselors (C-SASS), (b) SASS delivered by psychologists (P-SASS), or (c) a control condition, Skills for Life (SFL), a nonspecific counseling program. Blind, independent, evaluations were conducted with parents and adolescents at baseline, post-intervention, and 5 months beyond treatment completion. We hypothesized that C-SASS and P-SASS would be superior to the control, immediately after treatment and at follow-up. No prediction was made about the relative efficacy of C-SASS and P-SASS.
  
  
  
  Compared to controls, adolescents treated with C-SASS or P-SASS experienced significantly greater improvement and reductions of anxiety at the end of treatment and follow-up. There were no significant differences between SASS delivered by school counselors and psychologists.
  
  
  
  With training, school counselors are effective treatment providers to adolescents with social anxiety, yielding benefits comparable to those obtained by specialized psychologists. Questions remain regarding means to maintain counselors' practice standards without external support.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ, USA. masiac@wpunj.edu.|Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA. masiac@wpunj.edu.|Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA. masiac@wpunj.edu.
authors.forename: Carrie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Masia Warner
authors.affiliation: Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Colognori
authors.affiliation: Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Chad
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brice
authors.affiliation: Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Herzig
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeon and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mufson
authors.affiliation: Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Chelsea
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lynch
authors.affiliation: Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA.|Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.|Department of Population Health, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Philip T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Reiss
authors.affiliation: Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA.|Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.|Department of Population Health, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Petkova
authors.affiliation: Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fox
authors.affiliation: Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Dominic C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Moceri
authors.affiliation: Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.affiliation: Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Rachel G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Klein
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D000072117:Counselors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D000072861:Phobia, Social / Q000628:therapy*; D011584:Psychology; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group / Q000379:methods*; D012574:Schools
keywords: 
  SASS
  ; Social anxiety; adolescents; school counselors