title: The desire to belong: Social identification as a predictor of treatment outcome in social anxiety disorder.
abstract: Perception of personal identity cannot be separated from the perception of the social context and one's social identity. Full involvement in group psychotherapy may require not only the awareness of personal impairment, but also social identification. The aim of the current study was to examine the association between social identification and symptom improvement in group-based psychotherapy.
  
  
  
  169 participants received 12 sessions of group-based cognitive behavioral therapy for social anxiety disorder. Social identification, the extent to which a person identifies with those who suffer from the same psychological problem as themselves and/or with those lacking psychopathology (non-sufferers), and clinical outcome were assessed at baseline, mid-and posttreatment, and 1, 3, and 6-months follow-up.
  
  
  
  At baseline, patients aspired for closeness with non-sufferers, and viewed themselves as distant from fellow sufferers and non-sufferers. After treatment, participants viewed not only themselves, but also other individuals with social anxiety, as closer to both non-sufferers and fellow sufferers. These ratings were related to clinical outcomes.
  
  
  
  The increase in closeness to both sufferers and non-sufferers across treatment may reflect a movement towards a more tolerant, less dichotomous and rigid, separation of ill and healthy that occurs with successful social anxiety treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Southern Methodist University, United states. Electronic address: ameuret@smu.edu.
authors.forename: Alicia E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Meuret
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Southern Methodist University, United states.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chmielewski
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Southern Methodist University, United states.
authors.forename: Ashton M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Steele
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Southern Methodist University, United states.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rosenfield
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Sibylle
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Petersen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Institute for Mental Health Research, University of Texas at Austin, United states.
authors.forename: Jasper A J
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Smits
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, United states.
authors.forename: Naomi M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, United states.
authors.forename: Michael W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Otto
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, United states.
authors.forename: Luana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marques
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Rush Medical School, United states.
authors.forename: Mark H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Pollack
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, United states.
authors.forename: Stefan G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Hofmann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003523:Cycloserine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000072861:Phobia, Social / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000628:therapy*; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group; D012933:Social Identification; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D003523:Cycloserine
keywords: Cognitive behavioral therapy; Personality; Predictor; Social anxiety disorder; Social identification; Stigma