title: A comprehensive meta-analysis of cognitive-behavioral interventions for social anxiety disorder in children and adolescents.
abstract: The effectiveness of different types of CBT for children and adolescents suffering from Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is generally supported. However, no systematic efforts have been made to quantitatively summarize and analyse the impact of specific variables on therapeutic outcome. Here, we assessed the magnitude and duration of CBT effectiveness in children and adolescents with SAD. The effectiveness of CBT was supported by the effect sizes of studies that had examined pre-post (g=0.99), between-group (g=0.71), and follow-up responses (follow-up vs. pre-test mean g=1.18, follow-up vs. post-test mean g=0.25). A significant moderating effect was found for the variable "number of treatment sessions". In addition, larger effect sizes were found in studies that included "Social Skills Training" sessions in the intervention package. Data support the effectiveness of CBT interventions and its durability for SAD in children and adolescents. Adding social skills training to the intervention package can further enhance the impact of treatment.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Psychology, Sigmund Freud University, Milan, Italy; Developmental Psychopathology Unit, 'Vita-Salute' San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy. Electronic address: s.scaini@milano-sfu.it.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scaini
authors.affiliation: The Department of Clinical Neurosciences, San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy. Electronic address: raffibelotti@hotmail.it.
authors.forename: Raffaella
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Belotti
authors.affiliation: Developmental Psychopathology Unit, 'Vita-Salute' San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy; The Department of Clinical Neurosciences, San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy. Electronic address: ogliari.anna@unisr.it.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ogliari
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; The Division of Child and Youth Psychiatry at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto, Canada. Electronic address: marco.battaglia@camh.ca.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Battaglia
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D000072861:Phobia, Social / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Adolescents; Children; Cognitive-behavioral therapy; Meta-analysis; Social anxiety