title: An open trial of mindfulness-based stress reduction for young adults with social anxiety disorder.
abstract: The present study investigated mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) for young adults with a social anxiety disorder (SAD) in an open trial. Fifty-three young adults in a higher education setting underwent a standard eight-week MBSR program. Eight participants (15%) did not complete the program. Participants reported significant reductions in SAD symptoms and global psychological distress, as well as increases in mindfulness, self-compassion, and self-esteem. Using intention-to-treat (ITT) analyses, effect sizes ranged from large to moderate for SAD symptoms (Cohen's d = 0.80) and global psychological distress (d = 0.61). Completer analyses yielded large effect sizes for SAD symptoms (d = 0.96) and global psychological distress (d = 0.81). The largest effect sizes were found for self-compassion (d = 1.49) and mindfulness (d = 1.35). Two thirds of the participants who were in the clinical range at pretreatment reported either clinically significant change (37%) or reliable improvement (31%) on SAD symptoms after completing the MBSR program, and almost two thirds reported either clinically significant change (37%) or reliable improvement (26%) on global psychological distress. MBSR may be a beneficial intervention for young adults in higher education with SAD, and there is a need for more research on mindfulness and acceptance-based interventions for SAD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Aslak
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hjeltnes
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Helge
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Molde
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schanche
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.|Solli District Psychiatric Centre (DPS), Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vøllestad
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lillebostad Svendsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.|District General Hospital of Førde, Førde, Norway.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Moltu
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Per-Einar
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Binder
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D064866:Mindfulness; D000072861:Phobia, Social / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012649:Self Concept; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Mindfulness-based stress reduction; mindfulness; self-compassion; social anxiety disorder; young adults