Shyness 1: distance treatment of social phobia over the Internet. Titov N, Andrews G, Schwencke G, Drobny J, Einstein D.

School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of an Internet-based clinician-assisted computerized cognitive behavioural therapy programme for social phobia.

METHOD: A total of 105 individuals with social phobia were randomly assigned to a six-lesson cognitive behavioural treatment programme or to a waitlist control group. Treatment consisted of four components: six online lessons; homework assignments; participation in an online discussion forum; and regular email contact with a therapist. An intention-to-treat model was used for data analyses.

RESULTS: A total of 78% of treatment group participants completed all lessons, and post-treatment data were obtained from 93/105 participants. Significant post-treatment differences between treatment and waitlist participants were found on two measures of symptoms of social phobia. Mean within- and between-group effect sizes (Cohen's d) for the primary social phobia outcome measures were 1.15, and 0.95, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: These results were comparable with those obtained in exemplary face-to-face treatment programmes. They provide further positive data about the utility of Internet-based guided self-help programmes for people with common mental disorders.