Pre-existing antidepressants and the outcome of group cognitive behaviour therapy for social phobia

Objective: This is a naturalistic treatment outcome study investigating the impact of pre-existing antidepressant use on the effectiveness of group cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for social phobia. Method: Of the 133 participants who completed the CBT program, 49 reported taking antidepressants (CBT + AD group), while 84 reported not taking antidepressants (CBT group). The treatment program involves 40 h of structured, group-based CBT over 7 weeks. The dependent measures included the Social Phobia Scale and Social Interaction Anxiety Scale, the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale and the Short Form-12. Results: Both the CBT + AD group and the CBT group improved significantly across treatment on all dependent measures. There were no significant differences between the groups on any outcome measure and the rate of improvement from pre- to post-treatment for both groups did not differ. Conclusions: Pre-existing antidepressants did not significantly enhance or detract from the positive treatment outcome of a structured, group-based CBT program for social phobia.