Research on Internet-delivered cognitive therapy for social anxiety disorder in Hong Kong
Categorized as a major type of Anxiety Disorders, the characteristics of Social Anxiety Disorder include: feeling anxious in social occasions, fearing to show foolishness when speaking and acting, avoiding social occasions because of anxiety, and so on.
Developed in the United Kingdom, Internet-delivered Cognitive Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder (iCT-SAD) program is modeled on face-to-face Cognitive Therapy for SAD, while putting an emphasis on delivering treatment through a series of online self-learning modules and facilitation by therapists.
In 2019, New Life Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association completed a research study titled"Internet-Based Cognitive Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder in Hong Kong: Therapist Training and Dissemination Case Series" to evaluate a program of therapist training to deliver iCT-SAD. The study concluded that therapist training was effective in improving therapists' knowledge and skills in relation to iCT-SAD, and therapists achieved a level of competence that would be expected of a professional.
This waitlist-controlled study found that iCT-SAD significantly reduced social anxiety symptoms in the treatment group and most of them no longer met diagnostic criteria for social anxiety disorder after treatment. These treatment effects were maintained at three-month follow-up. The high efficacy of iCT-SAD was maintained when treatment was implemented in Hong Kong.