Contextual schema therapy for social anxiety and depression symptoms-A two sessions, online, group randomized trial

In the current randomized control trial, we tested the efficacy of a transdiagnostic, two-session Contextual Schema Therapy intervention, delivered in an online group format, for individuals with social anxiety and/or depressive symptoms and examined self-criticism and experiential avoidance as potential mediators.

The sample included 134 participants scoring above the 30 Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale cut-off point and/or above 14 on the Beck Depression Inventory-II, who were randomized to either the contextual schema therapy group intervention or an online psychoeducation control group.

Significant reductions in social anxiety (p = 0.038, d = 0.35 at post-intervention) and depression (p = 0.015, d = 0.41 at post-intervention) and an increase in quality of life (p = 0.033, d = 0.36 at follow-up) were found in the contextual schema therapy group compared to the control group (in the absence of clustering effects), while no significant differences were found for self-criticism and experiential avoidance, the proposed mediators.

The results support the efficacy of this brief contextual schema intervention format, while its mechanisms of change remain to be investigated further.