The effect of cognitive behavioral group therapy (CBGT) on anxiety, rumination and self-compassion levels of university students with social anxiety disorder (SAD)

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of cognitive behavioral group therapy on social anxiety, ruminative thinking and self-compassion levels of university students with social anxiety disorder. In this study, 1200 students from Hasan Kalyoncu University were implemented the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale and 30 university students with the highest social anxiety scores were selected among them. Pre-test, post-test, follow-up and placebo patterns were used. The selected students were randomly assigned to experimental and placebo groups. CBT group therapy was applied to the experimental group and communicative group therapy was applied to the placebo group. Personal Information Form, Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, Ruminative Thinking Scale and Self-Compassion Scale were used as data collection tools. The results obtained from the experimental process were examined by Friedman, Mann Whitney-U and Wilcoxon signed rank tests. As a result of the study, social anxiety and ruminative thinking levels of the students with social anxiety disorder who took cognitive behavioral group therapy decreased significantly. There was no change in the self-compassion level of the individuals. These results were discussed in the context of the related literature.