Internet Treatment for Social Phobia in Romania: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The primary aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of an internet intervention for social phobia (i.e., the iSOFIE) by comparing it to a waitlist control group. iSOFIE was derived from a previously tested program (Furmark, Holmström, Sparthan, Carlbring, & Andersson, 2006) and has been significantly shortened while retaining the most important elements. The second aim of the study is to track the potential changes in participants' thinking patterns. While this intervention is primarily based on the cognitive-behavioral model of SAD (Clark and Wells, 1995), and no specific Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT, Ellis & Dryden, 1997) will be implemented, it is hypothesized that the cognitive restructuring and exposure exercises will make participants less prone to irrational thinking (as measured by the Attitude and Belief Scale-II (ABS-II, DiGiuseppe, Leaf, Exner, & Robin, 1988). To our knowledge, no study has investigated whether an iCBT program for SAD has the potential to alter participants' irrational thinking patterns. Moreover, because this is among the first guided Internet-delivered interventions conducted in Romania, the treatment credibility of the program will be investigated. Finally, the predictive power of anxiety sensitivity for both SAD symptoms and the treatment effectiveness will be investigated.