Social anxiety impacts willingness to participate in addiction treatment

Abstract Individuals with social anxiety have difficulty participating in group settings. Although it makes intuitive sense that social anxiety could present a challenge in addiction treatment settings, which often involve small groups and encouragement to participate in self-help groups like Alcoho...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inAddictive behaviors Vol. 34; no. 5; pp. 474 - 476
Main Authors Book, Sarah W, Thomas, Suzanne E, Dempsey, Jared P, Randall, Patrick K, Randall, Carrie L
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Elsevier Ltd 01.05.2009
Elsevier Science Ltd
Subjects
Adult
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholism
Alcoholism - prevention & control
Alcoholism - psychology
Ambulatory Care
Anxiety
Anxiety - psychology
Client participation
Female
Humans
Impact analysis
Male
Mental depression
Patient Acceptance of Health Care - psychology
Patient Participation
Psychiatry
Shyness
Social anxiety
Substance abuse treatment
Substance-related disorders
Substance-Related Disorders - prevention & control
Substance-Related Disorders - psychology
Alcoholics Anonymous
Substance-related disorders
Alcoholism
Client participation
Social anxiety
Patient participation
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Abstract Individuals with social anxiety have difficulty participating in group settings. Although it makes intuitive sense that social anxiety could present a challenge in addiction treatment settings, which often involve small groups and encouragement to participate in self-help groups like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA), to our knowledge no study has yet assessed the impact of shyness on the treatment experience. Assessment surveys were given to 110 individuals seeking intensive outpatient substance abuse treatment at three community treatment programs. Established cut-offs for presence of clinically-significant social anxiety indicated a prevalence of 37%. Controlling for depression and worry, social anxiety was a unique predictor of endorsement that shyness interfered with willingness to talk to a therapist, speak up in group therapy, attend AA/NA, and ask somebody to be a sponsor. Socially anxious substance abusers were 4–8 times more likely to endorse that shyness interfered with addiction treatment activities. These findings have clinical and research implications.
ISSN:0306-4603
1873-6327
DOI:10.1016/j.addbeh.2008.12.011