Walder, Noemi;
Berger, Thomas;
Hürzeler, Dominique;
McDougal, Emily;
Edbrook-Childs, Julian;
Schmidt, Stefanie J;
(2025)
Prevention and treatment of social anxiety disorder in adolescents: mixed method randomised controlled trial of the guided online intervention SOPHIE.
Scientific Reports
, 15
, Article 25141. 10.1038/s41598-025-10193-w.
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Abstract
Social anxiety symptoms are highly prevalent in adolescents and negatively impact their social and academic functioning, highlighting the need for effective low-threshold interventions. This randomised controlled trial evaluated the guided online intervention SOPHIE for adolescents (N = 133; 11–17 years) with social anxiety disorder (SAD; treatment) or subclinical social anxiety (indicated prevention) compared to care-as-usual control condition and qualitatively explored their experiences. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, mid-intervention (4 weeks), post-intervention (8 weeks) and 5-month follow-up and analysed using linear mixed-effects models. SOPHIE did not significantly reduce social anxiety symptoms post-intervention but showed a significant between-group effect at follow-up (d = 0.67, 95%CI [0.32;1.02]). Subgroup analyses by diagnostic condition showed a significant between-group effect at follow-up in the subclinical social anxiety (d = 1.53, 95%CI [1.74;0.41]) but not in the SAD condition. Social functioning significantly improved at post-intervention and follow-up, with medium to large effects (post: d=-0.73, 95%CI [-1.08; -0.37]; follow-up: d=-0.32, 95%CI [-0.66; 0.02]). Qualitative interviews post-intervention revealed that participants found the intervention beneficial, although some found exposure exercises challenging and desired additional support. Very heterogeneous needs emerged regarding the guidance provided during the programme. Low-threshold online interventions for adolescents with social anxiety may be effective, particularly as an indicated prevention approach.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Prevention and treatment of social anxiety disorder in adolescents: mixed method randomised controlled trial of the guided online intervention SOPHIE |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41598-025-10193-w |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-10193-w |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
| Keywords: | Social anxiety disorder; Adolescents; Online intervention; Prevention; Internet-based |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Clinical, Edu and Hlth Psychology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10213429 |
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