Introduction: Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) as a negative emotion can be associated with specific patterns of brain behavioral system functions. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of Hofmann-based CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) in reducing anxiety symptoms and improving brain behavioral system functions in patients suffering from social anxiety disorder. Materials and Methods: This research is a semi-experimental study with a pretest/posttest plan. 20 SAD patients were randomly selected and divided equally into two groups (experimental and control). The experimental group underwent 12 sessions of Hofmann-based CBT, whereas the control group was placed in the waiting list. Anxiety disorder Interview Schedule for DSM-IV (ADIS-IV), Social phobia questionnaire, and Gary-Wilson’s personality questionnaire were used for evaluating results at pretests and posttests. Data were analyzed with descriptive indices and multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) by SPSS software. Results: The experimental group showed significant improvement in total scores of social phobia, including fear (P<0.001), avoidance (P<0.001), and physiological discomfort (P<0.001) Also, brain behavioral systems (including behavioral activation, behavioral inhibition, and fight/flight) showed significant improvement (P<0.001) in behavioral inhibition in the experimental group. Conclusion:Cognitive behavioral therapy based on Hofmann model is effective inpatients suffering from social anxiety disorder, especially in improving anxiety symptoms and behavioral inhibition functions.

Keywords