The following is a summary of “Bergen 4-day treatment for social anxiety disorder: a pilot study,” published in the February 2024 issue of Psychiatry by Hansen et al.
Limited research has investigated the efficacy of concentrated and intensified cognitive behavioral therapy in addressing social anxiety disorder (SAD).
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to assess the feasibility of implementing the Bergen 4-Day Treatment (B4DT) for treating SAD.
They employed an open trial design devoid of a control group, treating and evaluating thirty consecutively referred patients diagnosed with SAD at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and a 3-month follow-up. Symptomatology of SAD was assessed using the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, anxiety symptoms with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale, and symptoms of anxiety and depression with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Post-treatment, patient satisfaction was gauged using the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8.
The results showed that patients expressed a notably high level of satisfaction with the B4DT. Significant effect sizes were evident for symptoms of SAD (d = 1.94–2.66) as well as for the secondary outcomes, namely generalized anxiety (d = 0.86–0.99) and depression (d = 0.62–0.83). At follow-up, the remission rate stood at 55.2%, while the treatment response rate was notably high at 89.7%.
Investigators concluded that B4DT shows promise for treating SAD, but controlled trials are needed to compare its effectiveness against standard outpatient treatment before broader implementation.
Source: bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-024-05607-4