The impact caused by the insertion of family members in the treatment of the adult social phobic patient.

Abstract

Although several clinical studies on adult social phobic patients have been developed of late, related literature fails to present studies of interventionist nature dealing with family participation in the patient's treatment.The present article is intended to verify the impact caused by the insertion of family members in the treatment of the adult social phobic patient.Subjects included 15 male and 15 female patients affected by social phobia, age range 25 to 40 years, and showing depressed mood; eight caregivers were also included in the study. Instruments used for the study comprised the SCID, SAD, and FNE scales. Family members answered to the adapted Burden Interview scale. Three therapy groups were formed and each one included ten patients that attended 20 weekly 90-minutes sessions. Caregivers' attendance was fortnightly carried out with ten one-hour sessions. Data were analyzed using the paired Student's t test and the adopted significance level was 5%.Twelve patients were able to conclude the program; ten participants quit the ongoing program; eight patients were present at the initial interview only. After the intervention, nine participants showed SAD and FNE decreased scores; two patients showed decreased FNE scores only; and increased scores in both scales were observed in one patient. All the participants who had family members included in the program concluded the intervention. Statistical analysis showed significant mean differences between SAD and FNE scales after the procedure.The present study showed that social phobic patients adherence to treatment is likely to increase when family members also participate in the intervention.