Selective attentional bias related to the noticeability aspect of anxiety symptoms in generalized social phobia.

Persons with generalized social phobia were compared to nonanxious controls using the modified Stroop test of attentional biases and self-report questionnaires. Results indicated that participants with social phobia showed attentional biases to socially threatening words such as those describing negative evaluation (e.g.

Sertraline treatment of generalized social phobia: a 20-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Objective: The authors evaluated the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of sertraline, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, in the treatment of generalized social phobia.

Method: Adult outpatients with generalized social phobia (N=204) from 10 Canadian centers were randomly assigned to receive sertraline or placebo in a 2:1 ratio for a 20-week double-blind study following a 1-week, single-blind, placebo run-in. The initial dose of sertraline was 50 mg/day with increases of 50 mg/day every 3 weeks permitted after the fourth week of treatment (dosing was flexible up to a maximum of 200 mg/day).

Prevention of relapse in generalized social phobia: results of a 24-week study in responders to 20 weeks of sertraline treatment.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy, tolerability, and effects on quality of life of sertraline, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, in the prevention of relapse of generalized social phobia. Fifty adult outpatients with generalized social phobia who were rated much or very much improved on the Clinical Global Impression Scale of Improvement (CGI-I) after 20 weeks of sertraline treatment (50-200 mg/day) were randomly assigned in a one-to-one ratio to either continue double-blind treatment with sertraline or immediately switch to placebo for another 24 weeks. The initial 20-week study was placebo-controlled, and 15 responders to placebo also continued to receive double-blind placebo treatment in the continuation study.

A risk-benefit assessment of buspirone in the treatment of anxiety disorders.

Anxiety disorders include generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and social phobia. Consideration of the chronicity of these disorders reveals that anxiety disorders first occur during early adolescence or young adulthood, and can wax and wane over periods of 5 to 10 years. Thus, in considering treatment, the emphasis must be placed on long term, rather than short term, management.