An open trial of mindfulness‐based stress reduction for young adults with social anxiety disorder

The present study investigated mindfulness‐based stress reduction ( MBSR ) for young adults with a social anxiety disorder ( SAD ) in an open trial. Fifty‐three young adults in a higher education setting underwent a standard eight‐week MBSR program. Eight participants (15%) did not complete the program. Participants reported significant reductions in SAD symptoms and global psychological distress, as well as increases in mindfulness, self‐compassion, and self‐esteem. Using intention‐to‐treat ( ITT ) analyses, effect sizes ranged from large to moderate for SAD symptoms (Cohen's d  =   0.80) and global psychological distress ( d  =   0.61). Completer analyses yielded large effect sizes for SAD symptoms ( d  =   0.96) and global psychological distress ( d  =   0.81). The largest effect sizes were found for self‐compassion ( d  =   1.49) and mindfulness ( d  =   1.35). Two thirds of the participants who were in the clinical range at pretreatment reported either clinically significant change (37%) or reliable improvement (31%) on SAD symptoms after completing the MBSR program, and almost two thirds reported either clinically significant change (37%) or reliable improvement (26%) on global psychological distress. MBSR may be a beneficial intervention for young adults in higher education with SAD , and there is a need for more research on mindfulness and acceptance‐based interventions for SAD .