Social Skills Training in Two Subtypes of Psychiatric Inpatients with Generalized Social Phobia

The aim of this study was to investigate the differential effectiveness of broad-spectrum group social skills training (SST) in two subtypes of psychiatric inpatients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of generalized social phobia (GSP). SST participants were assigned to two GSP subtypes on the basis of their level of performance in social situations, i.e., a “reticent” subtype ( n = 28) and a “non-reticent” subtype (n = 28). As hypothesized, it was revealed that the benefit of SST did not differ in the two subtypes. These findings support the effectiveness and feasibility of comprehensive SST for patients with two subtypes of generalized social phobia.