School-based treatment for children and adolescents with social anxiety disorder

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is highly prevalent and impairing in adolescents. Research has demonstrated that adolescents with social anxiety show deficits in social skills, which contribute to difficulty with interpersonal relationships and peer victimization. They also often avoid social situations, many of which take place at school, thus limiting their social skill development and creating a cycle of anxiety and avoidance. Thus, it is essential for interventions for social anxiety to target social skills enhancement and discourage social avoidance. SASS is a group-based, cognitive-behavioral intervention that emphasizes social skills training and exposures to overcome social fears. It was designed for delivery by school counselors in schools. Controlled clinical trials have documented the effectiveness of SASS for decreasing social anxiety and improving interpersonal functioning. There is great promise in extending SASS across multitiered systems of supports (MTSS) as well as in using technology to increase the ease of SASS delivery and school counselor training. Further research should be conducted to broaden SASS usability across adolescent populations of diverse cultural, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds.