Assessing the Efficacy of a Self-Administered Treatment for Social Anxiety in the Form of a Gamified Mobile Application: A Pilot Study

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a highly prevalent and impairing mental disorder that often goes untreated. Because effective treatments exist but are not reaching many with SAD, it is important to investigate and design novel treatment delivery methods. To this end, our study set out to determine whether such a treatment could be effectively delivered through a new phone application featuring two novel mechanisms: (1) delivery of the treatment on a mobile smartphone and (2) the gamification of the treatment. Utilizing a single-subject multiple baseline across participants design, the efficacy of the treatment was evaluated on a sample of undergraduate students (N = 10) who endorsed significant levels of social anxiety on a self-report measure. Participants completed assessments every 4 days during a 12-, 16-, or 20-day baseline phase and a 44-, 40-, or 36-day treatment phase. At the study’s conclusion, participants showed a statistically significant mean decrease in scores on both the Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale and the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale. In addition, the results evidenced high rates of completion, lending support for the acceptability of the treatment modality. Future research comparing purely self-guided interventions with minimal therapist contact interventions and traditional face-to-face treatment are needed, with further investigations into gamification as a potential mechanism for increasing adherence and motivation.