A 14-day fully self-help internet-based CBT (iCBT) program was evaluated in a randomized controlled trial of 61 university students with subclinical social anxiety, compared to a waitlist control, with assessments at pre/post, Days 6 and 10, and 1-month follow-up.
iCBT produced significantly greater reductions in social anxiety and psychological distress vs. waitlist (large effect sizes, though likely inflated by the waitlist comparator); negative affect decreased significantly; positive affect did not change. Most gains held at 1-month follow-up. Retention was high: 57 of 61 participants completed.
- Waitlist comparator likely inflates effect sizes; no active control. - Intermediate and follow-up assessments lacked a control group, making timing-of-change findings purely descriptive. - Cross-study comparison with a prior VRET intervention was non-randomized and cross-sample, so no superiority claims are valid.
A 14-day self-help iCBT program may offer a scalable, low-barrier option for college students with subclinical social anxiety, but direct comparisons with active treatments and dedicated feasibility outcomes are still needed before broad rollout.
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