Social Anxiety Symptom Severity Research Articles

Prevalence and Severity of Social Anxiety Symptoms and Their Relationship With Body Dysmorphic Symptoms.

Background Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a subtype of anxiety characterized by avoidance, fear, and physical symptoms such as dry mouth, sweating, palpitations, and blushing. SAD is one of the most common mental disorders. Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a mental disorder marked by a distressing or impairing preoccupation with imagined or minor flaws in one's physical appearance. Both disorders share similar symptoms. No satisfactory data have been provided about the prevalence of social anxiety symptoms in our region. In our study, we measured the prevalence and severity of SAD symptoms among adults in Riyadh City, as well as the sociodemographic factors associated with it. Additionally, the correlation between SAD and BDD was assessed. Methods Our study is quantitative, observational, and cross-sectional. It was conducted by administering a translated Arabic version of the Severity Measure for Social Anxiety Disorder scale and BDD scales in five locations in Riyadh, which include two general hospitals and three shopping malls. Data were analyzed using the SPSS version 22 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Descriptive statistical data are presented through mean values, standard deviations, and percentages. Results A total of 752 responses were received, of which 509 (68.32%) were from females with a mean age of 30.12 years. The majority of the sample had a low to middle family income, with 64% earning less than $2555 monthly. The sample possessed a good educational level; 63% had a bachelor's degree or higher. Our study also shows that 233 subjects (30.98%) had scores indicating a moderate to severe form of SAD. Among these participants, 86 (36.9%) had scores indicating a moderate to severe form of BDD. There was a significant positive correlation between SAD and BDD (r = 0.496). Conclusion The prevalence of SAD was 30.98%, which is higher compared to Western countries. Low income, education, and female gender have roles in the disease condition. Moreover, there was a linear relationship between SAD and BDD.

Paranoia and Social Anxiety: Predicting Aggressive Behavior

Aggression is a transdiagnostic behavior that is associated with poor clinical outcomes. As such, it is important to understand factors that contribute to various manifestations of aggressive behavior. Recent research has revealed a subtype of individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD) who tend to display relatively high amounts of aggression and experience more severe social anxiety and dysfunction compared to individuals in the prototypical SAD group. The current study used a status threat manipulation along with behavioral indices of aggression to examine the impact of paranoia and social anxiety symptom severity on aggression in a sample of undergraduates with social anxiety (N = 220). Analyses indicated that paranoia uniquely predicted indirect aggression whereas an interaction between social status threat, paranoia, and social anxiety severity uniquely predicted direct aggression. These findings suggest that paranoia may be a particularly important contributor to aggression among individuals with social anxiety.

Understanding the relationship between social camouflaging in autism and safety behaviours in social anxiety in autistic and non-autistic adolescents.

Social camouflaging (hereafter camouflaging) in autism includes factors such as masking and compensating for one's neurodevelopmental differences, and to assimilate or 'fit in' with non-autistic peers. Efforts to hide one's authentic self and autism traits (masking) resemble impression management (IM) in safety behaviours identified in Clark and Wells' (1995) cognitive model of social anxiety (SA). This study explores the relationship between camouflaging in autism and safety behaviours in SA among autistic and non-autistic adolescents. One hundred fifteen adolescents (14-19 years) with (n = 61; 36 female) and without (n = 54; 37 female) a clinical diagnosis of autism matched on age and SA symptom severity were recruited from clinics, schools and online. Adolescents completed online measures including autism traits, SA symptoms, camouflaging behaviours, SA-related safety behaviours and SA-related negative cognitions. Partial and bivariate Pearson's correlations and structural equation modelling were used to understand the relationship between camouflaging, safety behaviours, autism traits and SA in both groups. Exploratory factor analysis assessed item-level factor cross-loadings between camouflaging and safety behaviours. Across both groups, masking and IM were significantly associated with SA symptom severity, not autism traits, via SA-related social cognitions. Exploratory factor analysis indicated construct overlap across masking, assimilation, IM and avoidance behaviours and identified factors analogous to self-focused attention, social avoidance and mental rehearsal identified in the Clark and Wells' (1995) model of SA. This is the first study using group-matched design to identify that masking (factor in social camouflaging) and IM both relate to SA in autistic and non-autistic adolescents. Assessment and formulation of construct overlap between masking and IM may inform psychoeducation and adaptation of SA treatment for autistic adolescents.

Examining the Latent Dimensions of Social Anxiety Disorder.

While the body of literature has investigated the latent dimensions of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), only few have directly anchored in the DSM-5 SAD symptoms. Similarly, a continuing issue on measuring mental health disorders pertains to whether a symptom's frequency, intensity, or both, are appropriate and sufficient indicators of severity. To address this gap, the present study developed and validated a DSM-5-based measurement tool, the Social Anxiety Symptom Severity Inventory (SASSI), which assesses both the intensity (intensity of disturbance) and frequency (frequency of occurrence) of SAD symptoms. In study 1 (n = 6458, college students), the results revealed a two-factor structure using exploratory structural equation modeling. In study 2 (n = 425, left-behind emerging adults), confirmatory factor analysis, measurement invariance testing, and latent class analysis were used. Findings demonstrated the importance of using both frequency and intensity of symptoms in assessing SAD severity. Moreover, a five-class solution best fitted the sample. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated the good psychometric properties of SASSI and filled an important gap among available measures in assessing SAD severity through symptom frequency and intensity.

Social difficulties in adolescent attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: Social motivation, social anxiety and symptom severity as contributing factors.

Many interventions have been developed to address the social difficulties commonly experienced by adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), yet they are largely ineffective. This study examined social impairment amongadolescents with and without ADHD, determining whether gender, social anxiety, age, and ADHD symptom type (inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity) and severity are associated with social impairment. Parents and primary caregivers of adolescents (aged 13-17) with (n = 76) and without ADHD (n = 36) completed the Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD and Normal Behavior, Social Responsiveness Scale 2nd Edition, and Spence Children's Anxiety Scale. Adolescents with ADHD scored significantly higher than TD adolescents across social impairment domains. ADHD symptoms were associated with severity of impairment in all domains excluding Social Motivation. Hyperactivity/impulsivity and social anxiety predicted social impairment, whereas gender did not. Adolescents with ADHD are more likely to experience social impairment than TD adolescents, and interventions targeting symptom reduction and social anxiety may improve these social impairments.

The relationship between interdependent and independent self-construals and social anxiety symptom severity in a clinical sample of treatment-seeking patients.

Differences in cultural orientations, such as interdependent and independent self-construals, may influence social anxiety disorder (SAD) symptom presentations. However, prior research on the association between interdependent/independent self-construals and SAD was limited to non-clinical samples. Using a treatment-seeking population with clinical levels of anxiety, the current study extends prior research by examining whether the relationship between interdependent/independent self-construals and SAD is specific to SAD or indicative of a broader relationship with anxiety or depression more generally. We also expand upon prior work by examining the effect of self-construals on treatment outcomes and whether self-construals change over time. The results showed that endorsing a less independent self-construal was associated with greater SAD symptoms specifically, and was not associated with other anxiety or depression symptom measures. Additionally, while interdependent and independent self-construals did not moderate SAD treatment outcomes, there was a decrease in interdependent self-construal and increase in independent self-construal over a course of cognitive behavioral therapy. Notably, this change over time was tied to specific items that correlated strongly with SAD symptoms. Together, these results increase our understanding of the relationship between interdependent/independent self-construals and SAD symptoms in treatment-seeking anxiety patients.

Social anxiety and negative interpretations of positive social events: What role does intolerance of uncertainty play?

Although previous studies have demonstrated the association between social anxiety symptom severity and the tendency to appraise positive social events negatively among individuals with social anxiety disorder, no study has examined mediators of this relationship. The current study sought to examine whether intolerance of uncertainty and its subfactors mediate the relationship between social interaction anxiety and the tendency to interpret positive social events negatively. One hundred and sixty-five individuals with social anxiety disorder completed measures of social interaction anxiety symptom severity, intolerance of uncertainty, and negative interpretations of positive social events. Total intolerance of uncertainty and the inhibitory-intolerance of uncertainty subscale scores significantly mediated the relationship between social interaction anxiety and negative interpretations of positive events. Exploratory post-hoc analyses regarding the possible contributing role of depression demonstrated mixed results. The same mediation pattern was found in the full sample as well as those without a secondary comorbid mood disorder diagnosis. In contrast, serial mediation showed a mediating role of depressive symptom severity. Inhibitory-intolerance of uncertainty plays a role in the relationship between social interaction anxiety and negative interpretations of positive social events.

Characterizing sustained social anxiety in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis: trajectory, risk factors, and functional outcomes.

While comorbidity of clinical high-risk for psychosis (CHR-P) status and social anxiety is well-established, it remains unclear how social anxiety and positive symptoms covary over time in this population. The present study aimed to determine whether there are more than one covariant trajectory of social anxiety and positive symptoms in the North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study cohort (NAPLS 2) and, if so, to test whether the different trajectory subgroups differ in terms of genetic and environmental risk factors for psychotic disorders and general functional outcome. In total, 764 CHR individuals were evaluated at baseline for social anxiety and psychosis risk symptom severity and followed up every 6 months for 2 years. Application of group-based multi-trajectory modeling discerned three subgroups based on the covariant trajectories of social anxiety and positive symptoms over 2 years. One of the subgroups showed sustained social anxiety over time despite moderate recovery in positive symptoms, while the other two showed recovery of social anxiety below clinically significant thresholds, along with modest to moderate recovery in positive symptom severity. The trajectory group with sustained social anxiety had poorer long-term global functional outcomes than the other trajectory groups. In addition, compared with the other two trajectory groups, membership in the group with sustained social anxiety was predicted by higher levels of polygenic risk for schizophrenia and environmental stress exposures. Together, these analyses indicate differential relevance of sustained v. remitting social anxiety symptoms in the CHR-P population, which in turn may carry implications for differential intervention strategies.

As they wait: Anticipatory neural response to evaluative peer feedback varies by pubertal status and social anxiety

Adolescence is a developmental period characterized by substantial biological, neural, behavioral, and social changes. Learning to navigate the complex social world requires adaptive skills. Although anticipation of social situations can serve an adaptive function, providing opportunity to adjust behavior, socially anxious individuals may engage in maladaptive anticipatory processing. Importantly, elevated social anxiety often coincides with adolescence. This study investigated cortical electroencephalogram (EEG) responses during anticipation of evaluative feedback in 106 healthy adolescents aged 12–17 years. We examined differences in anticipatory event-related potentials (i.e., stimulus preceding negativity [SPN]) in relation to social anxiety levels and pubertal maturation. As expected, the right frontal SPN was more negative during feedback anticipation, particularly for adolescents with higher social anxiety and adolescents who were at a more advanced pubertal stage. Effects for the left posterior SPN were the opposite of those for the right frontal SPN consistent with a dipole. Anticipatory reactivity in adolescence was related to social anxiety symptom severity, especially in females, and pubertal maturation in a social evaluative situation. This study provides evidence for the development of social anticipatory processes in adolescence and potential mechanisms underlying maladaptive anticipation in social anxiety.

Motivationally-relevant domains of positive affectivity are differentially related to social anxiety symptoms

This study investigated the extent to which specific facets of positive affectivity (PA) demonstrate differential relationships with social anxiety symptomatology as well as social functioning. Following the conceptual framework of the Broaden and Build theory, as well as prior work demonstrating reward-based linkages to specific PA subdomains, we hypothesized that motivationally-valenced PA facets would show distinct associations with social anxiety and social functioning measures. Two samples (N = 446 and N = 375) completed self-report measures of PA, social anxiety, internalizing symptoms, and social functioning. Correlational, multiple and logistic regression, and contrast analyses of correlated correlation coefficients were used to identify the presence and magnitude of relationships between PA facets and symptom measures. Relationships between social anxiety and specific subdomains of PA appeared to depend on the motivational relevance of each facet. Specifically, self-assurance was associated with social anxiety symptoms above and beyond other PA facets and negative affect. Additionally, contrast analyses indicated that motivationally-valenced (versus non-motivationally-valenced) PA facets were stronger negative predictors of social anxiety symptoms. These results demonstrate a statistically significant divergence between motivationally-valenced subdomains of PA and non-motivationally-valenced subdomains of PA, as they relate to social anxiety symptom severity.

The anxious-depressive attack severity scale: development and initial validation and reliability

BackgroundAnxious-depressive attack (ADA) is a symptom complex that comprises sudden intense feelings of anxiety or depression, intrusive rumination of regretful memories or future worries, emotional distress due to painful thoughts, and coping behaviors to manage emotional distress. ADA has been observed trans-diagnostically across various psychiatric disorders. Although the importance of ADA treatment has been indicated, a scale to measure the severity of ADA has not been developed. This study aimed to develop an Anxious-Depressive Attack Severity Scale (ADAS) to measure the severity of ADA symptoms and examine its reliability and validity.MethodsA total of 242 outpatients responded to a questionnaire and participated in an interview, which were designed to measure the severity of ADA, depressive, anxiety, anxious depression, and social anxiety symptoms. Based on the diagnostic criteria for ADA, 54 patients were confirmed to have ADA and were included in the main study analyses.ResultsThe exploratory factor analysis of the ADAS identified a two factor structure: severity of ADA symptoms and ADA frequency and coping behaviors. McDonald’s ωt coefficients were high for the overall scale and the first factor (ωt = .78 and ωt = .83, respectively) but low for the second factor (ωt = .49). The ADAS score was significantly positively correlated with clinical symptoms related to anxiety and depression.ConclusionThe present study demonstrated that the ADAS has sufficient reliability and validity; however, internal consistency was insufficient for the second factor. Overall, the ADAS has potential to be a valuable tool for use in clinical trials of ADA.

Fearful Temperament and Child Social Anxiety Symptoms: Clarifying the Influence of Maternal Punitive Responses.

Fearful temperament-the tendency to exhibit apprehension and/or avoidance in novel situations-is a well-established risk factor for childhood anxiety in general, and social anxiety in particular. Yet, there is little understanding of parent emotion socialization strategies that influence the association between fearful temperament and child social anxiety symptoms. The present investigation addresses this gap in the literature by examining maternal punitive responses to clinically anxious children's negative emotions as a moderator of the covariance between fearful temperament and social anxiety symptom severity. Clinically anxious children ages 8-12years (N = 105; 57.1% female; 61.9% racial/ethnic minority) and their mothers completed measures assessing child fearful temperament, maternal punitive emotion socialization responses, and child social anxiety symptoms. Children also participated in an anxiety-provoking speech task during which manifest social anxiety was coded by trained observers. Children's fearful temperament coupled with greater maternal punitive responses to children's negative emotions was associated with lower child-reported social anxiety symptoms. Models predicting manifest social anxiety were not significant. Maternal punitive responses to children's negative emotions may encourage clinically anxious youth to approach feared situations and therefore result in lower anxiety. Yet, the potentially negative effects of punitive responses on other aspects of anxious children's socioemotional development warrant scientific attention. Future research should examine the phenomenology of punitive parental responses among parents of anxious youth to better understand their effects on child behavior.

Social anxiety in young people: A prevalence study in seven countries.

Social anxiety is a fast-growing phenomenon which is thought to disproportionately affect young people. In this study, we explore the prevalence of social anxiety around the world using a self-report survey of 6,825 individuals (male = 3,342, female = 3,428, other = 55), aged 16-29 years (M = 22.84, SD = 3.97), from seven countries selected for their cultural and economic diversity: Brazil, China, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand, US, and Vietnam. The respondents completed the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS). The global prevalence of social anxiety was found to be significantly higher than previously reported, with more than 1 in 3 (36%) respondents meeting the threshold criteria for having Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). Prevalence and severity of social anxiety symptoms did not differ between sexes but varied as a function of age, country, work status, level of education, and whether an individual lived in an urban or rural location. Additionally, 1 in 6 (18%) perceived themselves as not having social anxiety, yet still met or exceeded the threshold for SAD. The data indicate that social anxiety is a concern for young adults around the world, many of whom do not recognise the difficulties they may experience. A large number of young people may be experiencing substantial disruptions in functioning and well-being which may be ameliorable with appropriate education and intervention.

Emotion Malleability Beliefs and Emotion Experience and Regulation in the Daily Lives of People with High Trait Social Anxiety.

The extent to which a person believes they can change or control their own emotions is associated with trait-level symptoms of mood and anxiety-related psychopathology. Method: The present study examined how this belief relates to momentary and daily self-reports of affect, emotion regulation tendencies, and perceived effectiveness of emotion regulation attempts throughout a five-week experience sampling study conducted in N = 113 high socially anxious people (https://osf.io/eprwt/). Results suggest that people with relatively stronger beliefs that their emotions are malleable experienced more momentary and daily positive affect (relative to negative affect), even after controlling for social anxiety symptom severity (although only daily positive affect, and not momentary positive affect, remained significant after correcting for false discovery rate). However, emotion malleability beliefs were not uniquely associated with other emotion regulation-related outcomes in daily life, despite theory suggesting malleability beliefs influence motivation to engage in emotion regulation. The paucity of significant associations observed between trait malleability beliefs and momentary and daily self-reports of emotion regulation (despite consistent findings of such relationships at trait levels) calls for additional research to better understand the complex dynamics of emotion beliefs in daily life.

Body Concept and Quality of Life in Patients with Idiopathic Dystonia.

Patients with dystonia experience unusual postures and disfigurement. The aim of the study was to examine changes in the body concept in relation to quality of life and severity of dystonia. Our cohort consisted of 20 patients with idiopathic dystonia resistant to medical therapy who were planned for pallidal deep brain stimulation. The results were compared to 25 healthy controls. The patients were assessed with Frankfurt Body Concept Scale, Short Form 36 (SF-36) Health Survey, Hamilton Depression Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, Social Phobia Inventory and Social Interaction Anxiety Scale. The disease severity was evaluated with Burke–Fahn–Marsden Dystonia Rating Scale and Toronto Western Spasmodic Torticollis Rating Scale. Patients with dystonia had a significantly impaired body concept in eight out of nine subscales in comparison to healthy controls. The differences were most pronounced for the subscales general health, body care, physical efficacy, sexuality and physical appearance (p < 0.001). Furthermore, all eight subscales of SF-36 exhibited significantly lower values in patients with dystonia compared to controls. We also found significant positive correlations between SF-36 and body concept subscales. Impairment of body concept was not associated with disease severity or levels of social anxiety symptoms. However, there was a significant association between self-rated depression and disease severity. Our patients suffered from increased depression and social anxiety symptoms except social interaction anxiety. We conclude that patients with dystonia have significant body concept impairment that interferes with quality of life in both physical and emotional domains. Future studies should focus on assessing these symptoms after adequate therapeutic management of motor symptoms.

Prefrontal cortex hypoactivity distinguishes severe from mild-to-moderate social anxiety as revealed by a palm-sized near-infrared spectroscopy system.

The purpose of this study was to compare prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity among subjects with differing social anxiety (SA) severity levels to identify a possible biomarker for severe SA. Further, SA is generally under-diagnosed, so we examined if such measurements could be acquired conveniently, non-invasively, and at low cost using a portable near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) system. We classified 96 participants into three groups based on Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) total score: Low SA (LSA, n = 40), Moderate SA (MSA, n = 39), and High SA (HSA, n = 17). We compared the prefrontal hemodynamic responses among LSAS severity groups during a verbal fluency task using a palm-sized NIRS system. The HSA group exhibited a significantly lower hemodynamic response in the left PFC compared to LSA and MSA groups, whereas there was no significant difference between LSA and MSA groups. There was also no significant difference in the right PFC hemodynamic response among groups. Differences in the severity of SA symptoms may be related to the left PFC function. Low PFC activity during specific cognitive tasks may provide a biomarker for distinguishing severe from mild/moderate SA symptoms to guide subsequent therapeutic decisions.

Exercise Addiction and Its Relationship with Health Outcomes in Indoor Cycling Practitioners in Fitness Centers.

We studied the prevalence and possible association between exercise addiction and health in indoor cycling practitioners. In 1014 (492 women) adult indoor cyclists and 926 (597 women) controls with low levels of physical activity according to the short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, we examined the risk of exercise addiction according to the Exercise Addiction Inventory and several health outcomes through a web-based experiment. The prevalence of a high risk of exercise addiction in cyclists was 13.3%, and it was higher in men than in women (16.5% vs. 10.0%, p = 0.002). Women cyclists with a high risk of exercise addiction had higher levels of physical activity (p < 0.001; effect size = −0.62, 95% CI: (−0.91, −0.32)) and anxiety symptom severity (p = 0.001; Effect Size (ES) = −0.59 (−0.89, −0.30)) than those with a low risk. For both sexes, cyclists with a low risk of exercise addiction had better social function, emotional role, and anxiety symptom severity compared with the controls (all p < 0.002; ES ranged from 0.25 to 0.47). Higher anxiety symptom severity and cardiorespiratory fitness were the main determinants of exercise addiction in cyclists (both p < 0.001). Our data suggest the importance of considering exercise addiction in indoor cyclists.

Digital Biomarkers of Social Anxiety Severity: Digital Phenotyping Using Passive Smartphone Sensors

BackgroundSocial anxiety disorder is a highly prevalent and burdensome condition. Persons with social anxiety frequently avoid seeking physician support and rarely receive treatment. Social anxiety symptoms are frequently underreported and underrecognized, creating a barrier to the accurate assessment of these symptoms. Consequently, more research is needed to identify passive biomarkers of social anxiety symptom severity. Digital phenotyping, the use of passive sensor data to inform health care decisions, offers a possible method of addressing this assessment barrier.ObjectiveThis study aims to determine whether passive sensor data acquired from smartphone data can accurately predict social anxiety symptom severity using a publicly available dataset.MethodsIn this study, participants (n=59) completed self-report assessments of their social anxiety symptom severity, depressive symptom severity, positive affect, and negative affect. Next, participants installed an app, which passively collected data about their movement (accelerometers) and social contact (incoming and outgoing calls and texts) over 2 weeks. Afterward, these passive sensor data were used to form digital biomarkers, which were paired with machine learning models to predict participants’ social anxiety symptom severity.ResultsThe results suggested that these passive sensor data could be utilized to accurately predict participants’ social anxiety symptom severity (r=0.702 between predicted and observed symptom severity) and demonstrated discriminant validity between depression, negative affect, and positive affect.ConclusionsThese results suggest that smartphone sensor data may be utilized to accurately detect social anxiety symptom severity and discriminate social anxiety symptom severity from depressive symptoms, negative affect, and positive affect.

Endogenous testosterone levels are predictive of symptom reduction with exposure therapy in social anxiety disorder

The Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Gonadal (HPG)-axis, and testosterone in particular, play an important role in social motivational behavior. Socially avoidant behavior, characteristic of social anxiety disorder (SAD), has been linked to low endogenous testosterone levels, and can be alleviated by testosterone administration in SAD. Although these beneficial effects of testosterone may translate to exposure therapy, it remains unknown whether testosterone increases prior to exposure improve therapy outcomes. In this proof-of-principle study, we tested whether pre-exposure (reactive and baseline) endogenous testosterone levels were predictive of exposure outcome in SAD. Seventy-three participants (52 females) with a principal SAD diagnosis performed four speech exposures: three during one standardized exposure therapy session and one at post-assessment one week later. Subjective fear levels were assessed before and after each speech exposure and social anxiety symptoms were assessed at pre- and post-treatment. Pre-treatment testosterone levels were assessed before (baseline) and in response to a pre-exposure instruction session (reactive). Pre-treatment testosterone levels were not related to fear levels during exposure therapy, but predicted pre- to post-treatment reductions in social anxiety symptom severity. Specifically, low baseline and high reactive pre-treatment testosterone levels were associated with larger reductions in social anxiety symptom severity. These findings support the role of HPG-axis in social fear reduction. Specifically, our finding that high reactive testosterone as well as low baseline testosterone predicted exposure outcome in SAD, suggests that good reactivity of the HPG-axis is a promising marker for the symptom-reducing effects of exposure therapy.

Effectiveness of an Integrative Body-Mind-Spirit group intervention in improving the skin symptoms and psychosocial well-being in children living with atopic dermatitis: A randomized-waitlisted controlled trial

ObjectiveThe symptomatology of atopic dermatitis (AD) imposes heavy physical, psychological, and social burdens on children, yet their psychosocial needs have been commonly ignored in AD management. Evidence of the psychosocial effects of psychosocial interventions on childhood AD is thin. The present study aimed to examine the effects of a customized Integrative Body-Mind-Spirit (IBMS) group intervention on physical, psychological, and social outcomes for children with AD. MethodsA randomized-waitlisted controlled trial was conducted. Children of primary-school age who had been diagnosed with AD and their parents were recruited. Parent-child dyads were randomized to either the IBMS group or waitlisted controlled (WLC) group. Children and their parents attended six three-hour sessions incorporating treatment components based on the IBMS intervention model. The group intervention was conducted in parallel format that the children and parents attended independently of each other. Outcome measures included the severity of AD, generalized and social anxiety symptoms, emotion regulation, self-esteem, quality of relationships with parents, and dermatology-specific quality of life (QoL) at pre-intervention (T0), post-intervention (T1) and 5-weeks post-intervention (T2). ResultsData from 58 children in the IBMS group and 55 children in the WLC group were analyzed. There were no differences in baseline measures. Children in the IBMS group displayed significant decrease in severity of AD, generalized anxiety and social phobia, and improvement in emotion regulation as compared with the WLC group. No significant difference in self-esteem, quality of relationships with parents, or dermatology-specific QoL between the two groups was found. ConclusionWith a rigorously designed evaluation, the study found that the IBMS parallel-group intervention based on a holistic perspective and Eastern philosophies on health and well-being was effective in improving skin symptoms and psychosocial well-being among 6–12-year old children living with AD. Future research needs to customize this IBMS intervention to other developmental stages of children with AD in other geographical contexts so as to benefit wider populations.