A Pilot Study of Loving-Kindness Meditation for Social Anxiety Disorder

The purpose of this study is to develop and test a mindfulness and loving-kindness based intervention, Positive Affect Training (PAT), to enhance positive affect such as compassion, love, and gratitude and reduce symptoms of social anxiety disorder (SAD). PAT involves a combination of practicing mindfulness meditation and loving kindness meditation in groups. Although PAT has been shown to be effective for dysthymic disorder, one area that remains unclear is whether the PAT protocol for SAD can address the social anxiety symptoms in Japanese adults with SAD. The goal of the research is to test the initial feasibility and efficacy in increasing positive affect and decreasing negative affect in individuals recruited from the general community who are social anxious. If PAT is also effective for Japanese SAD patients, it could be more cost-effective and noninvasive option to address social anxiety disorder.

Inclusion Criteria: * Age 20 years or older. * Positive response to the recruitment question: "Have you been feeling anxious or distressed in social situations?" * Meets DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for Social Anxiety Disorder based on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 Disorders (SCID-5). * Social Anxiety Disorder is the primary diagnosis. * Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) total score of 30 or higher. Exclusion Criteria: * Current risk of self-harm or suicide, assessed by clinical interview and the suicide item of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). * Current or past psychiatric disorders that may impose a safety risk, such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, or other psychotic disorders, as assessed by the SCID-5. * Current psychiatric or psychological treatment for any psychological disorder at the time of assessment. * Initiation of psychiatric or psychological treatment during the study; such participants will be monitored and may be excluded from sensitivity analyses.