Effectiveness of an AI-Integrated Proactive Thought Control Intervention for Young Adults With Social Anxiety Disorder

Participants with Social Anxiety Disorder will be recruited from educational settings . After screening and informed consent, participants will be randomly assigned to PTC , ACG or CBT .The therapy session will be 8 session once a week, and data will be collected through psychological questionnaires in two phases at start and end of intervention.

Inclusion Criteria: * Were between 18 and 26 years of age, corresponding to the developmental period of emerging adulthood (Arnett, 2000). * Met DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for Social Anxiety Disorder on the SCID-5-RV (First et al., 2015). * Scored at or above the clinical cutoff of 30 on the LSAS-SR, indicating clinically significant social anxiety (Mennin et al., 2002). * Were not receiving any other form of psychological intervention at the time of the study. * Had sufficient English proficiency to understand instructions and complete the assessments (Flores, 2006). * Provided written informed consent. * Possessed basic computer literacy and typing skills required for the digital tasks. Exclusion Criteria: * Were younger than 18 or older than 26 years. * Did not meet DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for Social Anxiety Disorder on the SCID-5-RV. * Scored in the clinically significant range for general anxiety (BAI ≥ 16; Beck et al., 1988) or at or above the threshold for moderate depression (BDI-II ≥ 20; Beck et al., 1996). * Were currently receiving psychological treatment for any psychiatric condition. * Had a lifetime history of a severe psychiatric disorder other than Social Anxiety Disorder (e.g., psychosis, bipolar disorder). * Had a medical or neurological condition that could interfere with task completion or valid responding. * Were unable to complete the study procedures or assessments. * Had no prior experience using a computer.