A comparison of skills training and cognitive restructuring-relaxation for the treatment of speech anxiety *

This study compared public speaking skills training with cognitive restructuring-relaxation training for the treatment of speech anxiety. Interactions between type of clients and treatment outcome were also explored. In a 2×4 design, 57 speech-anxious undergraduates were divided at the median of the Social Anxiety and Distress Scale and assigned to one of four groups. The skills group used behavioral rehearsal and videotape feedback to increase voice inflection, rate, volume, eye contact, gestures, and speech organization. The cognitive restructuring-relaxation group learned coping statements and relaxation. Each treatment group met for five 1-hr sessions. Both the skills training and cognitive restructuring-relaxation groups significantly improved on one subjective and two behavioral measures of speech anxiety and improvements were maintained at a 2-month followup. Reductions in speech anxiety did not generalize to decreases in social anxiety. Discussion-placebo and waiting list groups improved slightly but did not differ from each other. Although the trends did not reach significance, interactions between clients and treatments suggest that the skills training was equally effective for subjects high and low in social anxiety, while cognitive restructuring-relaxation appears to be more effective for subjects high in social anxiety. To increse generalization of treatment effects, the integration of skills training and cognitive restructuring is proposed.