Rooyesh-e- Ravanshenasi Journal(RRJ)

The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of paradoxical scheduling on emotional regulation difficulties and social interaction anxiety in patients with social anxiety. The research method was a quasi-experimental design with a pre-test-post-test design and a control group. The statistical population of this study included all patients with social anxiety who were referred to counseling and psychology clinics in Saveh in 2024, from which 30 people were selected using a purposive sampling method and randomly assigned to two groups (15 people in the experimental group and 15 people in the control group). The measurement tools included the social anxiety questionnaires of Connor et al. (2000 SPIN), the difficulty of emotion regulation of Gertz and Romer (2004 DERS), and the social interaction anxiety of Heimberg et al. (1998 SIAS). The experimental group underwent paradoxical scheduling group therapy during 4 90-minute sessions once a week, and the control group did not receive any therapeutic intervention. Multivariate analysis of covariance was used for analysis. Controlling for the pre-test effect, there was a significant difference between the post-test means of the experimental and control groups at the P<0.001 level. The findings of this study showed that the paradoxical schedule was effective in reducing social interaction anxiety and difficulty regulating emotions in patients with social anxiety.