Pre-treatment shyness mindset predicts less reduction of social anxiety during exposure therapy

•Pre-treatment shyness mindset predicts changes in social anxiety from pre- to post-treatment.•Viewing social anxiety as malleable was associated with a greater reduction in social anxiety.•This association was found for both social performance anxiety and social interaction anxiety.•The association between pre-treatment shyness mindset and changes in social interaction anxiety was mediated by social performance anxiety.

This study examined the moderating role of shyness mindset on the reduction of social anxiety during exposure-based treatment. Participants (N = 60) in an intensive outpatient program for anxiety disorders were assessed at pre- and post-treatment. Social performance anxiety decreased dramatically during treatment, but the amount of decrease differed as a function of pre-treatment shyness mindset. At one standard deviation above the mean on both the social performance anxiety and shyness mindset measures, an average reduction of 15 points on the social performance anxiety measure was observed. At one standard deviation above the mean on the social performance anxiety measure and one standard deviation below the mean on the shyness mindset measure, an average reduction of 27 points on the social performance anxiety measure was observed. These results suggest that targeting shyness mindset during exposure-based treatments for social anxiety disorder might increase the effectiveness of treatment for individuals with a high shyness mindset.