Abstract

This study aimed to examine not only the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral group therapy for speech anxiety but also the question of whether the Speech Anxiety Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (SAATQ) would be sensitive to cognitive change with treatment. Speech anxious undergraduates who completed a cognitive-behavioral group therapy (=CBGT group) and those who reported both their speech anxiety and negative automatic thoughts twice before and after 8 weeks (=no-treatment control group) were compared. Clients in the CBGT group improved significantly on the SAS, whereas Ss in the no-treatment control group did not. This differential pattern between groups was also apparent in the frequency of negative automatic thoughts measured by the SAATQ. Moreover, the SAATQ showed greater cognitive change in the CBGT group compared with the no-treatment control group. These findings suggest that the CBGT is very effective in the treatment of clients with speech anxiety and that the SAATQ is sensitive to treatment effects.