51 Endogenous testosterone levels are predictive of symptom reduction with exposure therapy in social anxiety disorder Table 3.1 Participants characteristics per gender Variable Females (n = 52) Mean (SD) Males (n = 21) Mean (SD) Total sample (N= 73) Mean (SD) Age 25.25 (6.88) 26.67 (8.91) 25.66 (7.48) LSAS (pre) 80.33 (22.35) 61.10 (17.58) 74.79 (22.43) LSAS (post) 70.74 (24.72) 53.58 (19.87) 66.01 (24.58) Testosterone sample 1 21.95 (17.34) 169.60 (94.50) Testosterone sample 2 22.45 (24.87) 145.23 (84.33) Testosterone sample 3 19.93 (21.99) 146.10 (106.26) Testosterone sample 4 19.68 (20.35) 147.28 (95.54) Testosterone sample 5 16.44 (15.68) 132.96 (63.35) Baseline testosterone 22.20 (19.24) 157.41 (58.06) Testosterone reactivity -.05 (0.26) -.03 (0.07) Note. Testosterone levels are in pg/ml. Some of the participants did not fill out the LSAS at postassessment. Therefore n = 69 for post-assessment values In-session fear The mixed model analysis for in-session fear levels with reactive testosterone as predictor showed that peak SUDs reduced over time, confirming that exposure resulted in the expected within-session reductions in fear levels, Estimate = -7.19(0.97), F(1,70) = 55.46, p <.001. Peak SUDs diminished over the three speeches (Mspeech1 = 74.63, SD = 16.58; Mspeech2 = 67.15, SD = 14.01; Mspeech3 = 60.25, SD = 17.71). A main effect of Gender, Estimate = -4.38(1.87), F(1,67) = 5.33, p =.024 further indicated higher SUD scores for females (M = 70.05, SD = 16.19), as compared to males (M = 60.65, SD = 17.73). However, contrary to our hypothesis no interaction effect of Time x Testosterone reactivity was found, Estimate = -0.08(0.15), F(1,70) = 0.28, p = .60. Reductions in fear levels over speeches were not related to testosterone reactivity. Similar findings were observed for Peak SUDs at the post-treatment Speech (Speech 4), Time, Estimate = -6.27(0.89), F(1,67) = 49.53, p <.001, Gender, Estimate = -5.37(1.96), F(1,67) = 7.46, p =.008, Time x Testosterone, Estimate = -0.16(.14), F(1,64) = 1.33, p = .25 (see Chapter 3 - Appendix 2 for details). Analyses testing the predictive effects of baseline testosterone yielded similar results to those for reactive testosterone (see Chapter 3 - Appendix 2 for details). Symptom severity The mixed model analysis for symptom severity, with reactive testosterone levels as predictor showed main effects of Time (pre, post), Estimate = -8.71(1.61), F(1,66) = 29.37, p 3
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