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Background and objective: Based on the cognitive model of social anxiety disorder (SAD), indi-viduals who are anxious in social environments have some dysfunctional thoughts and beliefsregarding themselves and ways of others to judge their behaviors. A fundamental componentof cognitive behavioral therapy is about noticing and changing cognitive distortions. The aimsof our study were to analyze the differences in cognitive distortions between patients with SADand a healthy control group, and examine the relationship between cognitive distortions andlevels of anxiety and depression in patients with SAD.Methods: One hundred two individuals from two samples, non-clinical and clinical with SAD,were included. Patients were evaluated using a socio-demographic data form, the LiebowitzSocial Anxiety Scale, Cognitive Distortions Scale (CDS), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and BeckDepression Inventory after a diagnostic interview.Results: There were significant differences between the patient and control group in termsof total CDS; most cognitive distortions were significantly higher in the patient group com-pared with the controls. The correlations between social anxiety, state and trait anxiety levels,depressive symptoms, and cognitive distortions were analyzed and significant correlations werefound between the scales with a range of 0.316---0.676.Conclusions: Patients with SAD had more cognitive distortions compared with the healthycontrols. The comorbid depressive symptoms in SAD had effects on ‘mental filter,overgeneralization and personalization’ in social situations, and there was no specific cognitivedistortion without depression. Cognitive distortions in these patients were more related todepression and trait anxiety levels than the severity of social anxiety.
