The benefits of exposure therapy alone may last longer than sertraline alone or sertraline plus exposure therapy in social phobia.

Participants 375 people aged 18–65 years with generalised social phobia of at least 1 year duration (DSM-IV criteria) rated as moderately ill (score of 4 or greater on overall severity item of the Clinical Global Impression Social Phobia scale, severity sub-scale). Participants were recruited from 41 primary care centres in Norway and Sweden and from advertisements in newspapers and other media. 61% were female; mean age was 40 years; mean age at symptom onset was 16 years; mean duration of illness was 24 years. People with comorbid dysthymia or specific phobias were eligible. People with panic disorder with onset before social phobia or any other current anxiety or major depressive disorder were excluded, as were people with substance misuse, eating disorder or a history of bipolar disorder or psychosis.