Background: Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is a chronic and debilitating condition associated with extensive psychological and social consequences. Evidence indicates a high comorbidity between BDD and social anxiety, which significantly diminishes patients’ quality of life. Consequently, identifying and implementing effective therapeutic interventions is of considerable clinical importance. The present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT) in improving quality of life and reducing social anxiety among patients with BDD.
Methods: This study employed a randomized controlled trial with a pretest–posttest design and a three-month follow-up. Forty patients diagnosed with BDD through a structured clinical interview and the Yale–Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale modified for BDD were randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group. Assessment tools included the Yale–Brown BDD Scale, the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, and the World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire.
Results: Findings demonstrated that CBT significantly reduced BDD symptom severity and social anxiety in the experimental group compared to controls. Moreover, CBT led to improvements in multiple domains of quality of life, including physical, psychological, and social functioning (p < 0.001).
Conclusion: These results highlight the multidimensional efficacy of CBT in simultaneously managing clinical symptoms, comorbid social anxiety, and quality-of-life impairments in patients with BDD. The findings underscore the necessity of considering CBT as a first-line intervention for BDD, emphasizing its critical role in addressing both core psychopathology and associated psychosocial outcomes.