PSYCHOPATHOLOGY OF SOCIAL PHOBIA - EFFECTS OF SUBTYPE AND OF AVOIDANT PERSONALITY-DISORDER

The effects of social phobia subtypes and of comorbid avoidant personality disorder (APD) on the symptoms of 45 outpatients with a primary diagnosis of social phobia were examined. Generalized social phobic subjects with (GSP-APD, n = 16) and without APD (GSP-NAPD, n = 13) reported greater social anxiety and fear of negative evaluation than specific social phobic subjects without APD (SSP-NAPD, n = 16). Compared to SSP-NAPD clients, GSP-APD clients tended to exhibit poorer social skills during behavioral testing and were more likely to be unmarried and to use medication. GSP-APD subjects were more depressed than both SSP-NAPD and GSP-NAPD subjects, while non-APD groups did not differ. The results showed that both social phobia subtype and APD comorbidity contributed to the differences found among the three subgroups of social phobic clients.