Title

Quality of life impairments among adults with social phobia: The impact of subtype

Authors

Authors

N. N. Wong; D. E. Sarver;D. C. Beidel

Comments

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Abbreviated Journal Title

J. Anxiety Disord.

Keywords

Social phobia; Quality of life; Social skills; Clinical significance; Impairment; NATIONAL-COMORBIDITY-SURVEY; AVOIDANT PERSONALITY-DISORDER; ANXIETY; DISORDERS; CLINICAL-SIGNIFICANCE; GENERAL-POPULATION; PANIC DISORDER; PREVALENCE; DEPRESSION; INVENTORY; VALIDITY; Psychology, Clinical; Psychiatry

Abstract

Social phobia is characterized by extreme fear in social or performance situations in which the individual may be exposed to embarrassment or scrutiny by others, which creates occupational, social and academic impairment. To date, there are few data examining the relationship of social phobia impairments to quality of life. In this investigation, we examined how demographic characteristics, comorbidity, and social competence are related to quality of life among patients with social phobia and normal controls. In addition, we examined the impact of social phobia subtype. Results indicated that individuals with generalized social phobia had significantly impaired quality of life when compared to individuals with no disorder or individuals with nongeneralized social phobia. Comorbid disorders decreased quality of life only for patients with nongeneralized social phobia. Hierarchical linear regression revealed that a diagnosis of social phobia and observer ratings of social effectiveness exerted strong and independent effects on quality of life scores. Results are discussed in terms of the role of social anxiety,. social competence, and comorbidity on the quality of life for adults with social phobia. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Journal Title

Journal of Anxiety Disorders

Volume

26

Issue/Number

1

Publication Date

1-1-2012

Document Type

Article

Language

English

First Page

50

Last Page

57

WOS Identifier

WOS:000299361800007

ISSN

0887-6185

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