Social phobia features across the DSM-III-R anxiety disorders

One hundred sixty subjects meeting DSM-III-R criteria for the five major anxiety disorders were compared on the extent to which they reported features characteristic of social phobia. The results indicated that many patients in the anxiety disorder categories experience some degree of social anxiety. The differences between subjects with a primary diagnosis of social phobia and subjects with other anxiety disorders appear to be chiefly quantitative on this feature. Compared to the other anxiety disorders, social phobics report fear and avoidance in response to a greater number of social situations and report greater interference in their lives due to social phobic concerns. Among the anxiety disorders, generalized anxiety disorder appears to be associated with the greatest degree of social anxiety, and simple phobia with the least.