Theories of anxiety disorders and phobias have ascribed a critical role to avoidance behavior in explaining the persistence of fear and anxiety, but knowledge about the role of avoidance behavior in the maintenance of anxiety in social anxiety disorder relative to specific phobia is lacking. This study examined the extent to which avoidance behavior moderates the relationship between general an...

A link has been suggested between Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and anxiety disorders. The aim of the study was to examine the severity of social anxiety measured by the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale Self-Report and prevalence of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) in adults with ASD, with SAD and a non-ASD comparison group. Individuals with ASD showed significantly higher scores of social anxiety ...

Although social anxiety disorder appears to confer impairment in friendships, evidence beyond self-report is minimal. We used the flexible iterated prisoner's dilemma as a simulated interaction with a friend with 27 individuals with the generalized type of social anxiety disorder and 23 demographically equivalent individuals without the disorder. Participants with generalized social anxiety dis...

social cognition is defined as the capacity to generate, perceive and interpret and responses to the dispositions, intentions and behaviors of other people. it includes different specific cognitive processes that underlie social interactions. four domains of social cognition are named theory of mind (also known as mentalizing), emotion recognition, social perception and attributional style. anx...

A developmental-evolutionary perspective is used to synthesize basic research from the neurosciences, ethology, genetics, and developmental psychology into a unified framework for understanding the nature and origins of social anxiety and avoidant personality disorder. Evidence is presented that social anxiety disorder (social phobia) and avoidant personality disorder may be alternate conceptua...

Despite the availability of effective interventions, most individuals with social anxiety disorder do not seek treatment. Given their fear of negative evaluation, socially anxious individuals might be especially susceptible to stigma concerns, a recognized barrier for mental health treatment. However, very little is known about the stigma specific to social anxiety disorder. In a design similar...

BACKGROUND Two specific cognitive constructs that have been implicated in the development and maintenance of anxiety symptoms are anxiety sensitivity and emotional reasoning, both of which relate to the experience and meaning of physical symptoms of arousal or anxiety. The interpretation of physical symptoms has been particularly implicated in theories of social anxiety disorder, where internal...

social anxiety (or social phobia) disorder is defined as a constant fear of being embarrassed or negatively evaluated in social situations or while doing activities in the presence of others. several studies have examined the role of certain variables that might predict response to treatment and may affect treatment outcome. the purpose of this study was to identify predictive variables of chan...

Background: Social anxiety disorder is a debilitating, highly prevalent disorder in children and adolescents with lifetime prevalence rates, according to DSM-IV criteria, ranging from 0.7% to 3.5%. If left untreated, it can interfere with emotional, social, and school functioning. Objective: To evaluate the current evidence for efficacy and effectiveness of pharmacological and psychotherapeutic...