Hugo Peyre1,2, Nicolas Hoertel3,4,5, Fabrice Rivollier5,6, Benjamin Landman1, Kibby McMahon7, Astrid Chevance4, Cédric Lemogne3,4,5, Richard Delorme1, Carlos Blanco8, Frédéric Limosin3,4,5. 1. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Robert Debré Hospital, Paris, France. 2. Cognitive Sciences and Psycholinguistic Laboratory, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France. 3. Paris Descartes University, PRES Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France. 4. Department of Psychiatry, AP-HP, Corentin Celton Hospital, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France. 5. INSERM UMR 894, Psychiatry and Neurosciences Center, Paris, France. 6. Sainte-Anne Hospital, Service Hospitalo-Universitaire, Paris Descartes University, Paris, France. 7. Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC. 8. Division of Epidemiology, Services, and Prevention Research, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Little is known about differences in mental health comorbidity and quality of life in individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD) according to the number and the types of feared situations. METHODS: Using a US nationally representative sample, the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, we performed latent class analysis to compare the prevalence rates of mental disorders and quality of life measures across classes defined by the number and the types of feared social situations among individuals with SAD. RESULTS: Among the 2,448 participants with a lifetime diagnosis of SAD, we identified three classes of individuals who feared most social situations but differed in the number of feared social situations (generalized severe [N = 378], generalized moderate [N = 1,049] and generalized low [N = 443]) and a class of subjects who feared only performance situations [N = 578]. The magnitude of associations between each class and a wide range of mental disorders and quality of life measures were consistent with a continuum model, supporting that the deleterious effects of SAD on mental health may increase with the number of social situations feared. However, we found that individuals with the "performance only" specifier may constitute an exception to this model because these participants had significantly better mental health than other participants with SAD. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings give additional support to the recent changes made in the DSM-5, including the introduction of the "performance only" specifier and the removal of the "generalized" specifier to promote the dimensional approach of the number of social fears.
BACKGROUND: Little is known about differences in mental health comorbidity and quality of life in individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD) according to the number and the types of feared situations. METHODS: Using a US nationally representative sample, the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, we performed latent class analysis to compare the prevalence rates of mental disorders and quality of life measures across classes defined by the number and the types of feared social situations among individuals with SAD. RESULTS: Among the 2,448 participants with a lifetime diagnosis of SAD, we identified three classes of individuals who feared most social situations but differed in the number of feared social situations (generalized severe [N = 378], generalized moderate [N = 1,049] and generalized low [N = 443]) and a class of subjects who feared only performance situations [N = 578]. The magnitude of associations between each class and a wide range of mental disorders and quality of life measures were consistent with a continuum model, supporting that the deleterious effects of SAD on mental health may increase with the number of social situations feared. However, we found that individuals with the "performance only" specifier may constitute an exception to this model because these participants had significantly better mental health than other participants with SAD. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings give additional support to the recent changes made in the DSM-5, including the introduction of the "performance only" specifier and the removal of the "generalized" specifier to promote the dimensional approach of the number of social fears.