Work

Evaluation of the Proposed Social Anxiety Disorder Specifier Change for Dsm-5 in a Treatment-seeking Sample of Anxious Youth

Year: 2013

Type: article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The current proposal for the DSM-5 definition of social anxiety disorder (SAD) is to replace the DSM-IV generalized subtype specifier with one that specifies fears in performance situations only. Relevant evaluations to support this change in youth samples are sparse. METHODS: The present study examined rates and correlates of the DSM-IV and proposed DSM-5 specifiers in a sample of treatment-seeking children and adolescents with SAD (N = 204). RESULTS: When applying DSM-IV subtypes, 64.2% of the sample was classified as having a generalized subtype of SAD, with the remaining 35.2% classifying as having a nongeneralized subtype SAD. Youth with generalized SAD, relative to those with nongeneralized SAD, were older, had more clinically severe SAD, showed greater depressive symptoms, and were more likely to have a comorbid depressive disorder. No children in the current sample endorsed discrete fear in performance situations only in the absence of fear in other social situations. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings call into question the meaningfulness of the proposed changes in treatment-seeking youth with SAD.

Source: Depression and Anxiety

DOI: 10.1002/da.22067

Authors: Caroline E. Kerns, Jonathan S. Comer, Donna B. Pincus, Stefan G. Hofmann

Institution: Boston University

Language: English

Topic: Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes

Subfield: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health