Abnormal Psychology

280 CHAPTER 7

at school and didn’t take any classes where she felt her performance might be observed or

judged by her classmates (e.g., gym). On a few occasions, she even went out of her way to

obtain special permission to hand in a written essay instead of doing an oral report. Despite

being an excellent student, she generally tended to be very quiet in class and rarely asked

questions or participated in class discussions.

Throughout college, Rachel had diffi culty making new friends. Although people liked her

company and often invited her to parties and other social events, she rarely accepted. She

had a long list of excuses to get out of socializing with other people. She was comfortable

only with her family and several longtime friends but aside from those, she tended to avoid

signifi cant contact with other people.

(Antony & Swinson, 2000a, pp. 5–6)

People who have social phobia also tend to be very sensitive to criticism and

rejection and to worry about not living up to the perceived expectations of others.

Thus, they often dread being evaluated or taking tests, and they may not perform

up to their potential at school or work. Unfortunately, their diminished performance

Table 7.9 • Social Phobia Facts at a Glance

Prevalence

• Social phobia is one of the most common anxiety disorders, with prevalence estimates
  ranging from 3% to 13%.


• Among all psychological disorders, it is the third most common, after major depression and
  alcohol abuse.


• A fear of public speaking or public performance is the most common symptom, followed by a fear
  of talking to strangers or meeting new people.

Comorbidity

• Among those with social phobia, over half will also have one other psychological disorder
  at some point in their lives, and 27% will have three or more disorders during their lives
  (Chartier, Walker, & Stein, 2003). Approximately 20–44% will have a mood disorder (Chartier,
  Walker, & Stein, 2003; Roth & Fonagy, 2005), and 23% will have alcohol or substance abuse
  or dependence (Chartier et al., 2003).

Onset

• Most people with social phobia were shy as children, and the more intense symptoms gener-
  ally appear during adolescence.

Course

• Social phobia may develop gradually, or it may begin suddenly after a humiliating or stressful
  social experience.


• Symptoms typically are chronic, although they may lessen for some adolescents as they enter
  adulthood.

Gender Differences

• Three women develop social phobia for every two men with the disorder (Kessler et al., 1994).

Cultural Differences

• Culture can infl uence the specifi c form of social phobia symptoms; for instance, in Japan, some
  people with social phobia may fear that their body odor will offend others (Dinnel, Kleinknecht,
  & Tanaka-Matsumi, 2002), whereas people with social phobia in Hong Kong are more likely to
  be afraid of talking to individuals who are of a higher social status (Lee et al., in press).


• The prevalence of social phobia is increasing; people born more recently are more likely to
  develop social phobia in their lifetimes (Heimberg et al., 2000).
  Source: Unless otherwise noted, information in the table is from American Psychiatric Association, 2000.