title: [Difficulties in emotion regulation and personal distress in young adults with social anxiety].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to assess the association between social anxiety and difficulties in emotion regulation in a sample of Italian young adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Our convenience sample was composed of 298 Italian young adults (184 women and 114 men) aged 18-34 years. Participants were administered the Interaction Anxiousness Scale (IAS), the Audience Anxiousness Scale (AAS), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). A Two Step cluster analysis was used to group subjects according to their level of social anxiety.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The cluster analysis indicated a two-cluster solution. The first cluster included 163 young adults with higher scores on the AAS and the IAS than those included in cluster 2 (n=135). A generalized linear model with groups as dependent variable indicated that people with higher social anxiety (compared to those with lower social anxiety) have higher scores on the dimension personal distress of the IRI (p<0.01), and on the DERS non acceptance of negative emotions (p<0.001) and lack of emotional clarity (p<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results are consistent with models of psychopathology, which hypothesize that people who cannot deal effectively with their emotions may develop depressive and anxious disorders.
authors.affiliation: Univesità Europea di Roma.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Contardi
authors.forename: Benedetto
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Farina
authors.forename: Mariantonietta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fabbricatore
authors.forename: Stella
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tamburello
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Scapellato
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Penzo
authors.forename: Antonino
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tamburello
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Innamorati
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult