title: Prevalence of psychotic-like experiences in young adults with social anxiety disorder and correlation with affective dysregulation.
abstract: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is associated with psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) and is a frequent diagnosis in the prodromal phases of psychosis. We investigated whether psychopathological factors could discriminate which subjects with SAD are more likely to develop PLEs. A sample of 128 young adults with SAD was split into two subsamples according to the presence of clinically relevant PLEs. Correlations between PLEs and other psychopathological markers were explored. The SAD with PLEs group showed higher level of anxiety, depression, and intolerance of uncertainty (IU) compared with the SAD without PLEs group. A limitation of this study is that the cross-sectional design precluded the analysis of causality. In our sample, the presence of PLEs is related to higher levels of depression, anxiety, and IU. The current findings are consistent with hypotheses suggesting that cognitive disturbances, together with social anxiety, may result in PLEs.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Child and Adolescence Psychiatry, Research Hospital IRCCS Bambino Gesù, Rome, Italy; †Department of Psychiatry, PhD School "Early Intervention in Psychosis," "Sapienza" University, Rome, Italy; ‡School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, England; and §NESMOS Department, PhD School of "Early Intervention in Psychosis," Sant'Andrea Hospital and "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Armando
authors.forename: Ashleigh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Girardi
authors.forename: Valentino
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Righetti
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dario
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saba
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Decrescenzo
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mazzone
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vicari
authors.forename: Maximillian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Birchwood
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fiori Nastro
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D035501:Uncertainty; D055815:Young Adult