title: The structure of vulnerabilities for social anxiety disorder.
abstract: Social anxiety disorder symptoms are generally proposed to be related to broad temperamental vulnerabilities (e.g., a low level of approach and high level of avoidance temperament), specific psychological vulnerabilities (e.g., fears of negative and positive evaluation), and additional disorders (e.g., major depressive disorder). However, existing tests of such a model have either not considered depressive symptoms or relied on samples of undergraduates. We examined these and related questions via a latent variable model in a large dataset (N=2253) that combined participants across a variety of studies. The model had adequate fit in the whole sample, and good fit in a subsample in which more participants completed the depression measure. The model indicated that low level of approach and high level of avoidance temperament contributed to fears of evaluation and social anxiety symptoms, and that fears of evaluation additionally contributed independently to social anxiety symptoms. The relationship between social anxiety and depressive symptoms was entirely accounted for by these vulnerabilities: Depressive symptoms were only predicted by avoidance temperament.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA. Electronic address: rodebaugh@wustl.edu.
authors.forename: Thomas L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Rodebaugh
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: Cheri A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Levinson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: Julia K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Langer
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Justin W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Weeks
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Richard G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Heimberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: Patrick J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Menatti
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Anxiety Disorders Clinic, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Franklin R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Schneier
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Anxiety Disorders Clinic, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Blanco
authors.affiliation: Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Liebowitz
mesh_terms: D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D000072861:Phobia, Social / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D013694:Temperament; D035862:Vulnerable Populations / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Depression; Hierarchical models; Social anxiety disorder; Social phobia; Structural equation modeling