Personality Functioning in Social Anxiety Disorders Subtypes According to DSM 5

Authors : Arda Kazım Demirkan, Yücel Yılmaz, Gizem Gerdan, Engin Emrem Bestepe

Pages : 775-782

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Publication Date : 2024-01-03

Article Type : Research

Abstract :The present study aims to investigate the extent to which the newly introduced concept of the Level of Personality Functioning (LPF) affects different subtypes of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) as classified by DSM-5. This cross-sectional study comprises a sample of twenty-six patients with SAD not meeting the \"performance only\" criteria, twenty-one patients with performance-only SAD (PoSAD), and twenty-five healthy controls. The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale was used to determine the level of social anxiety, the Short Form-36 (SF-36) was employed to assess impairment in global functioning, and the Level of Personality Functioning Scale (LPFS) was administered to evaluate the level of personality functioning among participants. There were statistically significant differences between the SAD and PoSAD groups across all sub-dimensions of the LPFS, including identity, self-management, empathy, and intimacy. PoSAD patients exhibited better levels of personality functioning compared to SAD patients. This study reveals varying degrees of impairment in personality functioning among subtypes of SAD. Taking these differences into account could be instrumental in devising more tailored treatment plans that cater to the specific needs of patients.
Keywords : Social anxiety, personality, psychosocial functioning, personality functioning