Avoidant Personality Traits Distinguish Social Phobic and Panic Disorder Subjects

Personality dimensions in social phobics with or without depression

“…HA dimension was found here to be very high in social phobia, as well as all of its subscales. This result is compatible with those showing a marked avoidant trait in social phobics (12, 17). A major finding of our study, however, is that this high level of HA is not caused by state effect of depression, as the scores of patients without depression were also dramatically higher than those of the controls.…”

“…Trait‐based personality studies may constitute a fruitful alternative approach susceptible to supply other types of information about personality function, but are scarce in social phobia. Some authors investigated the personality disorder categories in a dimensional way, and confirmed a high proportion of cluster C features among social phobics (12, 17). Other studies examined some specific personality traits in social phobia, such as the temperamental traits of negative affectivity or neuroticism (18), but also as related concepts like shyness (19).…”

Personality disorders evident by early adulthood and risk for anxiety disorders during middle adulthood

“…Thus, while individuals with Cluster C PDs were found to be at elevated risk for anxiety disorders in the present study, as hypothesized, our findings do not support the inference that Cluster C PDs are differentially associated with risk for onset of anxiety disorders. Our findings are consistent with previous research suggesting that Cluster A (Coolidge, Segal, Hook, & Stewart, 2000;Noyes et al, 1995;Torgersen et al, 2002), B (Goodwin & Hamilton, 2003;Latas et al, 2000), and C (Coolidge et al, 2000;Modestin, Oberson, & Erni, 1997; PD traits may all be associated with anxiety disorders, and that Cluster B and C PDs may be associated with risk for onset or recurrence of anxiety disorders (Steketee et al, 1999;Yonkers et al, 2000). Thus, the evidence that is currently available suggests that the association of PD traits and anxiety disorders may not tend to be characterized by a high level of specificity.…”

“…Much of the information that is currently available on the association between PD and anxiety disorders has been obtained from cross-sectional studies of Axis I-Axis II comorbidity. These studies have yielded findings suggesting that some types of PDs may be particularly associated with specific anxiety disorders (e.g., Bejerot et al, 1998;Comtois, Cowley, Dunner, & Roy-Byrne, 1999;Dyck et al, 2001;Hoffart, Thornes, & Hedley, 1995;Noyes, Woodman, Holt, Reich, & Zimmerman, 1995;Skodol et al, 1995;Zanarini et al, 1998;Zimmerman & Mattia, 1999). However, it is not yet clear whether the associations between various types of PDs and anxiety disorders are characterized by high, low, or moderate specificity.…”

Do Early Maladaptive Schemas Mediate the Relationship Between Childhood Experiences and Avoidant Personality Disorder Features? A Preliminary Investigation in a Non-Clinical Sample

“…Sansone and Levitt 2005;Trull 1993;Uehara et al 1997;Yang et al 2002). In terms of validity, the AVPD sub-scale has been found to differentiate patients with social phobia from patients with panic disorder (Noyes et al 1995).…”