The multiple dimensions of the social anxiety spectrum in mood disorders

Major depressive disorder and bipolar spectrum disorders are debilitating conditions associated with severe impairment. The presence of co-occurring social phobia can make the clinical course of these disorders even more challenging. To better understand the nature of social anxiety in the context of ongoing mood disorders, we report the results of exploratory factor analyses of the Social Phobia Spectrum Self-Report Instrument (SHY), a 162-item measure designed to capture the full spectrum of manifestations and features associated with social anxiety experienced across the lifespan. We examined data from 359 adult outpatients diagnosed with major depressive disorder and 403 outpatients diagnosed with a bipolar spectrum disorder. The measure was divided into its two components: the SHY-General (SHY-G), reflecting general social anxiety features, and the SHY-Specific (SHY-S), reflecting anxiety in specific situations. Exploratory factor analyses were conducted for each using tetrachoric correlation matrices and an unweighted least squares estimator. Item invariance was evaluated for important patient subgroups. Five factors were identified for the SHY-G, representing general features of social anxiety: Fear of Social Disapproval, Childhood Social Anxiety, Somatic Social Anxiety, Excessive Agreeableness, and Behavioral Submission. Seven specific-situation factors were identified from the SHY-S: Writing in Public, Dating, Public Speaking, Eating in Public, Shopping Fears, Using Public Restrooms, and Unstructured Social Interactions. The identified dimensions provide clinically valuable information about the nature of the social fears experienced by individuals diagnosed with mood disorders and could help guide the development of tailored treatment strategies for individuals with co-occurring mood disorders and social anxiety.