THE ISSUE OF SUBTYPES IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF SOCIAL PHOBIA

A number of changes will occur in the criteria for diagnosis of anxiety disorders with the publication of DSM-IV. For social phobia, a central issue has been the specification and definition of subtypes. DSM-III-R specified a generalized subtype, but the DSM-IV subworkgroup on social phobia considered additional subtyping strategies, and struggled with issues of number and definition. This paper reviews die literature on subtyping in clinical samples of individuals with social phobia, and considers issues such as demographic differences, clinical features, and treatment response. The issue of overlap between generalized social phobia and avoidant personality disorder is considered. An analysis of the subtype issue from a situationist perspective is also presented. Options for subtyping that were considered for DSM-IV are presented, and issues that require further research on subtypes of social phobia are discussed.