Avoidant personality disorder and social phobia: Does mindreading make the difference?

Comprehensive Psychiatry
Giovanni PellecchiaMichele Procacci

Abstract

Avoidant personality disorder (AvPD) is closely related to and partially overlaps with social phobia (SP). There is an ongoing debate as to whether AvPD and SP can be classified as separate and distinct disorders or whether these diagnoses rather reflect different degrees of severity of social anxiety. The hypothesis of this study is that in patients with AvPD and in those with AvPD and comorbid SP both interpersonal functioning and metacognitive abilities (the ability to understand mental states) are more severely impaired than they are in patients with SP only. We also hypothesise that the interpersonal and metacognitive functioning of these patients (both AvPD and AvPD+SP) is comparable to that of patients with other PD diagnoses. To test this hypothesis, we compared four groups (22 patients with SP, 32 patients with AvPD, 43 patients with both AvPD and SP and 50 patients with other personality disorders without SP and AvPD criteria) on metacognitive abilities, interpersonal functioning and global symptomatic distress. Metacognitive ability showed significant variation among the four groups, with the lowest score observed in the AvPD group. As far as the interpersonal functioning is concerned, the lack of sociability was mor...Continue Reading

Citations

Jan 19, 2019·Psychology and Psychotherapy·Frederik Weischer FrandsenMarianne Engelbrecht Lau
Feb 26, 2019·Frontiers in Psychology·Antonino CarcioneAntonio Semerari
Apr 11, 2020·Frontiers in Psychology·Kristína CzekóováMilan Brázdil

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