Social Anxiety Clinical, Developmental, and Social Perspectives

Clinicians, social and developmental psychologists and behavioral geneticists have all conducted research over the past ten years which is essential to furthering our understanding of and treatment of social anxiety disorders. If researchers and clinicians are to successfully combat this disorder, the literature must fully integrate studies on social anxiety, shyness, and embarrassment with the research on social anxiety disorder subtypes, biological theories and cognitive behavioral or pharmacological treatment outcome studies. This book weaves together research findings gathered by renowned minds across these various disciplines, and chapters deal with both theory and research. Thorough exploration is given as to how to define what constitutes social anxiety, and assessment of the condition and its relationship to other psychological disorders. The biological basis and treatment approaches are also all explored in full. Coverage includes key issues, including related disorders of adult and childhood, relationship to social competence and assertiveness, relationship to perfectionism, social skills deficit hypothesis, comparison between pharmacological and psychosocial treatments, and potential mediators of change in the treatment of social anxiety disorder.