Table 1.
Lifetime Prevalence of Social Fears and DSM-IV Social Phobia (n = 9282)
| Prevalence of each fear in the total sample | Prevalence of lifetime SO among respondents with each fear | Prevalence of lifetime SO involving each fear in the total sample1 | Prevalence of each fear among respondents with lifetime SO2 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | (se) | % | (se) | % | (se) | % | (se) | |
| I. Types of social fears3 | ||||||||
| Meeting new people | 16.8 | (0.5) | 58.1 | (1.9) | 9.7 | (0.4) | 80.5 | (1.3) |
| Talking to people in authority | 14.7 | (0.4) | 59.3 | (1.8) | 8.7 | (0.4) | 72.3 | (1.4) |
| Speaking up in meeting/class | 19.5 | (0.5) | 52.9 | (1.6) | 10.3 | (0.4) | 85.3 | (1.1) |
| Going to parties | 13.4 | (0.4) | 61.1 | (1.7) | 8.2 | (0.3) | 67.6 | (1.4) |
| Public speaking/performance | 21.2 | (0.5) | 50.6 | (1.5) | 10.7 | (0.4) | 88.7 | (1.0) |
| Important exam/interview | 14.0 | (0.4) | 58.4 | (1.7) | 8.2 | (0.3) | 67.5 | (1.8) |
| Working while being watched | 11.8 | (0.4) | 61.1 | (2.6) | 7.2 | (0.3) | 59.4 | (1.5) |
| Entering an occupied room | 11.9 | (0.4) | 62.0 | (2.1) | 7.4 | (0.3) | 61.1 | (1.7) |
| Talking with strangers | 13.1 | (0.4) | 61.5 | (1.7) | 8.1 | (0.3) | 66.7 | (1.7) |
| Expressing disagreement | 12.4 | (0.4) | 58.6 | (1.6) | 7.3 | (0.3) | 60.2 | (1.3) |
| Writing/eating/drinking while being watched | 8.1 | (0.3) | 65.6 | (1.8) | 5.3 | (0.3) | 43.9 | (1.9) |
| Using public bathroom | 5.7 | (0.2) | 59.4 | (3.0) | 3.4 | (0.2) | 28.1 | (1.5) |
| Dating situation | 11.5 | (0.4) | 63.9 | (2.2) | 7.3 | (0.3) | 60.6 | (1.6) |
| Other performance or interactional fear | 15.7 | (0.5) | 58.6 | (1.9) | 9.2 | (0.4) | 76.0 | (1.8) |
| Any of the above fears | 24.1 | (0.6) | 50.2 | (1.5) | 12.1 | (0.4) | 100.0 | (0.0) |
| II. Number of social fears | ||||||||
| Exactly 1 fear | 0.7 | (0.1) | 12.0 | (5.4) | 0.1 | (0.0) | 0.7 | (0.3) |
| Exactly 2 fears | 1.4 | (0.1) | 23.8 | (4.6) | 0.3 | (0.1) | 2.7 | (0.6) |
| Exactly 3 fears | 1.6 | (0.2) | 20.2 | (3.9) | 0.3 | (0.1) | 2.6 | (0.5) |
| Exactly 4 fears | 1.6 | (0.2) | 39.4 | (4.3) | 0.6 | (0.1) | 5.2 | (0.8) |
| Exactly 5 fears | 1.6 | (0.1) | 33.9 | (4.8) | 0.5 | (0.1) | 4.5 | (0.6) |
| Exactly 6 fears | 1.8 | (0.1) | 39.4 | (4.1) | 0.7 | (0.1) | 5.9 | (0.6) |
| Exactly 7 fears | 2.1 | (0.2) | 43.0 | (3.3) | 0.9 | (0.1) | 7.4 | (0.7) |
| Exactly 8 fears | 2.2 | (0.2) | 55.7 | (4.2) | 1.2 | (0.1) | 10.3 | (0.9) |
| Exactly 9 fears | 2.0 | (0.1) | 55.8 | (4.1) | 1.1 | (0.1) | 9.4 | (0.8) |
| Exactly 10 fears | 2.5 | (0.2) | 55.3 | (4.1) | 1.4 | (0.1) | 11.4 | (1.0) |
| Exactly 11 fears | 2.0 | (0.2) | 68.4 | (3.6) | 1.4 | (0.1) | 11.4 | (1.1) |
| Exactly 12 fears | 1.7 | (0.1) | 70.0 | (4.6) | 1.2 | (0.1) | 10.1 | (1.0) |
| Exactly 13 fears | 1.7 | (0.1) | 80.0 | (3.4) | 1.3 | (0.1) | 11.1 | (1.0) |
| Exactly 14 fears | 1.1 | (0.1) | 78.4 | (6.4) | 0.9 | (0.1) | 7.3 | (0.9) |
Abbreviation: SO, social phobia.
Percentages in this column equal the product of the percentages in the preceding two columns. For example, 9.7% of respondents in the Part I sample have a lifetime history of social phobia involving a fear of meeting new people.
n = 1143.
Social fears assessed included both interactional fears (meeting new people, talking to people in authority, going to parties, entering an occupied room, talking with strangers, expressing disagreement, dating situation) and performance fears (speaking up in meeting/class, public speaking/performance, important exam/interview, working while being watched, writing/eating/drinking while being watched, using public bathroom).