ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Fear of blushing (FB) in front of other people is a frequent and potentially incapacitating problem, but is not yet described as a specific diagnosis in psychiatric classifications. This can be explained by a lack of comparative studies with other forms of social anxiety disorder (SAD). Our aim was thus to explore the specificity of FB in patients with SAD. METHODS: SAD patients with FB but without other social threat (n = 142), the majority of whom were referred by a department of surgery after an initial request of sympathetic block for facial blushing, were compared to SAD patients with FB and other associated social fears (n = 97), and to SAD patients without FB (n = 190). They were assessed and compared with a structured diagnostic interview for DSM-IV and various scales measuring social anxiety, other anxiety and depressive symptoms, impairment and personality traits. RESULTS: The group with pure FB showed specific profiles when compared with the two other groups: later age of onset, less comorbidity, lower behavioral and temperamental inhibition, and higher self-esteem. However, their levels of social anxiety and impairment were high. No important differences appeared between the two other groups. CONCLUSION: The specificity of FB should be considered in the social anxiety spectrum, and could be viewed either as a SAD subtype or as SAD form secondary to facial blushing. Further epidemiological and therapeutic studies on this disorder are necessary.
Subject(s)
Blushing/physiology , Fear/physiology , Phobic Disorders/physiopathology , Adult , Age of Onset , Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , Face/physiology , Female , Humans , Inhibition, Psychological , Male , Phobic Disorders/classification , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Self Concept , Severity of Illness IndexABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To study the main psychometric characteristics of the Salpêtrière Erythrophobia Questionnaire (SEQ) in a clinical and non-clinical sample. METHOD: Patients with social phobia (SP) (n = 212), patients with other anxiety disorders (n = 146), and participants from the general population (n = 171) were distributed in the 3 study groups. They completed the SEQ as well as several anxiety and depression scales. Erythrophobia was diagnosed according to standardized criteria and assessed using the Clinical Global Impression Scale. RESULTS: The SEQ scale factor pattern is clear, with only 1 factor explaining 83.9% of total score and a Cronbach's alpha consistency coefficient of 0.96. The SEQ score is significantly correlated to a dimensional hetero-evaluation of the fear of blushing (rho = 0.91) and SP measures (rho = 0.23 to 0.55). The SEQ mean score is higher in the SP group and even higher in the erythrophobia group. A score of 7 out of 24 makes it possible to identify erythrophobia with 92.1% sensitivity and 87.7% specificity. The SEQ test-retest reliability at 15-day interval is satisfactory (ICC = 0.83). CONCLUSION: The SEQ is a valid and sensitive tool to screen and measure erythrophobia. It can be used in psychopathological and therapeutic studies of this pathology.
