Trans-cultural aspects of social anxiety disorder and related conditions: a Brazilian case series and a review of international clinical studies

Jornal Brasileiro de Psiquiatria

Gabriela Bezerra De Menezes¹  Leonardo F. Fontenelle¹  Márcio Versiani¹ 

[1] ,Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Instituto de Psiquiatria Programa de Ansiedade e Depressão

关键词: social anxiety disorder;    clinical description;    anxiety disorders;    culture;    cross-cultural comparison;    cultural characteristics;    transtorno de ansiedade social;    descrição clínica;    transtornos de ansiedade;    cultura;    comparação transcultural;    características culturais;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S0047-20852006000300004

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

Cross-cultural studies have much to teach clinicians and researchers alike about psychopathology in general and about social anxiety disorder (SAD) in particular. Unfortunately, little is known about the degree and the mechanisms through which cultural environment may influence clinical manifestations of SAD. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to identify culture-related clinical patterns in SAD and related disorders. METHODS: We described socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of a sample of 62 adult outpatients with SAD seen at a university clinic for anxiety and depressive disorders in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and compared them with those reported in clinical samples from North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania identified through a systematic review in Medline, PsychINFO, and LILACS. RESULTS: Our comparison of trans-cultural features of SAD lends partial support to Heimberg's (1997) contention that the majority of socio-demographic features and symptoms of this disorder are relatively independent of geographic and cultural differences. CONCLUSION: Patients with SAD were almost universally characterized by: 1) a predominance of males in clinical samples; 2) early onset of the disorder; 3) high educational attainment; and 4) great frequency of comorbidities.

【 授权许可】

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