Marital functioning and communication in a clinical sample of social anxiety disorder clients

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is a prevalent and debilitating disorder that frequently has deleterious effects on interpersonal relationships. However, no research has yet examined the marital relationships of individuals with SAD and little attention has been given to the relation between marital status and SAD. The current investigation involved two studies. Study 1 examined overall marital satisfaction and communication patterns of clients with SAD and their partners, relative to control couples. Twenty-six married or cohabitating SAD clients and their partners were compared with 26 controls and their partners. Compared to control couples, SAD clients and their partners reported (a) lower ratings of overall marital satisfaction, (b) less overall positive communication, (c) more demand/withdraw interaction, with the SAD client in the withdrawing role, and (d) more demand/withdraw interaction, with the SAD client in the demanding role. With the exception of the finding regarding positive communication, these results remained significant when controlling for depression. Although SAD couples reported lower ratings of marital satisfaction, their scores nevertheless did not fall in the range of distressed couples. Gender of the SAD client did not impact ratings of marital adjustment. Discussion of these findings focuses on the interpersonal dynamics of SAD couples and how these interactions might be understood. Implications for treatment and future research are also discussed. Study 2 investigated potential differences between married and single clients with SAD in (a) degree of avoidance, (b) symptom severity, and (c) comorbid depressive symptoms in a sample of 177 SAD clients. Study 2 also evaluated whether marital status is related to treatment response in SAD clients undergoing cognitive-behavior therapy for SAD. When controlling for age, there were no significant differences between married and single patients in terms of self-reported or observer-rated symptom severity, self-reported avoidance of social interaction, or comorbid depressive symptoms. Both groups reported significant improvement from pre-treatment to post-treatment, and there was no significant difference between the groups in rate of improvement. Similar results were found when controlling for depression. Additional clinical and research implications of the findings are discussed.Ph.D., Clinical Psychology -- Drexel University, 200