Analytic-Behavioral Interpretation Criteria for Social Anxiety Disorder and a Proposal for Diagnosis using Functional Criteria

Abstract

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is described by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) as a clinical condition in which an individual fears, feels anxious about and/or avoids being scrutinized in social interactions. An analytic-behavioral comprehension of SAD should identify and describe both behavior patterns and behavioral contingencies that characterize what the verbal community terms as SAD. This paper aims to present an analytic-behavioral model for both the interpretation of SAD as denominated by the DSM and for the assessment and diagnosis of socially anxious behaviors based on functional criteria. To this end, SAD was functionally operationalized using the diagnostic criteria specified by the DSM. The operationalization consisted of describing SAD using behavioral contingencies by identifying socially anxious behaviors and associated contextual antecedents and consequences. As a result, we identified five behavioral contingencies characteristic of SAD based on the development of functional criteria to identify and evaluate socially anxious behavior. In conclusion, this work demonstrates that it is possible to characterize behavioral phenomena classified as mental disorders by diagnostic manuals, in terms of behavioral contingencies, as in the example of SAD.