A PROSPECTIVE, FOLLOW-ALONG STUDY OF THE COURSE OF SOCIAL PHOBIA .2. TESTING FOR BASIC PREDICTORS OF COURSE

This study examined the 65-week outcome of a group of subjects with so cial phobia to determine predictors of course. Social phobic patients in the Harvard/Brown Anxiety Disorders Research Project study were fol lowed for 65 weeks using the Longitudinal Interval Follow-Up Evaluatio n-UpJohn scale. The following variables did not predict outcome over t he course of the study: sex, age of onset, duration of illness, Lifeti me history of various anxiety disorders, current comorbidity of anxiet y or depressive disorders, Global Assessment Scale score, or measures of role functioning. We find that in a social phobic population with a mean duration of illness of 18 years, none of the tested variables ex amined predicted 65-week outcome.