The quest for biological correlates of social phobia: an interim assessment

Objective: The primary goal of this review was to assess critically the lit erature concerning the ongoing search for possible biological correlates of social phobia. Methods: In addition to manual searches, Medline, Current Contents and Psyc h Info databases were searched for relevant publications. Results: On the evidence of an extensive body of research, so far biologica l correlates of social phobia remain elusive. Furthermore, the majority of studies reveal by default that the neurobiological functioning of social ph obics is very much like that of normal control subjects. Conclusion: The conceptual and methodological foundations underpinning the current research programme are discussed critically. Its main weaknesses we re found to be: lack of theory to guide research and aid the interpretation of results, static comparisons between subject groups and analysis oblivio us to great individual variations. Possibilities of alternative approaches to study the neurobiology of social phobia are raised. Among others, contin uous and situation-specific measurement, subjects used as their own control s and neurobiological correlates of clinical improvement following psychoth erapy are considered.