Linguistic correlates of social anxiety disorder

Abstract

The goal of this study was to examine the linguistic correlates of social anxiety disorder (SAD). Twenty-four individuals with SAD (8 of them with a generalised subtype) and 21 non-anxious controls were asked to give speeches in front of an audience. The transcribed speeches were examined for the frequency of negations, I-statements, we-statements, negative emotion words, and positive emotion words. During their speech, individuals with either SAD subtype used positive emotion words more often than controls. No significant differences were observed in the other linguistic categories. These results are discussed in the context of evolutionary and cognitive perspectives of SAD.

Keywords:

• Social anxiety disorder
• Linguistics
• Appeasement
• Safety behaviours
• Social anxiety

Acknowledgements

This study was conducted as part of a work for distinction project at Boston University directed by PMM. The study was supported by university funds awarded to JWW. SGH is a paid consultant by Schering-Plough and supported by NIMH grant 1R01MH078308.

We thank Dr J. W. Pennebaker for analysing our transcripts with the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count program.