Tridimensional personality questionnaire: Assessment in patients with social phobia and a control group

We administered the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire to 40 control subjects and to 47 social phobia patients who met Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID) criteria for social phobia and participated in a multicenter treatment study. Multiple comparisons with Bonferroni correction showed a significant increase in total Harm Avoidance scale scores and all four subscale scores for the social phobia group. On a Reward Dependence subscale that measures persistence versus irresoluteness the mean was significantly lower in the social phobia group than the control group. Present findings extend an earlier report of increased Harm Avoidance in major depressive disorder and other clinical diagnostic groups.