Social phobia, a descriptive epidemiologic study of socio-demographic characteristics, comorbidity, age of onset and risk factors

Although them has been recent interest in epidemiology of social phobia, many aspects remain to be explored. First, there is a dearth of knowledge of childhood risk factors for the disorder. Second, while it has been suggested that the presence of social phobia my be a risk factor for other serious disorders, such as major depression and alcohol abuse, replication of earlier research on relative age of onset would strengthen this finding. Finally, socio-de ographic characteristics and comorbidity of social phobia have bow described, but no studies have examined these aspects using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) in a Canadian sample. This proves to be important as the CIDI has a more comprehensive section dealing with social phobia than other interviews previously used in epidemiological surveys. Analysis using the Ontario Health Survey Mental Health Supplement (OHS-MHS) has shown that prevalence rates of mental disorders and other factors vary between Canada and the United States. Aspects of social phobia considered in this study are socio-demographic characteristics, rates of comorbid disorders, age of onset of social phobia relative to the age of onset of comorbid disorders and childhood adversities. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)