Are people with social anxiety disorder happier alone? It seems not.

Are people with social anxiety disorder happier alone? Fallon R. Goodman et al. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, September 1 2021, 102474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2021.102474

Highlights

• People with SAD display positive affect deficits in daily life.

• People with SAD report higher positive affect when with others than when alone.

• People with SAD may experience diminished reward responding when socializing.

• People with and without SAD report similar affect across interaction partners.

• Anxiety about socializing does not preclude positive emotions while socializing.

Abstract: Quality contact with other people serves as a reliable mood enhancement strategy. We wondered if the emotional benefits of socializing are present even for those with a psychological disorder defined by social distress and avoidance: social anxiety disorder (SAD). We conducted two ecological momentary assessment (EMA) studies and analyzed 7,243 total surveys. In both studies, community adults diagnosed with SAD and healthy controls received five surveys each day for two weeks. Consistent with research on positivity deficits in SAD, between-person analyses in both studies suggest that, on average, participants with SAD reported lower positive and higher negative affect in social and non-social situations than healthy controls. Within-person analyses, however, revealed that in both studies participants with SAD and healthy controls reported higher positive affect when with others than when alone; no differences were found for negative affect. The difference in positive affect between social and nonsocial situations was smaller for participants with SAD in Study 1, suggesting that people with SAD may experience diminished reward responding when socializing. Our results suggest that even those with a mental illness defined by interpersonal distress can and do derive positive emotions from social interactions.

Keywords: social anxietyhappinesspositive affectnegative affectexperience-sampling