Heterogeneity of social anxiety in treatment-seeking adults who stutter: A latent profile analysis

Purpose: Adults who stutter (AWS) often experience social anxiety. Social anxiety is explained by several situational factors, one of which is a factor for telephone, which is unique to AWS. This unique social anxiety, which has not been observed in individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD), may lead to heterogeneity or distinct subtypes of AWS. The present study aimed to investigate the heterogeneity of social anxiety in AWS in terms of feared social situations.Methods: Social anxiety was measured using the fear/anxiety scale of the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS). The scores of the five subscales in the LSAS in 562 AWS were analyzed using latent profile analysis. First, the number of latent classes (subtypes) was determined through statistical criteria and interpretability. Next, the profiles of social anxiety, demographic data, communication attitudes, and the overall severity of social anxiety of the subtypes were investigated.Results: Five latent class solutions led to good classifications. About one-quarter of AWS (156) were included in a subtype with sub-clinical levels of overall severity of social anxiety but severe social anxiety in telephone situations. Among them, 100 AWS showed severe social anxiety only in telephone situations. Psychosocial factors, including employment status and communication attitude, were related to extracted subtypes.Conclusions: Some AWS have severe social anxiety specific to telephone situations, which is not proportional to the overall severity of social anxiety. The telephone-specific subtype of social anxiety has not been empirically extracted in principal diagnosis of SAD and can be unique in AWS.