Abstract | BACKGROUND: Patients with social phobia often describe personality traits characterized by avoidant social behavior and more general depressive-anxious features. There is only sparse knowledge about the effects of drug treatment on these traits. METHOD: Fifty-seven patients with social phobia completed a 12-week double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with the reversible and selective monoamine oxidase A inhibitor brofaromine 150 mg/day. The Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement scale, Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, a questionnaire with 140 items regarding personality traits, and ratings on the presence or absence of diagnostic criteria for the DSM-III-R avoidant and dependent personality disorders were used for assessments at baseline and endpoint. Comparisons were made with a group of 58 healthy controls. RESULTS: Before treatment, there were no significant differences between the brofaromine and placebo groups in their ratings on situationally bound social anxiety or on personality traits that differed significantly from those of the controls. At endpoint, a marked normalization was noted in the brofaromine group. The changes that had occurred differed significantly from those in the placebo group. The normalization of traits seemed more marked than the normalization of anxiety in more specific social phobic situations. The number of brofaromine patients who fulfilled the criteria for avoidant personality disorder had diminished from 15 (60%) to 5 (20%). CONCLUSION:
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Authors | T Fahlén |
Journal | The Journal of clinical psychiatry
(J Clin Psychiatry)
Vol. 56
Issue 12
Pg. 569-73
(Dec 1995)
ISSN: 0160-6689 [Print] United States |
PMID | 8530333
(Publication Type: Clinical Trial, Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
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Chemical References |
- Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors
- Piperidines
- Placebos
- brofaromine
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Topics |
- Adult
- Comorbidity
- Double-Blind Method
- Female
- Humans
- Male
- Middle Aged
- Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors
(pharmacology, therapeutic use)
- Mood Disorders
(drug therapy, epidemiology, psychology)
- Personality Disorders
(drug therapy, epidemiology, psychology)
- Phobic Disorders
(drug therapy, epidemiology, psychology)
- Piperidines
(pharmacology, therapeutic use)
- Placebos
- Self Concept
- Treatment Outcome
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