A Japanese form of social anxiety (taijin kyofusho): Frequency and correlates in two generations of the same family

Anxiety in social situations presumably is found in every culture. However, there may be differences across cultures in the specific ways that this anxiety manifests itself and is subjectively experienced by the sufferer. Taijin kyofusho is a broad term for various socially directed fears. Manifestations range from classic social anxiety disorder symptoms to those found in body dysmporphic disorder, delusional disorder, and olfactory reference syndrome. Though originally thought to be a culturally bound variation of social anxiety found only in East Asian populations, a growing body of evidence also locates it in the West. In contrast to egocentric fears found in social anxiety disorder (e.g., “I will embarrass myself”), prototypical taijin kyofusho symptoms are more other directed (e.g., “I will offend others or make them uncomfortable”). Assessment and treatment options are summarized.

Download Full-text

Development and validation of static short form and adaptive test for the Taijin Kyofusho Scale to measure the severity of culture-bound social anxiety

Current Psychology ◽

10.1007/s12144-021-01497-x ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Honglan Fan ◽

Yan Cai ◽

Siyu Wang ◽

Dongbo Tu

Keyword(s):

Social Anxiety ◽

Short Form ◽

Adaptive Test ◽

Taijin Kyofusho ◽

Development And Validation

Download Full-text

An Internet-Based Intervention for Individuals With Social Anxiety and Different Levels of Taijin Kyofusho in China

Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology ◽

10.1177/0022022120920720 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 51 (5) ◽

pp. 387-402

Author(s):

Ling-Yu Lin ◽

Kan Wang ◽

Tomoko Kishimoto ◽

Marcus Rodriguez ◽

Mingyi Qian ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Treatment Group ◽

Social Anxiety ◽

Chinese Culture ◽

Control Group ◽

Cultural Implications ◽

Scale Scores ◽

Social Interaction Anxiety Scale ◽

Taijin Kyofusho ◽

Interaction Anxiety ◽

Different Levels

The aim of the present study is to investigate the efficacy of internet-based cognitive behavior therapy (ICBT) for individuals with social anxiety (SA) and different levels of Taijin Kyofusho (TKS) in China. The ICBT program was translated into Chinese with some specific contents adapted for Chinese culture. Participants ( N = 80) with SA were assigned either to a treatment ( n = 55) or control group ( n = 25). Both groups were further divided into subgroups, based on their Taijin Kyofusho Scale (TKSS) scores. Participants in the ICBT treatment group reported significant posttreatment reductions in Social Interaction Anxiety Scale and Social Phobia Scale scores, relative to participants in the control group. In addition, participants in the treatment group with higher pretreatment TKS levels showed significantly greater reductions in TKSS scores. Results suggest that ICBT is a promising approach for the treatment of individuals with SA both with and without features of TKS. Clinical and cross-cultural implications, mechanisms of change, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Download Full-text