Social Interaction Anxiety in Developmental Prosopagnosia: Prevalence, Severity, and Individual Differences.

Objective: Although elevated social anxiety in developmental prosopagnosia (DP) has been reported in anecdotal and qualitative studies, the current study sought to better quantify the prevalence, severity, and moderators of social anxiety in a large DP sample.

Method: A total of 88 DPs and 58 controls completed the validated Social Interaction Anxiety Scale and assessments of face recognition, autism traits, personality (Big Five Inventory), and coping strategies.

Results: DPs reported greater social anxiety symptoms (M = 30.25) than controls (M = 17.19), with 44% of DPs above a probable clinical cutoff compared with 14% of controls. Exploratory analyses revealed that DPs' social anxiety was more specific to items pertaining to mixing socially or interacting with unfamiliar people. Notably, several DPs reported minimal social anxiety, which was associated with being more extraverted and having fewer autism traits. A follow-up survey revealed that extraverted DPs more openly disclosed face recognition inabilities than introverted DPs, which may be a factor in their reduced social anxiety.

Conclusion: These results better quantify the potential serious psychosocial consequences of DP and highlight the importance of individual differences as well as targeted intervention.