Enduring without avoiding: Pauses and verbal dysfluencies in public speaking fear

Direct measures of overt behavior have been underutilized in speech and other social fear, anxiety, and phobia research. This study demonstrates the usefulness of such variables in the evaluation of public speaking fear. A molecular behavioral assessment methodology was used to examine pauses and verbal dysfluencies of individuals with circumscribed speech fear (n=8) or general social anxiety (n=8), as well as nonanxious control participants (n=16), during an impromptu speech behavior test. Speech fear and generally social anxious individuals paused more often and for a longer duration than the nonanxious group. Results also indicated greater increases in state anxiety during the speech in the circumscribed speech fear sample, relative to the generalized social anxiety and control groups. Taken together with other research, these findings provide evidence that circumscribed speech fear is a meaningful subtype and can be independent of generalized social anxiety. The utility of measuring pausing and verbal dysfluencies in the behavioral assessment of speech fear and other social anxiety and phobia is discussed.