Which statement best describes generalized social anxiety disorder compared with performance-only social anxiety?

• A. Generalized anxiety is limited to public speaking.
• B. Generalized involves impairment across multiple social situations beyond performance contexts.
• C. Generalized and performance-only have the same impairment.
• D. Generalized is limited to virtual interactions.

Answer: (B)

Generalized social anxiety disorder involves fear and avoidance across a wide range of social situations, not just those where you’re being evaluated. This means impairment shows up in many areas of life—work, school, friendships, dating, everyday conversations—because the anxiety isn’t limited to a single context.

The best statement captures this breadth: impairment across multiple social situations beyond performance contexts. That reflects how generalized SAD affects a person in many interactions, not just situations like public speaking or performing.

In contrast, performance-only social anxiety is limited to situations where one is being observed or judged in a performance context (like giving a speech or performing). Outside those settings, anxiety may be minimal and impairment limited accordingly.

So the correct idea is that generalized involves impairment across many social contexts beyond performance ones, whereas the others describe narrower or different patterns (limited to public speaking, limited to virtual interactions, or claiming equal impairment in both forms).