Behavioral analysis of social interaction problems of individuals with psoriasis

Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease that affects individuals of both genders beginning from the second decade of life. Besides physical discomfort due the symptoms like itching and scaling, interpersonal difficulties are commonly reported by patients to their doctors. The unaesthetic aspect of psoriatic lesions usually affects the patients´ ability to deal with negative reactions from other people, in several contexts of social interactions. Therefore, individuals try to escape from situations where they are at risk of being physically exposed, in an attempt to avoid being stared at and comments on their appearance. They also tend to cover lesions, using cosmetic camouflage or protective clothes like long sleeves, skirts and caps, even on hot days. In this article, the authors evaluate how behavior analysis explains social behavior and they discuss, using this approach, how environmental variables can control social behavior, changing the probability of its occurrence in different social contexts. Keywords: psoriasis; social interactions; behavior analysis.