Subjective distress and physiological reactivity during anxiety-evoking imagery in social anxiety

2021 ◽  
Vol 182 ◽  
pp. 111095
Author(s):  
Elena Constantinou ◽  
Dora Georgiou ◽  
Maria Karekla ◽  
Georgia Panayiotou
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Physiological Reactivity ◽  
Subjective Distress

Shyness and Defensive Style

1986 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 967-973 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick W. Foley ◽  
Richard F. Heath ◽  
David R. Chabot
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Defense Mechanism ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
The Self ◽  
Subjective Distress ◽  
Ego Threat ◽  
Activity Preference ◽  
Defensive Style ◽  
The Relationship

The Stanford Shyness Survey, the Defense Mechanism Inventory and the Activity Preference Questionnaire were administered to 92 college students to examine the relationship among shyness, reactivity to anxiety, and defensive style. As hypothesized, shy persons experienced greater ego threat and social anxiety. They turned aggressive impulses inwardly against the self more frequently than not so shy people. Shy subjects also used significantly less repression and denial defenses, increasing their vulnerability to the experience of internalized subjective distress. Although there were also no differences between shy and nor shy students on defenses that turn unacceptable impulses outward (e.g., projection and displacement), it was speculated that shy persons engage in such defenses in ways that do not represent a threat to self-esteem.

scholarly journals Effects of interpretation training on subjective, behavioural, and physiological measures of anxiety during a self-presentation task in an analogue social anxiety sample

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matilda E. Nowakowski
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Cognitive Restructuring ◽  
Behavioural Therapy ◽  
Subjective Distress ◽  
Self Presentation ◽  
Interpretation Biases ◽  
Cognitive Behavioural ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
And Control

Negative interpretation biases, defined as a tendency to interpret ambiguous social situations negatively, have been theorized to play a role in the maintenance of social anxiety. Research has shown that computer-based interpretation training tasks can modify negative interpretation biases and that this modification is associated with decreases in subjective ratings of anxiety. Negative interpretation biases have also been shown to decrease following cognitive-behavioural therapy. This study investigated the effects of interpretation training and cognitive restructuring on symptomatology, cognitive processes, behaviour, and physiological reactivity in an analogue social anxiety sample. Seventy-two participants with elevated social anxiety scores were randomized to one of 3 conditions: interpretation training (n = 24), cognitive restructuring (n = 24), and control (n = 24). Although none of the conditions showed a decrease in social anxiety symptomatology, participants in the cognitive restructuring condition evidenced a significant decrease in anxiety-related cognitive processes at the 48-hour follow-up. There were no group differences on subjective distress and self-rated performance on the speech task. However, participants in the cognitive restructuring condition were rated as having higher quality speeches by an objective rater compared to participants in the interpretation training condition. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.

scholarly journals Effects of interpretation training on subjective, behavioural, and physiological measures of anxiety during a self-presentation task in an analogue social anxiety sample

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matilda E. Nowakowski
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Cognitive Restructuring ◽  
Behavioural Therapy ◽  
Subjective Distress ◽  
Self Presentation ◽  
Interpretation Biases ◽  
Cognitive Behavioural ◽  
Computer Based ◽  
And Control

Negative interpretation biases, defined as a tendency to interpret ambiguous social situations negatively, have been theorized to play a role in the maintenance of social anxiety. Research has shown that computer-based interpretation training tasks can modify negative interpretation biases and that this modification is associated with decreases in subjective ratings of anxiety. Negative interpretation biases have also been shown to decrease following cognitive-behavioural therapy. This study investigated the effects of interpretation training and cognitive restructuring on symptomatology, cognitive processes, behaviour, and physiological reactivity in an analogue social anxiety sample. Seventy-two participants with elevated social anxiety scores were randomized to one of 3 conditions: interpretation training (n = 24), cognitive restructuring (n = 24), and control (n = 24). Although none of the conditions showed a decrease in social anxiety symptomatology, participants in the cognitive restructuring condition evidenced a significant decrease in anxiety-related cognitive processes at the 48-hour follow-up. There were no group differences on subjective distress and self-rated performance on the speech task. However, participants in the cognitive restructuring condition were rated as having higher quality speeches by an objective rater compared to participants in the interpretation training condition. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.

scholarly journals Social Anxiety, Tremor Severity, and Tremor Disability: A Search for Clinically Relevant Measures

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duane A. Lundervold ◽  
Patrick A. Ament ◽  
Peter Holt
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Behavioral Assessment ◽  
Diagnostic Interview ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Cognitive Variable ◽  
Specific Measure ◽  
Subjective Distress ◽  
Resting Tremor ◽  
Functional Measure ◽  
Comprehensive Study

Background. While social anxiety has been reported among essential tremor (ET) patients, very little is known about the relation between self-report measures of social anxiety, tremor severity and disability, and cognition.Methods. Sixty-three individuals diagnosed with ET took part in a comprehensive study examining neurocognition and behavioral functioning. A psychiatric diagnostic interview, three social anxiety questionnaires, and an idiographic-based behavioral assessment to pinpoint anxiety provoking situations and related distress were completed.Results. Thirty percent of the participants met diagnostic criteria for social anxiety disorder (SAD). Social anxiety questionnaires were negligibly related to tremor severity and disability. Idiographic behavioral assessment of subjective distress was moderately related to resting tremor severity and disability and strongly related to social anxiety questionnaires scores. Only one cognitive variable was related to tremor severity.Conclusions. These findings suggest that (a) self-report measures of social anxiety with ET patients may underestimate distress; (b) emphasis on tremor severity may be misleading; (c) tremor disability may be a more sensitive and functional measure related to cognition and effect; (d) SAD is wide spread and does not appear to be related to dysregulated executive function; and (e) development of an ET-specific measure of social anxiety is called for.

Psychobiological research on attachment

2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 218-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa M. Diamond ◽  
Christopher P. Fagundes
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Autonomic Nervous System ◽  
Attachment Style ◽  
Physiological Reactivity ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Subjective Distress ◽  
Attachment Insecurity ◽  
Multiple Systems ◽  
Autonomic Nervous ◽  
The Past

Over the past decade, psychobiological research on adult attachment has increased dramatically. We review recent findings regarding associations between attachment style and patterns of reactivity in the hypothalamic—pituitary—adrenocortical axis and the autonomic nervous system. The overall pattern of results suggests that both anxiety and avoidance are associated with heightened hypothalamic—pituitary—adrenocortical and autonomic nervous system reactivity to stress, consistent with the notion that attachment insecurity is associated with deficits in emotion regulation. The finding of heightened physiological reactivity among avoidant individuals is particularly notable, given that avoidant individuals typically report dampened levels of subjective distress. Key directions for future study include greater investigation into profiles of physiological functioning across multiple systems and contexts and greater consideration of the relative importance of childhood versus adult patterns of attachment insecurity for adult physiological functioning.

Attentional Bias Among Adolescents Who Stutter: Evidence for a Vigilance–Avoidance Effect

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (10) ◽  
pp. 3349-3363
Author(s):  
Naomi H. Rodgers ◽  
Jennifer Y. F. Lau ◽  
Patricia M. Zebrowski
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Attentional Bias ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Cutoff Score ◽  
Attentional Disengagement ◽  
Social Stimuli ◽  
Facial Stimuli ◽  
The Social ◽  
Attentional Engagement ◽  
High Social Anxiety

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine group and individual differences in attentional bias toward and away from socially threatening facial stimuli among adolescents who stutter and age- and sex-matched typically fluent controls. Method Participants included 86 adolescents (43 stuttering, 43 controls) ranging in age from 13 to 19 years. They completed a computerized dot-probe task, which was modified to allow for separate measurement of attentional engagement with and attentional disengagement from facial stimuli (angry, fearful, neutral expressions). Their response time on this task was the dependent variable. Participants also completed the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A) and provided a speech sample for analysis of stuttering-like behaviors. Results The adolescents who stutter were more likely to engage quickly with threatening faces than to maintain attention on neutral faces, and they were also more likely to disengage quickly from threatening faces than to maintain attention on those faces. The typically fluent controls did not show any attentional preference for the threatening faces over the neutral faces in either the engagement or disengagement conditions. The two groups demonstrated equivalent levels of social anxiety that were both, on average, very close to the clinical cutoff score for high social anxiety, although degree of social anxiety did not influence performance in either condition. Stuttering severity did not influence performance among the adolescents who stutter. Conclusion This study provides preliminary evidence for a vigilance–avoidance pattern of attentional allocation to threatening social stimuli among adolescents who stutter.

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