Intrusive social images in individuals with high and low social anxiety: a multi-method analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 594-610
Author(s):  
Andrea R. Ashbaugh ◽  
Keera N. Fishman ◽  
Stephanie A. Houle-Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Social Image ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Cognitive Behavioural ◽  
Social Interaction Anxiety Scale ◽  
Social Images ◽  
High Social Anxiety ◽  
Interaction Anxiety ◽  
Emotion Memory

AbstractBackground:Models of social anxiety suggest that intrusive images/memories are common in social anxiety and contribute to the maintenance of social anxiety.Aims:We examined the context and phenomenological features of intrusive social images using quantitative and qualitative measures across various levels of social anxiety.Method:Undergraduate students (n = 191) completed measures of social anxiety (i.e. Social Interaction Anxiety Scale and Social Phobia Scale) and wrote a description of an intrusive social image. Individuals who reported an intrusive social image (n = 77) rated the frequency, interference and phenomenological (e.g. vividness, emotional intensity) characteristics of the image. A content analysis of the intrusive image narratives was completed by independent raters.Results:High social anxiety (HSA) increased the likelihood and frequency of experiencing intrusive images, and to some extent the interference caused by these images. However, the characteristics of these images with regard to their content and quality were similar across levels of social anxiety. Among participants who provided narratives, HSA individuals (n = 34) did not differ from low socially anxious (LSA) individuals (n = 28) in themes that reflect concerns about their own thoughts, actions and behaviours. However, HSA individuals reported greater concerns about how other individuals would react, and their intrusive images were often from an observer perspective when compared with LSA individuals.Conclusions:These results are interpreted in relation to cognitive models of emotion, memory and cognitive behavioural models of social anxiety.

Longitudinal effects of emotion regulation on social anxiety and affect among young adults

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Koninika Mukherjee ◽  
Dilwar Hussain
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Significant Life ◽  
High Social Anxiety

Purpose Due to ongoing significant life changes during the transition into higher education, social anxiety can be problematic, especially for college students. It has adverse effects on various aspects of one’s life, including one’s feelings and emotions. The study investigated the interplay between social anxiety and emotions and its impact on affect. The aim of this study is to examine the role of difficulties in emotion regulation in the relationship between social anxiety and change in affect. Design/methodology/approach This is a longitudinal study. Data was collected with self-report instruments at two time points with a gap of four months. Participants were Indian undergraduate students from a technical institute. Findings The result revealed that high social anxiety in tandem with difficulties engaging in goal-directed behavior significantly impacts changes in positive affect. However, this effect was significant only in the presence of depression. Research limitations/implications This study highlights the harmful impact of comorbid issues such as depression in socially anxious individuals. The present study might have implications for educators and clinicians working with college students. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the only study to test the proposed research model in a sample of Indian college students. The use of a moderated moderation analysis with the three regulation strategies and depression also adds to the uniqueness of this study.

scholarly journals Voluntary and Involuntary Imagery in Social Anxiety

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 285-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie R. Homer ◽  
Catherine Deeprose
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Social Performance ◽  
Sensory Modality ◽  
Depression Anxiety Stress Scale ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Work ◽  
Episodic Memories ◽  
Negative Imagery

Background: Negative mental imagery is ubiquitous in cognitive models of social anxiety and in the social anxiety literature. Previous research has shown that it is causal of increased anxiety, lower social performance ratings and lower implicit self-esteem. Despite its prevalence, few studies have investigated this imagery directly. Aims: This study aimed to provide an in-depth analysis of the phenomenology of negative imagery experienced by socially anxious individuals, and to compare recurrent and intrusive images with images deliberately generated by participants during the study. Method: Thirty-eight undergraduate students screened to be above average in social anxiety scores completed a computerized imagery questionnaire adapted from previous qualitative work. Results: Thematic analyses revealed four major image themes for intrusive images and three for deliberately generated images including interacting with others and anxiety symptoms. Most intrusive images were based on negative episodic memories and were experienced at least fortnightly. Images were primarily visual, auditory and somatic but could involve any sensory modality. Depression anxiety stress scale (DASS-21) scores were higher in participants who experienced intrusive imagery and increased with the frequency of intrusions. Emotionality was generally higher in intrusive images than generated images. Conclusions: The phenomenology of negative imagery experienced by socially anxious individuals is idiosyncratic and may be inherently different from images generated for use in experimental research. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.

Social Anxiety, Recall of Interpersonal Information, and Social Impact on Others

1998 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 303-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debra A. Hope ◽  
Karen D. Sigler ◽  
David L. Penn ◽  
Valerie Meier
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
The Other ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Cognitive Theories ◽  
Interpersonal Information

This study sought to replicate and extend a previous study in which social anxiety was associated with poorer recall of the details of a social interaction as well as to test various hypotheses derived from Trower and Gilbert’s (1989) psychobiological/ethological theory of social anxiety. Socially anxious and nonanxious undergraduate students participated in a heterosocial conversation with a confederate under the observation of a second subject. Consistent with the previous study, there was some evidence that social anxiety was associated with poorer recall of interaction details for women. Social anxiety and recall were unrelated for men. Men demonstrated poorer recall than women overall. The hypotheses derived from Trower and Gilbert’s theory were largely supported, suggesting socially anxious individuals view social interactions as competitive endeavors in which they are ill equipped to challenge the other person. Rather, they adopt self-effacing strategies, but still doubt their success. Finally, the judgments of nonanxious individuals about their impact on others appeared to be positively biased. Implications for cognitive theories of social anxiety are discussed.

SOCIAL ANXIETY, SELF-FOCUSED ATTENTION, AND THE DISCRIMINATION OF NEGATIVE, NEUTRAL AND POSITIVE AUDIENCE MEMBERS BY THEIR NON-VERBAL BEHAVIOURS

2002 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Perowne ◽  
Warren Mansell
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Selective Attention ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Focused Attention ◽  
Social Threat ◽  
Apparent Paradox ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Anxiety Group ◽  
Threat Cues ◽  
High Social Anxiety

Recent research indicates the apparent paradox that social anxiety may be associated with both self-focused attention and selective attention to external social threat cues. A naturalistic paradigm was designed to explore both processes. High and low socially anxious individuals were asked to make a speech to a monitor displaying six people whom they believed to be watching them live. Two audience members exhibited only positive behaviours, two only neutral ones and two only negative behaviours. In contrast to the low social anxiety group who selectively discriminated positive audience members, the high social anxiety group selectively discriminated the negative individuals, yet they were no more accurate at discriminating the negative behaviours the audience members had performed and they reported more self-focused attention than the low social anxiety group. The effects remained while covarying for differences in dysphoria. The results indicate that socially anxious individuals base their judgements of being disapproved by others on limited processing of their social environment.

Somatic symptoms in those with performance and interaction anxiety

2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 1400-1409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna C May ◽  
Brittany M Rudy ◽  
Thompson E Davis ◽  
Whitney S Jenkins ◽  
Erin T Reuther ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Somatic Symptoms ◽  
The Other ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Interaction Anxiety ◽  
Post Hoc ◽  
The Relationship

This study ( n = 304) examined the relationship between somatic symptoms and social anxiety. Significant differences in the experience of somatic symptoms were found among four groups (i.e. performance anxious, interaction anxious, generalized socially anxious, and controls). Post hoc analyses revealed that those who exceeded the clinical cutoff for generalized social anxiety exhibited more somatic symptoms than those who exceeded the clinical cutoff in the other two social anxiety domains or controls. Individuals in each group exhibited more somatic symptoms than controls, but subtypes did not differ in the amount of somatic symptoms experienced. Additionally, regression analyses revealed that type of somatic symptoms experienced varied depending on subtype.

The Relationships Between Metacognition, Anticipatory Processing, and Social Anxiety

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanos P. Vassilopoulos ◽  
Andreas Brouzos ◽  
Nicholas J. Moberly
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Thinking Style ◽  
Repetitive Thinking ◽  
Anticipatory Processing ◽  
Social Interaction Anxiety ◽  
Interaction Anxiety ◽  
The Relationship

Anticipatory processing (AP) is a repetitive thinking style associated with social anxiety that has been understudied relative to other similar constructs (e.g., rumination, worry). The primary goal of this study was the development and evaluation of the Positive Beliefs about Anticipatory Processing Questionnaire (PB-APQ) with a sample of 301 undergraduate students. Further, it was predicted that anticipatory processing would mediate the relationship between positive beliefs about anticipatory processing and social interaction anxiety. The findings from this study suggest that PB-APQ is a valid and reliable construct. Anticipatory processing was shown to partially mediate the relationship between positive beliefs about anticipatory processing and social interaction anxiety. The results provide initial evidence for the suggestion that individuals who tend to hold positive beliefs about anticipatory processing tend to engage in anticipatory processing, which may increase social interaction anxiety.

The Role of Social Anxiety in Social Interaction Difficulties

1977 ◽  
Vol 131 (6) ◽  
pp. 610-615 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roisin Hall ◽  
David Goldberg
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Psychiatric Patients ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Training Programme ◽  
Problem Behaviour ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Common Complaint ◽  
High Social Anxiety

Social anxiety was found to be the most common complaint in a sample of psychiatric patients reporting social interaction difficulties. High social anxiety was shown to be associated with impairments to social behaviour in socially anxious psychiatric patients and non-psychiatric volunteers. A comparison was made of systematic desensitization and a form of social skills training in the treatment of social interaction difficulties associated with high social anxiety. This indicated that while both therapies were effective in the reduction of social anxiety, the training programme was the more effective in reducing problem behaviour, but desensitization appeared to lead to a wider generalization of improvement as indicated by increases in social participation.

Relationship of social anxiety severity with drinking motives among male alcohol dependent inpatients

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 35-35
Author(s):  
C. Evren ◽  
R. Aksoy ◽  
S. Celik ◽  
T. Cetin ◽  
D. Tamar-Gürol
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Social Phobia ◽  
Drinking Motives ◽  
Social Motives ◽  
The Social ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Social Interaction Anxiety Scale ◽  
Interaction Anxiety ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Alcohol Dependent

ObjectiveAim of this study was to investigate the relationship of social anxiety (SA) severity with drinking motives in male alcohol dependent inpatients.MethodParticipants were 155 consecutively admitted male alcohol dependents. Patients were investigated with the Drinking Motives Questionnaire—Revised (DMQ-R), the Social Phobia Scale (SPS), and the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS).ResultsMean scores of DMQ-R subscales were positively correlated with social anxiety scales in different degrees. Conformity motives predicted both SPS (together with social motives) and SIAS.ConclusionsSPS which evaluates social phobia-circumscribed type was predicted by conformity and social motives, whereas SIAS which evaluates social phobia-generalised type was predicted by only conformity motives. This suggests that different types of motivation may be related with different types of social phobia.

Eye-Tracking Evidence of a Maintenance Bias in Social Anxiety

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catarina Fernandes ◽  
Susana Silva ◽  
Joana Pires ◽  
Alexandra Reis ◽  
Antónia Jimenez Ros ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Dwell Time ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Personality Structure ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Dynamic Measures ◽  
High Social Anxiety ◽  
Depressive Personality

Background: The mechanisms and triggers of the attentional bias in social anxiety are not yet fully determined, and the modulating role of personality traits is being increasingly acknowledged. Aims: Our main purpose was to test whether social anxiety is associated with mechanisms of hypervigilance, avoidance (static biases), vigilance-avoidance or the maintenance of attention (dynamic biases). Our secondary goal was to explore the role of personality structure in shaping the attention bias. Method: Participants with high vs low social anxiety and different personality structures viewed pairs of faces (free-viewing eye-tracking task) representing different emotions (anger, happiness and neutrality). Their eye movements were registered and analysed for both whole-trial (static) and time-dependent (dynamic) measures. Results: Comparisons between participants with high and low social anxiety levels did not yield evidence of differences in eye-tracking measures for the whole trial (latency of first fixation, first fixation direction, total dwell time), but the two groups differed in the time course of overt attention during the trial (dwell time across three successive time segments): participants with high social anxiety were slower in disengaging their attention from happy faces. Similar results were obtained using a full-sample, regression-based analysis. Conclusion: Our results speak in favour of a maintenance bias in social anxiety. Preliminary results indicated that personality structure may not affect the maintenance (dynamic) bias of socially anxious individuals, although depressive personality structures may favour manifestations of a (static) hypervigilance bias.

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