Fear of People

2019 ◽  
pp. 121-148
Author(s):  
Jasper A. J. Smits ◽  
Mark B. Powers ◽  
Michael W. Otto
Keyword(s):  
Successful Treatment ◽  
Exposure Therapy ◽  
Negative Evaluation ◽  
Fear Of Negative Evaluation ◽  
Safety Behaviors ◽  
Case Examples

Chapter 6 describes exposure therapy for the fear of people (fear of negative evaluation). Successful treatment shifts the perception of seeing other’s evaluations as harmful to viewing these evaluations as lacking true danger. The chapter includes the steps to plan, deliver, and process exposures to alleviate fears of people. Patients with these fears tend to overestimate the likelihood and cost of bad outcomes when they are the center of attention. Thus, different exposures are needed to address these two concerns. Example exposures are presented such as presentations, interactions, being observed, and inconveniencing others. Case examples are provided to demonstrate how to use exposure for fears of people along with modifications to address traps, contexts, and safety behaviors.

Safety Behaviors and Stuttering

2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (5) ◽  
pp. 1246-1253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robyn Lowe ◽  
Fjola Helgadottir ◽  
Ross Menzies ◽  
Rob Heard ◽  
Sue O'Brian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Negative Evaluation ◽  
Fear Of Negative Evaluation ◽  
Safety Behaviors ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Negative Cognitions ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Therapy Program ◽  
Potential Safety ◽  
Social Encounters ◽  
Adults Who Stutter

Purpose Those who are socially anxious may use safety behaviors during feared social interactions to prevent negative outcomes. Safety behaviors are associated with anxiety maintenance and poorer treatment outcomes because they prevent fear extinction. Social anxiety disorder is often comorbid with stuttering. Speech pathologists reported in a recent publication (Helgadottir, Menzies, Onslow, Packman, & O'Brian, 2014a) that they often recommended procedures for clients that could be safety behaviors. This study investigated the self-reported use of safety behaviors by adults who stutter. Method Participants were 133 adults who stutter enrolled in an online cognitive-behavior therapy program. Participants completed a questionnaire about their use of potential safety behaviors when anxious during social encounters. Correlations were computed between safety behaviors and pretreatment scores on measures of fear of negative evaluation and negative cognitions. Results Of 133 participants, 132 reported that they used safety behaviors. Many of the safety behaviors correlated with higher scores for fear of negative evaluation and negative cognitions. Conclusions Adults who stutter report using safety behaviors, and their use is associated with pretreatment fear of negative evaluation and unhelpful thoughts about stuttering. These results suggest that the negative effects of safety behaviors may extend to those who stutter, and further research is needed.

scholarly journals Are you Watching Me? Interacting Effects of Fear of Negative Evaluation and Social Context on Cognitive Performance

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin L. Maresh ◽  
Bethany A. Teachman ◽  
James A. Coan
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Negative Evaluation ◽  
Fear Of Negative Evaluation ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Improved Accuracy

Socially anxious individuals exhibit cognitive performance impairments; it is unclear whether this is due to trait differences in abilities or effects of the experimental context. This study sought to determine how social context, individual differences in fear of negative evaluation (FNE), and task difficulty interact to influence working memory performance as indicated by effectiveness (accuracy) and efficiency (reaction times). Participants (N = 61) performed the n-back task at 2-back and 3-back difficulty levels under three conditions: alone (“Anonymous”), in presence of a non-evaluative experimenter (“Presence”), and under explicit performance evaluation by the experimenter (“Threat”). Overall, participants showed improved accuracy during Threat, but only on 2-back trials. FNE was positively associated with longer reaction times during Threat on 3-back trials. FNE did not relate to accuracy, suggesting that threat-related impairments tied to social anxiety may alter efficiency rather than effectiveness. Thus, social anxiety may elicit cognitive performance impairments even in minimally evaluative environments.

scholarly journals Assessing the Straightforwardly-Worded Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale for Differential Item Functioning Across Gender and Ethnicity

2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 306-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jared K. Harpole ◽  
Cheri A. Levinson ◽  
Carol M. Woods ◽  
Thomas L. Rodebaugh ◽  
Justin W. Weeks ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Differential Item Functioning ◽  
Negative Evaluation ◽  
Fear Of Negative Evaluation ◽  
Item Functioning
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