scholarly journals The Development of Explicit and Implicit Game-Based Digital Behavioral Markers for the Assessment of Social Anxiety

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Johannes Dechant ◽  
Julian Frommel ◽  
Regan Lee Mandryk
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Systems Of Care ◽  
Physical World ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
Movement Behavior ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Digital Assessment ◽  
Behavioral Markers

Social relationships are essential for humans; neglecting our social needs can reduce wellbeing or even lead to the development of more severe issues such as depression or substance dependency. Although essential, some individuals face major challenges in forming and maintaining social relationships due to the experience of social anxiety. The burden of social anxiety can be reduced through accessible assessment that leads to treatment. However, socially anxious individuals who seek help face many barriers stemming from geography, fear, or disparities in access to systems of care. But recent research suggested digital behavioral markers as a way to deliver cheap and easily accessible digital assessment for social anxiety: As earlier work shows, players with social anxiety show similar behaviors in virtual worlds as in the physical world, including tending to walk farther around other avatars and standing farther away from other avatars. The characteristics of the movement behavior in-game can be harnessed for the development of digital behavioral markers for the assessment of social anxiety. In this paper, we investigate whether implicit as well as explicit digital behavioral markers, proposed by prior work, for social anxiety can be used for predicting the level of social anxiety. We show that both, explicit and implicit digital behavioral markers can be harnessed for the assessment. Our findings provide further insights about how game-based digital behavioral markers can be used for the assessment of social anxiety.

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.

Smartphone-induced Behaviour: Utilisation, Benefits, Nomophobic Behaviour and Perceived Risks

2021 ◽  
pp. 097325862097951
Author(s):  
Kshitiz Sharma ◽  
T. Sarathamani ◽  
Sunil Kumar Bhougal ◽  
Hemant Kumar Singh
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Private University ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Perceived Risks ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Financial Benefits ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Males And Females

Smartphone has become an essential part of human lives. People tend to treat it as another part of their body. Besides communication purposes, it is used for searching information, monetary transactions, shopping, social networking, entertainment, etc. This study aims at analysing the factors influencing smartphone usage and behavioural changes among college students under four constructs: utilisation, benefits, nomophobic behaviour and perceived risks (UBNR). An instrument was created with factors concerning the research and administered in a top-ranked private university of Bangalore, India. The research was carried out with a total of 122 responses. The results show that there is no significant difference in the attitude of males and females in most of the factors except social anxiety. Females experience more social anxiety and use smartphone more for maintaining their social relationships. There is no significant difference between the age group of students in all the four constructs. Utilisation is positively related with psychological, social, functional and financial benefits and shows that the greater the usage of smartphone, the greater are the benefits. On the other hand, the study reveals that increased usage of smartphone leads to addiction, causes nomophobia and poses threat of perceived risks. A mediation strategy like educating the students for proper use of technology is necessary to overcome the risk of addiction and developing nomophobia.

The Potential of Video Game Streaming as Exposure Therapy for Social Anxiety

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (CHI PLAY) ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Julian Frommel ◽  
Martin J. Dechant ◽  
Regan L. Mandryk
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Exposure Therapy ◽  
Cognitive Restructuring ◽  
Social Situations ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Controlled Exposure ◽  
Anxiety Treatment ◽  
Social Anxieties ◽  
And Performance

Social anxiety is a prevalent problem that affects many people with varying severity; digital exposure therapy-which involves controlled exposure to simulations of feared social situations alongside cognitive restructuring-can help treat patients with anxieties. However, the need to personalize exposure scenarios and simulate audiences are barriers to treating social anxieties through digital exposure. In this paper, we propose game streaming as an exposure therapy paradigm for social anxiety, supporting it with data from two studies. We first propose a framework describing requirements for exposure therapy and how game streaming can fulfill them. We select demand and performance visibility from these characteristics to showcase how to manipulate them for experiences of gradual exposure. With Study 1, we provide evidence for these characteristics and support for the framework by showing that a game's demand affected expected fear of streaming games. In Study 2, we show that the prospect of streaming led to elevated fear, a necessary property for effective exposure therapy. Further, we show that the effect of streaming on expected fear was similar for participants who can be considered socially anxious. These findings provide evidence for the essential effect of exposure therapy, which serves as a first step towards the validation of streaming as a social anxiety treatment. Our paper provides an initial, important step towards a novel, broadly applicable, and widely accessible digital approach for the treatment of social anxiety.

Examining Whether Social Anxiety Influences Satisfaction in Romantic Relationships

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Frances L. Doyle ◽  
Andrew J. Baillie ◽  
Erica Crome
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Romantic Relationships ◽  
Relationship Satisfaction ◽  
Romantic Relationship ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Self Disclosure ◽  
Relationship Processes ◽  
Conflict Initiation ◽  
Romantic Relationship Satisfaction

Abstract Research investigating social anxiety and the impacts on romantic relationships remains scarce. An online questionnaire examining romantic relationship status, social anxiety and depression symptomology, relationship satisfaction, and several relationship processes was completed by 444 adults. Individuals with higher social anxiety were less likely to be in romantic relationships. For the 188 adults in our sample in current relationships, relationship satisfaction was not influenced by social anxiety when controlling for depression. Although it was proposed that self-disclosure, social support, trust, and conflict initiation might influence romantic relationship satisfaction, none of these mechanisms interacted with social anxiety to explain additional variance in relationship satisfaction. These findings indicate that depression symptomology may be a treatment target for socially anxious individuals wishing to improve romantic relationship satisfaction.

Physical Appearance Anxiety Impedes the Therapeutic Effects of Video Feedback in High Socially Anxious Individuals

2013 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth M. J. Orr ◽  
David A. Moscovitch
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Physical Appearance ◽  
Video Feedback ◽  
Therapeutic Effects ◽  
Treatment Protocols ◽  
Public Speech ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Appearance Anxiety ◽  
Anxiety Levels ◽  
Cognitive Preparation

Background: Video feedback (VF) interventions effectively reduce social anxiety symptoms and negative self-perception, particularly when they are preceded by cognitive preparation (CP) and followed by cognitive review. Aims: In the current study, we re-examined data from a study on the efficacy of a novel VF intervention for individuals high in social anxiety to test the hypothesis that physical appearance anxiety would moderate the effects of VF. Method: Data were analyzed from 68 socially anxious participants who performed an initial public speech, and were randomly assigned to an Elaborated VF condition (VF plus cognitive preparation and cognitive review), a Standard VF condition (VF plus cognitive preparation) or a No VF condition (exposure alone), and then performed a second speech. Results: As hypothesized, when appearance concerns were low, both participants who received Elaborated and Standard VF were significantly less anxious during speech 2 than those in the No VF condition. However, when levels of appearance concern were high, neither Elaborated nor Standard VF reduced anxiety levels during speech 2 beyond the No VF condition. Conclusions: Results from our analog sample suggest the importance of tailoring treatment protocols to accommodate the idiosyncratic concerns of socially anxious patients.

scholarly journals Exploring the use of contextual modules for understanding and supporting collaborative learning activities: An empirical study

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 961-981 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lu Xiao
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Group Learning ◽  
Physical World ◽  
Group Leader ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Intentional Learning ◽  
Student Groups ◽  
Virtual Group ◽  
Group Environments ◽  
World Environment

We report three student groups? collaboration experiences in a semester-long classroom project. The project included both tasks that required completion in virtual group workspace and activities that could be carried out in the physical world environment. We observed different collaboration patterns among the groups with respect to building and maintaining social relationships, submitting individual work to the group, and scheduling group meetings. We use Bereiter?s two contextual modules, intentional learning and schoolwork, to help us understand the observed patterns and suggest that the group leader?s contextual module plays a significant role in all members? group learning experiences and outcomes. We propose design implications that are intended for encouraging learning-based (as opposed to work-based) practices in virtual group environments.

scholarly journals Understanding immersion in 2D platform-based online collaborative learning environments

2020 ◽  
pp. 57-67
Author(s):  
Gibran Garcia ◽  
Insung Jung
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Virtual Worlds ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Physical World ◽  
Emotional Engagement ◽  
Sensory Stimuli ◽  
Online Collaborative Learning ◽  
Video Gamers

Previous studies have revealed that when video gamers, or users of three-dimensional (3D) virtual worlds, display intense concentration coupled with an emotional engagement in their undertaking, they are affected by multisensory stimuli. This can lead to developing a feeling of detachment from the physical world, which, in turn, can lead to high levels of participation and engagement. Notwithstanding these results, it remains unclear as to whether students can experience the same kind of immersion in two-dimensional (2D) platform-based online collaborative learning spaces as has been achieved in video games and 3D worlds and, if they actually can, which features would lead to similar levels of increased engagement. This study is one of the first attempts to investigate the immersion experiences of students engaged in two 2D online collaborative learning platforms, one text-based and the other video-based. Data from eight students revealed that key features of immersion observed in video games and 3D worlds also appeared during the online collaborative activities but that the way such immersion was perceived by the students was greatly affected by the characteristics of the individual platform. When emotional engagement was considered, empathy was found to play an important role in the participants’ immersion experiences. Implications for practice or policy: Text-based platforms could be effective in motivating students to focus more on the postings, while video-based platforms may be more effective in generating empathy with others through observation of body language. When selecting a communication platform for online collaboration, sensory stimuli of the platform should be carefully examined. Empathy could be developed prior to an online collaborative activity so that students reflect on their thoughts and consider others’ feelings for a more immersive learning experience.

scholarly journals Screening Social Anxiety in Adolescents Through the Eyes of Their Carers

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis-Joaquin Garcia-Lopez ◽  
Lourdes Espinosa-Fernandez ◽  
Jose-Antonio Muela-Martinez ◽  
Jose Antonio Piqueras
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Study Objective ◽  
Validity Data ◽  
Efficacious Treatment ◽  
The Social ◽  
Strength Based ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Different Cultures

Despite the availability of efficacious treatment and screening protocols, social anxiety disorder (SAD) in adolescents is considerably under-detected and undertreated. Our main study objective was to examine a brief, valid, and reliable social anxiety measure already tested to serve as self-report child measure but administered via Internet aimed at listening to the ability of his or her parent to identify social anxiety symptomatology in his or her child. This parent version could be used as a complementary measure to avoid his or her overestimation of children of social anxiety symptomatology using traditional self-reported measures. We examined the psychometric properties of brief and valid social anxiety measure in their parent format and administered via the Internet. The sample included 179 parents/legal guardians of adolescents (67% girls) with a clinical diagnosis of SAD (mean age: 14.27; SD = 1.33). Findings revealed good factor structure, internal consistency, and construct validity. Data support a single, strength-based factor on the SPAIB-P, being structure largely invariant across age and gender. The limited number of adolescents with a performance-only specifier prevented examining the utility of scale to screen for this recently established specifier. It is crucial to evaluate if these results generalize to different cultures and community samples. The findings suggest that the SPAIB-P evidences performance comparable with child-reported measure. Parents can be reliable reports of the social anxiety symptomatology of the adolescent. The SPAIB-P may be useful for identifying clinically disturbed socially anxious adolescents.

scholarly journals Autistic Traits Predict Social-Contact Uncertainty in University Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Bertrams ◽  
Myriam Zäch
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
University Students ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
Autistic Traits ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Moment ◽  
The University

Social anxiety (alternatively: social-contact uncertainty) in the university context can lead to reduced health, well-being, and performance, and can even cause premature leaving of education. With the present study, we intended to supplement cross-sectional studies on students' autistic traits and social anxiety with longitudinal findings. We measured autistic traits and social-contact uncertainty of 118 university students on two occasions, roughly 1 year apart. Correlation, multiple regression, and cross-lagged analyses showed that more pronounced autistic traits predicted higher future social-contact uncertainty. Social-contact uncertainty did not predict autistic traits. We conclude that university students who are high in autistic traits tend not only to be more socially anxious at the moment but have a heightened risk of still being so in the future.

Adolescent Safety Behaviors and Social Anxiety: Links to Psychosocial Impairments and Functioning with Unfamiliar Peer Confederates

2021 ◽  
pp. 014544552110540
Author(s):  
Hide Okuno ◽  
Taylor Rezeppa ◽  
Tabitha Raskin ◽  
Andres De Los Reyes
Keyword(s):  
Social Skills ◽  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Eye Contact ◽  
Safety Behaviors ◽  
Socially Anxious ◽  
Research Personnel ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Social Skills Deficits ◽  
Multiple Domains

Socially anxious adolescents often endure anxiety-provoking situations using safety behaviors: strategies for minimizing in-the-moment distress (e.g., avoiding eye contact, rehearsing statements before entering a conversation). Studies linking safety behaviors to impaired functioning have largely focused on adults. In a sample of one hundred thirty-four 14 to 15 year-old adolescents, we tested whether levels of safety behaviors among socially anxious adolescents relate to multiple domains of impaired functioning. Adolescents, parents, and research personnel completed survey measures of safety behaviors and social anxiety, adolescents and parents reported about adolescents’ evaluative fears and psychosocial impairments, and adolescents participated in a set of tasks designed to simulate social interactions with same-age, unfamiliar peers. Relative to other adolescents in the sample, adolescents high on both safety behaviors and social anxiety displayed greater psychosocial impairments, evaluative fears, and observed social skills deficits within social interactions. These findings have important implications for assessing and treating adolescent social anxiety.

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