scholarly journals Repetitive Negative Thinking in Social Anxiety Disorder 1: Anticipatory Processing

Author(s):  
Mark Boschen ◽  
◽  
Rachel Sluis ◽  
David Neumann ◽  
Karen Murphy
2017 ◽  
Vol a4 (3) ◽  
pp. 244-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel A. Sluis ◽  
Mark J. Boschen ◽  
David L. Neumann ◽  
Karen Murphy

Cognitive models of social anxiety disorder (SAD) emphasize anticipatory processing as a prominent maintaining factor that occurs before social-evaluative events. Anticipatory processing occurs when a socially anxious individual is expecting a social event and can be described as a mode of repetitive negative thinking dominated by past failures, negative images of oneself, predictions of poor performance and rejection. The present review examined the literature on anticipatory processing in social anxiety in an effort to highlight important findings pertaining to this construct. Correlational and experimental studies have investigated the relationship between anticipatory processing and the behavioural, physiological, cognitive and affective outcomes for socially anxious individuals. Studies investigating the characteristics, causes, and consequences of anticipatory processing according to models of social anxiety were included for review. The majority of study designs include those investigating anticipatory processing prior to social-evaluative threat. Directions for future research are discussed and an overview of a framework for explaining anticipatory processing biases in social anxiety is presented.


2016 ◽  
Vol a4 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel A. Sluis ◽  
Mark J. Boschen ◽  
David L. Neumann ◽  
Karen Murphy

Cognitive models of social anxiety disorder (SAD) emphasize post-event processing as a prominent maintaining factor that occurs after social-evaluative events. Post-event processing involves repetitive negative thinking revolved around perceived social failure. The present review concentrates on the relevant and available empirical literature on post-event processing in social anxiety which centres on Clarke and Wells (1995) theoretical framework. Correlational and experimental studies have investigated the relationship between post-event processing and the behavioural, physiological, cognitive and affective outcomes for socially anxious individuals. The majority of study designs include those investigating post-event processing in response to social-evaluative threat, and in response to treatment. Limitations of the existing literature are discussed and suggestions for future research examining the underlying cognitive functions of post-event processing are proposed.


Author(s):  
Barbara Hoff Esbjørn ◽  
Anette Falch ◽  
Monika Anna Walczak ◽  
Nicoline Normann ◽  
Sonja Breinholst

Abstract Background: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is common in youths. However, our understanding of SAD in children is inferior to that of SAD in adolescents or adults, and it is unclear if known adult SAD maintenance mechanisms may also operate in children with SAD. Aim: The paper sets out to investigate the specificity of positive automatic thoughts, social threat negative automatic thoughts, repetitive negative thinking, positive and negative metacognitions in predicting SAD symptoms and diagnoses in clinically anxious children. Method: We enrolled 122 clinically anxious children aged 7–13 years; of these, 33 had an SAD diagnosis. Results: SAD symptoms correlated positively with social threat negative automatic thoughts, repetitive negative thinking, and negative metacognitions, and negatively with positive automatic thoughts. Linear regression indicated that, of these variables, only social threat negative automatic thoughts predicted social anxiety symptoms. Logistic regression indicated that social threat negative automatic thoughts, a higher number of diagnoses and negative metacognitive beliefs specifically predicted the presence of SAD diagnosis. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that content-specific social threat negative automatic thoughts was the only variable that specifically distinguished both higher levels of social anxiety symptoms and diagnoses.


Assessment ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 107319112110286
Author(s):  
Sarah Shihata ◽  
Andrew R. Johnson ◽  
David M. Erceg-Hurn ◽  
Peter M. McEvoy

Background: Repetitive negative thinking is conceptualized to be a transdiagnostic process linked to the development and maintenance of psychopathology. Prior research distinguishes between disorder-specific exemplars (worry, rumination) and transdiagnostic measures of repetitive negative thinking with differences across disorders reported. However, establishing the measurement invariance of these measures is necessary to support meaningful comparisons across clinical groups. Method: Bayesian structural equation modelling was used to assess the approximate invariance of the Ruminative Response Scale, Penn State Worry Questionnaire, and the Repetitive Thinking Questionnaire across individuals with a principal diagnosis of either depressive disorder, social anxiety disorder, or generalized anxiety disorder. Results: All scales demonstrated approximate measurement invariance across the three disorder groups. The depressive disorder group reported a higher level of rumination than the generalized anxiety disorder group (Δµ = 0.25, 95% Credibility Interval [0.06, 0.45]), with no difference between the generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder groups. The depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder groups did not differ in their levels of trait repetitive negative thinking, but the social anxiety disorder group was markedly lower than the generalized anxiety disorder group (Δµ = −0.21 [−0.37, −0.05]). Similarly, levels of worry did not differ between the generalized anxiety disorder and depressive disorder group but were lower in the social anxiety disorder group than the generalized anxiety disorder group (Δµ = −0.23 [−0.41, −0.06]). Conclusions: The Ruminative Response Scale, Penn State Worry Questionnaire, and Repetitive Thinking Questionnaire are measuring trait repetitive negative thinking in a consistent manner across individuals with a principal diagnosis of depressive disorder, social anxiety disorder, or generalized anxiety disorder. This supports their use in transdiagnostic contexts and indicates that it is appropriate to directly compare the scores on these measures between diagnostic groups.


2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith M. Laposa ◽  
Neil A. Rector

Clark and Wells (1995) posit that anticipatory processing before a social situation serves to maintain social anxiety. More specifically, ruminative processes similar to post-event processing (PEP) may occur in anticipation of anxiety provoking social events, and in this article, we have labelled this type of anticipatory rumination anticipatory event processing (AnEP). Participants (n = 75) with social anxiety disorder (SAD) completed measures of anticipatory event processing, trait anxious rumination, social anxiety, state anxiety, and PEP, in the context of completing videotaped exposures twice as part of manual-based group cognitive behavioral therapy. AnEP was significantly positively associated with trait anxious rumination and social anxiety and was associated with state anxiety during the first videotaping. AnEP at the two time points was significantly correlated and decreased across the two taped exposures. Greater AnEP at the first taping was associated with greater PEP the following week. PEP after the first videotaped exposure then significantly related to AnEP for the second videotaped exposure several weeks later. Discussion focuses on the similarities between PEP and AnEP as well as implications for cognitive models and treatment of SAD.


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