Experimentally Detecting How Cultural Differences on Social Anxiety Measures Misrepresent Cultural Differences in Emotional Well-being

Previous research, statistically accounting for self-construal factors and thereby eliminating widely reported culture main effects in social anxiety scores between East Asians and European-Americans (Norasakkunkit and Kalick 2002 Culture, ethnicity, and emotional distress measures: The role of self-construal and self-enhancement. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 33(1), 56–70.) suggested that social anxiety measures penalize individuals for being low on independent self-construal; therefore, cultural differences in emotional distress according to social anxiety measures may possibly misrepresent cultural differences in emotional well-being. In the current experimental study, 127 Japanese and 126 American participants were either primed or not primed to access an independent mode of thought prior to filling out two commonly used measures of social anxiety and a measure of emotional well-being. Independent priming caused social anxiety scores to decrease. Yet, independent priming did not influence levels of self-reported emotional well-being. Furthermore, although the Japanese respondents were shown to be more distressed according to both of the standardized social anxiety measures, this finding was actually reversed with respect to self-reported emotional well-being. The evidence thus points to high scores on measurements of social anxiety being directly and causally linked to low levels of independence, while no link was found between independence and emotional well-being.

Social Anxiety and the Post-Event Processing of Socially Distressing Events

The correlation between social anxiety, as measured by the Social Phobia Scale, and negative post-event processing of socially distressing events, as measured by a diary record, was studied in a sample of 62 undergraduate students during a 1-week period. Of the participants, 55 individuals reported the experience of at least 1 socially distressing event during this time; only 24 of the participants, however, reported distressing events of a negative-evaluational character during the recording week. Although the Social Phobia Scale did not correlate with post-event processing of socially distressing events in general, it showed moderate to strong correlations with post-event processing of negative-evaluational events both on the same day and on the following day. Furthermore, the degree of negative post-event processing that was reported the same day was strongly predictive of the degree of such processing that was reported the following day. The results confirm that negative post-event processing is a real phenomenon with regard to socially distressing situations, and that high social anxiety is associated with higher degrees of such post-event processing of negative-evaluational events. The results also suggest that social anxiety is only one of several forms of interpersonal distress that are characterized by such negative post-event processing; other forms of such distress involve other fears (fears of separation or loneliness, fears of hurting others, etc.) or other kinds of feelings (e.g. guilt and anger).     

Effects of Gender and Appearance Comparisons on Associations Between Media-Based Appearance Pressure and Disordered Eating: Testing a Moderated Mediation Model

Sex Roles - Appearance pressure from mass media and appearance social comparisons have been implicated in theory and research on disordered eating. However, mediating effects of upward and downward...     

Hierarchical Model of Vulnerabilities for Anxiety: Replication and Extension with a Clinical Sample

This study served to replicate and extend our previously obtained hierarchical model of the relationships among general anxiety vulnerabilities, specific anxiety vulnerabilities and specific anxiety manifestations including panic symptoms, health anxiety, obsessive‐compulsive symptoms and worry. Questionnaires assessing these variables, as well as positive affectivity and depressiveness, were administered to 125 outpatients seeking treatment for panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, obsessive‐compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder or major depressive disorder. The results, using a clinical sample, were highly consistent with the hierarchical model obtained in the previous study using a student sample. A more elaborate model, based on published theoretical and empirical evidence, was identified and tested, and similar results were obtained. Negative affectivity had expected direct positive effects on all of the specific anxiety and depression manifestations, with the exception of health anxiety, which showed a negative relationship, and OCD symptoms, which showed no relationship. Positive affectivity was found to be a specific risk factor for depression, while intolerance of uncertainty was found to be a specific risk factor for worry and depression. Finally, anxiety sensitivity appears to be a significant risk factor for panic and health anxiety.     

Unique contributions of anxiety sensitivity to avoidance: a prospective study in adolescents

Examination of the prospective relation between anxiety sensitivity (AS) and behavioral avoidance is largely absent from the literature. In a longitudinal study of a community sample of 2246 adolescents, participants completed the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI; Reiss, Peterson, Gursky, & McNally (1986). Behaviour Research & Therapy, 24, 1-8), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Spielberger (1983). STAI: Manual for the Stait-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologists Press), and the Fear Questionnaire (Marks & Matthews (1979). Behaviour Research & Therapy, 17, 263-267) on an annual basis. To stringently test AS's ability to prospectively predict behavioral avoidance, linear regression was used to test whether AS factors predicted variance in follow-up behavioral avoidance scores after controlling for gender, trait anxiety, panic attacks, and baseline avoidance. Results indicted that the mental and physical subscales of the ASI predicted change in behavioral avoidance. The findings of the study are consistent with the view that AS may serve as a precursor to avoidant behavior and that, regardless of whether or not acute panic has been experienced, those who fear autonomic arousal may be more likely to avoid situations in which those sensations may be present.     

Hierarchical Model of Generalized and Specific Vulnerabilities in Anxiety

This study evaluated a theoretical hierarchical relationship among the general anxiety vulnerability variable of neuroticism, the specific vulnerability variables of anxiety sensitivity and intolerance of uncertainty, and variables reflecting specific anxiety foci including panic symptoms, health anxiety, obsessive-compulsive symptoms and generalized anxiety/worry. Questionnaires assessing these variables were administered to a non-clinical sample of 91 first-year psychology students (64.8% women). Path analysis results were highly consistent with the hypothesized hierarchical model. Neuroticism was found to have a significant direct effect on both anxiety sensitivity and intolerance of uncertainty. Both neuroticism and anxiety sensitivity had direct significant effects on panic symptoms, neuroticism and intolerance of uncertainty both made significant direct contributions to the prediction of worry, and neuroticism made a significant direct contribution to the prediction of obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Contrary to the hypothesized model, anxiety sensitivity but not neuroticism uniquely predicted health anxiety. The results of this study provide initial empirical evidence for a hierarchical relationship among general and specific vulnerabilities, and specific anxiety manifestations.     

Social Anxiety is Associated with a Negatively Distorted Perception of One's Own Voice

According to cognitive models of social anxiety, negatively distorted self-images have a central role in the development and maintenance of social anxiety. In the present study, the relationship between social anxiety and the perception of one's own voice was investigated in a sample of 17 undergraduate students. The participants were asked to recount a story aloud in front of a tape recorder, and then to rate their voice characteristics on a Voice Evaluation Questionnaire. Independent observers (speech therapy students) were then asked to listen to the tape recordings and to rate the participants' voice characteristics on an equivalent version of the Voice Evaluation Questionnaire. Two hypotheses were contrasted: a skill deficits hypothesis and a cognitive distortion hypothesis. The results supported the cognitive distortion hypothesis. A high level of social performance anxiety was associated with an underestimation of one's voice qualities, compared with the independent observers. It is suggested that sound-tape feedback with cognitive preparation should be tested as a method for correcting the negatively distorted voice perception that is associated with social anxiety.     

Social Anxiety Among Adolescents: Linkages with Peer Relations and Friendships

This study examined the utility of modifying the Social Anxiety Scale for Children—Revised (SASC-R) for use with adolescents, and examined associations between adolescents' social anxiety (SA) and their peer relations, friendships, and social functioning. Boys (n = 101) and girls (n = 149) in the 10th through 12th grades completed the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A) and measures of social support, perceived competence, and number and quality of their best friendships. Factor analysis of the SAS-A confirmed a three-factor structure: Fear of Negative Evaluation, Social Avoidance and Distress in General, and Social Avoidance Specific to New Situations or Unfamiliar Peers. Girls reported more SA than boys, and SA was more strongly linked to girls' social functioning than boys'. Specifically, adolescents with higher levels of SA reported poorer social functioning (less support from classmates, less social acceptance), and girls with higher levels of SA reported fewer friendships, and less intimacy, companionship, and support in their close friendships. These findings extend work on the SASC-R to adolescents, and suggest the importance of SA for understanding the social functioning and close friendships of adolescents, especially girls.     

Concurrent validity of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory

The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI) is a new instrument designed to assess symptoms of social phobia. Although the scale has been shown to have a good test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and construct validity, no studies have examined its concurrent validity with respect to other measures of social anxiety and avoidance. In the present study, the relationship between the SPAI and several self-report measures of social anxiety was examined in a sample of 23 patients meeting DSM-III-R criteria for social phobia. The relationship between the SPAI and other measures of psychopathology, as well as performance during a role play test and an impromptu speech, was also examined. The results strongly support the concurrent validity and the specificity of the SPAI. The Social Phobia subscale may be a better index of social anxiety symptoms than the Difference subscale.This research was supported, in part, by NIMH grants MH 38636 and MH 41577 to the second author.     

On feeling understood and feeling well: The role of interdependence

The present research examined whether people feel happier and healthier when they feel more understood in daily social interactions. A two-week diary study showed that people reported greater life satisfaction and fewer physical symptoms on days in which they felt more understood by others. Moreover, we found that individuals who tend to see themselves in relations to others (i.e., women or those scored high on interdependent self-construal measure) showed a stronger association between daily felt understanding and daily life satisfaction or physical symptoms. These findings demonstrate that daily social experiences, such as felt understanding, are associated with daily well-being, particularly for individuals with greater interdependent self-construal.     

How children with facial differences are perceived by non-affected children and adolescents: Perceiver effects on stereotypical attitudes

Children with a facial difference are presumed to be at risk of social stigmatization. The purposes of this study were twofold: (1) to assess the effect of facial differences on social perceptions by unaffected children and adolescents; and (2) to identify perceiver characteristics that predict stereotypical attitudes toward facial differences. Participants were 344 non-affected children and adolescents, ages 8–17 years. Participants rated digitally altered images of 12 children depicted either with or without a facial difference. Results show that participants attributed less favorable characteristics to children with a facial difference than to those without. Moreover, participants reported less willingness to interact with or befriend a child with a facial difference. Significant predictors of low discriminative attitudes were older participant age and previous contact with someone with a facial difference. Our data call attention to the need for public education programs targeted at reducing negative attitudes toward facial differences.     

The Effects of Transdiagnostic Group CBT for Anxiety on Insomnia Symptoms

Insomnia is a common feature among individuals with anxiety disorders. Studies of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety report moderate effects on concomitant insomnia symptoms, but further research is still needed especially toward understanding how CBT for anxiety renders beneficial effects on insomnia. The current study examined changes in insomnia symptoms reported by 51 Veterans who participated in a group-based transdiagnostic CBT for anxiety intervention. In addition, insomnia symptoms were examined in relation to symptoms of general distress (GD), anhedonic depression (AD), and anxious arousal (AA) pre- to post-treatment. Results revealed a small, though statistically significant (p < .05) beneficial effect on insomnia symptoms. When changes in GD, AD, and AA were simultaneously examined in relation to changes in insomnia, change in AA was the only significant predictor of insomnia symptoms. The current study highlights the role of AA in the relationship between anxiety disorders and insomnia and demonstrates that reductions in insomnia during transdiagnostic CBT for anxiety can be largely attributed to changes in AA.     

Orthogonal dreams in an oblique world: A meta-analysis of the association between attachment anxiety and avoidance

The association between attachment dimensions (anxiety and avoidance) can influence measurement creation and statistical analyses. Our goal was to test the assumption that anxiety and avoidance was orthogonal in two popular measures: the ‘Experience in Close Relationships Scale - Revised’ (ECR-R) and the original ‘Experiences in Close Relationships Scale’ (ECR). Our meta-analysis of 242 studies revealed that despite both scales being highly reliable, the anxiety-avoidance correlation was higher for the ECR-R than the ECR. Other variables also moderated the association. Implications include methods of statistical analysis and recommendations for future measurement creation and use.     

The effects of safety behaviors on the fear of contamination: an experimental investigation

The strategies used by anxious individuals to prevent feared outcomes, known as safety behaviors, are thought to maintain pathological anxiety by preventing the disconfirmation of inaccurate threat beliefs. However, it is possible that safety behaviors might also contribute to the development and exacerbation of anxiety symptoms. The present study tested this notion in a sample of undergraduate participants with either low (n=30) or high (n=26) levels of contamination fear. After a week-long baseline period, participants spent 1 week engaging in a clinically representative array of contamination-related safety behaviors on a daily basis, followed by a second baseline period. Subsequent to the safety behavior manipulation, participants evidenced statistically significant increases in threat overestimation, contamination fear symptoms, and emotional and avoidant responses to three contamination-related behavioral avoidance tasks (BATs). In contrast, anxiety and depressive symptoms remained stable. The magnitude of change in contamination concerns was equivalent among participants in both contamination fear groups. Our findings suggest that contamination-related safety behaviors elicit a modest and specific increase in the fear of contamination. Possible mechanisms for this effect, as well as implications for the role of safety behaviors in the psychopathology of anxiety disorders, are discussed.     

Factor structure and stability of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index in a longitudinal study of anxiety disorder patients

The past decade witnessed considerable debate over the factor structure of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI), with an eventual consensus emerging that supported a hierarchically organized factor structure. The present study attempted to replicate and examine the overall stability and utility of the hierarchical ASI factor pattern using a large sample of outpatients participating in an ongoing longitudinal study of anxiety disorders. Results supported a hierarchical factor structure for the ASI consisting of three lower-order factors measuring physical concerns, mental incapacitation concerns, and social concerns, all of which loaded significantly on a single second-order factor. Correlational analyses show good test-retest reliability and consistent patterns of intercorrelation for these factor-derived subscales across a 10-month time frame. Additional analyses provide support for the discriminant validity of the ASI subscales with regard to individuals with specific anxiety disorders. The theoretical implications of these findings for future evaluations of anxiety sensitivity are discussed.     

Prevention of Anxiety Disorders: Results of a Universal Trial with Young Children

We examined a brief program aimed at preventing anxiety and other problems in early childhood. Participants (N = 734, age 3–6 years) were drawn from 25 preschools across Brisbane, Australia. Assessments occurred four times over 14 months, with a diagnostic interview at follow-up. Parent and teacher reports included information on child temperament, social behavior, inhibition, parent characteristics, and parent-child interactions. REACH for RESILIENCE, a universal prevention program developed for this study, consisted of a six-session training program for parents focusing on building positive expectations and social competency in children. Parents rated the program positively and attended well, especially highly stressed parents who thus became over-represented in the treatment group as time progressed. Despite this difficulty with interpreting results, the intervention resulted in decreases in child problems via teacher report for both internalizing and externalizing problems. However, the effect sizes were not impressive and no changes were noted in parent’s diagnostic ratings. Results, directions for further research, and refinement of methods are discussed.

Understanding humor styles and well-being: The importance of social relationships and gender

Individual differences in humor styles have been identified, and these humor styles appear to be differentially related to well-being. The present study sought to replicate and extend previous findings by (1) investigating whether the differential effects of humor styles on well-being may be explained by their associations with social support, and (2) whether the weak and inconsistent relationship between aggressive humor and well-being may be due to a moderating role of gender. A total of 826 undergraduate students completed a series of online standardized questionnaires, including the Humor Styles Questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), Satisfaction with Life Scale, and Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL-12). Mediation analyses revealed that the positive relationship between affiliative and self-enhancing humor and well-being was explained by a greater perceived availability of support. Meanwhile, the negative association between self-defeating humor and well-being was mediated by lower levels of perceived support. Moderation analyses provided preliminary support for the idea that an aggressive humor style may be related to higher levels of social support among men, and lower social support among women. Further research on the interpersonal context of humor and the role of gender in humor styles, social relationships, and well-being is warranted.     

The Interpersonal Model of Health Anxiety: Testing predicted paths and model specificity

Health anxiety involves persistent worry about one’s health and is characterized by dysfunctional interpersonal processes such as excessive health-related reassurance-seeking and feelings of alienation from others. Cognitive-behavioral models largely ignore cyclical, interpersonally averse behaviors and social cognitions observed amongst health anxious individuals. The Interpersonal Model of Health Anxiety (IMHA) proposes health anxiety is maintained through activated anxious attachment insecurities, which drive frequent, but ineffective, health-related reassurance-seeking from others. Such excessive health-related reassurance-seeking leads to health-related alienation and beliefs others are unconcerned about one’s perceived health problems. Feeling alienated from others fuels further health-related worry, resulting in continued self-defeating attempts at health-related reassurance-seeking. The present study offers the first comprehensive articulation and test of the IMHA. Using a cross-sectional design and 107 undergraduates, path analysis supported five of six hypothesized paths in the model; all paths except that from anxious attachment to health-related reassurance-seeking were significant and in the expected direction. Specificity tests suggested anxious attachment was more central than avoidant attachment to the IMHA. The present test of the IMHA as a single, coherent model provides a conceptual foundation for future research on interpersonal processes in health anxiety. Clinical implications are discussed.     

Moving forward is not only a metaphor: Approach and avoidance lead to self-evaluative assimilation and contrast

Could it be that walking toward (vs. away) someone else changes your self-evaluation in the direction of what this person is? We answer positively and argue that approach movements lead to self-evaluative assimilation (a higher self-evaluation with a high vs. a low standard), while avoidance movements lead to self-evaluative contrast (a lower self-evaluation with a high vs. a low standard). Hence, we predict that approach/avoidance moderates the impact of comparison information on self-evaluation. To test this idea, participants were either primed with approach or avoidance before processing comparison information (Study 1) or physically had to walk toward or away from this information (Studies 2 and 3). Results on self-evaluated adjustment (Studies 1 and 2) and self-evaluated attractiveness measures (Study 3) confirmed our predictions. These studies suggest ways to behave to self-evaluate positively when hearing about others.     

学习和考试技能训练对不同类型考试焦虑者的作用

以209名高中学生为被试,采用现场实验法考察了学习与考试技能训练(SST)对认知主导型考试焦虑(C型)、生理唤醒主导型考试焦虑(P型)和学习技能缺乏型考试焦虑(S型)的作用效果。结果表明：SST不能降低三种考试焦虑类型的状态考试焦虑,但能显著提高三种不同类型考试焦虑者的考试成绩。