Paternal Child-Rearing Style and Child Social Anxiety: Investigation of Child Perceptions and Actual Father Behavior

This study examined associations among perceived and actual father behavior and child social anxiety. Forty-eight children (22 high socially anxious, 26 low socially anxious) completed self-report measures of social anxiety, general anxiety, and depression. Children also completed a measure of perceived parental style and subsequently collaborated with their fathers on a challenging task (origami). After controlling for general anxiety and depression, fathers of high socially anxious children exhibited more controlling behavior during the origami task; high and low socially anxious children, however, did not differ behaviorally from one another. Perceptions of father child-rearing style did not differ as a function of child social anxiety, nor were significant relations found between perceived parenting and specific father behaviors. Findings underscore the importance of assessing various types of internalizing symptoms (i.e., controlling for shared construct variance), obtaining children's perceptions of parental style in conjunction with conducting behavioral observations, and including fathers in psychopathology research.     

Peer Perceptions of Social Skills in Socially Anxious and Nonanxious Adolescents

Previous studies using adult observers are inconsistent with regard to social skills deficits in nonclinical socially anxious youth. The present study investigated whether same age peers perceive a lack of social skills in the socially anxious. Twenty high and 20 low socially anxious adolescents (13–17 years old) were recorded giving a 5-min speech. Unfamiliar peer observers (12–17 years old) viewed the speech samples and rated four social skills: speech content, facial expressions, posture and body movement, and way of speaking. Peer observers perceived high socially anxious adolescents as significantly poorer than low socially anxious adolescents on all four social skills. Moreover, for all skills except facial expressions, group differences could not be attributed to adolescents’ self-reported level of depression. We suggest that therapists take the perceptions of same age peers into account when assessing the social skills of socially anxious youth.     

Play behaviors of handicapped preschool children in the presence and absence of nonhandicapped peers

Sixteen minimally handicapped children and 18 nonhandicapped children were observed playing as separate classes and as a combined group on their preschool playground. Play behaviors directed toward self, toys, teachers, and peers were recorded using a time sampling procedure. Repeated measures analyses revealed that: (1) handicapped children engaged in less peer-directed and more teacher-directed behaviors than the similar chronological age but developmentally more advanced normal children; (2) a comparison between a subsample of normal and handicapped children who were approximately equivalent on developmental age suggested that the normal children only vocalized more often; (3) when integrated with the normal children, handicapped children engaged in more peer-directed and less teacher-directed behaviors than when playing in the non-integrated situation; (4) during the combined group play situation, normal children directed more behaviors to their own classmates while handicapped children directed approximately equal amounts of behavior to their own classmates and to their normal peers. These results suggest that the normal children were not negatively affected and the handicapped children were positively affected by the integrated play situation.     

Interpretation bias and social anxiety: does interpretation bias mediate the relationship between trait social anxiety and state anxiety responses?

Two studies aimed to examine whether high socially anxious individuals are more likely to negatively interpret ambiguous social scenarios and facial expressions compared to low socially anxious individuals. We also examined whether interpretation bias serves as a mediator of the relationship between trait social anxiety and state anxiety responses, in particular current state anxiety, bodily sensations, and perceived probability and cost of negative evaluation pertaining to a speech task. Study 1 used ambiguous social scenarios and Study 2 used ambiguous facial expressions as stimuli to objectively assess interpretation bias. Undergraduate students with high and low social anxiety completed measures of state anxiety responses at three time points: baseline, after the interpretation bias task, and after the preparation for an impromptu speech. Results showed that high socially anxious individuals were more likely to endorse threat interpretations for ambiguous social scenarios and to interpret ambiguous faces as negative than low socially anxious individuals. Furthermore, negative interpretations mediated the relationship between trait social anxiety and perceived probability of negative evaluation pertaining to the speech task in Study 1 but not Study 2. The present studies provide new insight into the role of interpretation bias in social anxiety.     

Social skills deficits among the socially anxious: Rejection from others and loneliness

Based on evidence linking social anxiety with social skills deficits, it was hypothesized that socially anxious individuals would exhibit diminished social skills in a naturalistic interaction, relative to socially nonanxious persons, and that they would also elicit rejection from their conversational partners and experience loneliness. Socially anxious and nonanxious persons were surreptitiously videotaped while they waited with partners for an experiment to begin. Analyses of subjects' social skills indicated that, behaviorally, the socially anxious appear very similar to their nonanxious peers. At the same time, however, they exhibited a tendency to negatively misperceive their own social skills. Although socially anxious persons did not elicit significantly more rejection from their conversational partners, they did report being more lonely than nonanxious persons. Socially anxious subjects were also rated by their conversational partners as lower in social skill than were nonanxious subjects. Implications for further study of social skills among the socially anxious are discussed.We would like to thank Richard Davidson for his assistance in recruiting subjects: Dean Geller, Lynn Jorgenson, Joey Kaupie, and Karen Toft for their assistance with data collection; and Andrea Attebery, Monica Bannon, Noreen Checci, Heather Collier, Michelle Givertz, Perry Loeder, Lisa Meyer, Nancy Nell, Beth O'Keefe, Bruce Rist, Becky Sapinski, and Shaunda Wenberg for their assistance as coders.     

Negative Social Cognitions in Socially Anxious Youth: Distorted Reality or a Kernel of Truth?

We review studies that investigate negative social cognitions of socially anxious youth in relation to two specific domains: interpretation of ambiguous social situations and self-evaluation of social performance, including social skills and nervous behaviors. In this review, we address the question whether socially anxious youth’s negative perceptions are distortions of reality or reflect a kernel of truth as compared to other sources of information including independent adult observers and age peers. Studies key to this question are those that investigate not only the social perceptions themselves but also the social behavior of socially anxious youth. Hence the selection of studies for the review was based on this criterion. From the relevant literature it is, as yet, unclear whether the negative interpretations of ambiguous social situations shown by socially anxious youth are distorted or a reflection of reality. Socially anxious youth’s self-evaluations of social skills appear partly distorted and partly true, depending on the person judging the social skills. In contrast, self-evaluations of nervous behaviors appear distorted. The studies reviewed indicate that research would benefit from including a wider range of perceptions from persons relevant to the socially anxious youth’s daily social environment, not only parents and teachers but also their age peers.     

Try to Find Me: Social Anxiety and Peer First Impressions

Following initial interactions, some people are less willing to pursue ongoing contact with socially anxious individuals than with those who are not socially anxious. To better understand this process, we conducted two studies that examined peers’ first impressions of target individuals. Unacquainted individuals (N = 104 and 114) participated in round robin, unstructured interactions in groups of 3 to 10 and then rated each partner and themselves on items reflecting the Big Five personality dimensions. The ratings were analyzed according to Biesanz’s (2010) social accuracy model of interpersonal perception, which distinguishes the positivity from the accuracy of social judgments. Study 1 revealed that perceivers did not view socially anxious targets more negatively or as less likable than non-socially anxious targets but were less able to recognize their unique personality features. Study 2 replicated those findings and indicated that perceivers’ difficulties recognizing socially anxious targets’ unique features were not due to negative biases in the socially anxious targets’ self-ratings or to general psychological maladjustment. The findings are consistent with cognitive models, which underscore the role of self-concealment in social anxiety disorder.     

Negative self-evaluations and the relation to performance level in socially anxious children and adolescents

The current study investigated whether negatively biased self-evaluations of nervousness and social skills are related to how well an individual actually performs, that is performance level. Sixty-eight high socially anxious and 68 control participants (age range 9–17 years) gave a 5 min speech in front of a pre-recorded audience of same age peers and a teacher. Participants' evaluations immediately after the task were measured on a number of performance dimensions. Three independent observers also evaluated recordings of the speech performances. Participants were further divided into good and bad performers based on their actual performance level as judged by the observers. Self-evaluations of the high socially anxious participants were negatively biased for nervous appearance regardless of how well they actually performed. In contrast, a negative bias for social skills only occurred in the high anxious participants with a good performance. The social skill evaluations of the poor performers appear warranted. Taking actual performance level into account may help to clarify the exact nature of a negative bias in socially anxious youth and has clear implications for the choice of treatment approach.     

THE EFFECTS OF A CLASSROOM MANAGER ROLE ON THE SOCIAL INTERACTION PATTERNS AND SOCIAL STATUS OF WITHDRAWN KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS

We examined the effects of assigning a classroom manager's role on the frequency of social interactions and the sociometric standing of three withdrawn kindergarten students. Results showed that when the three socially withdrawn students were placed in the manager's role they substantially increased the frequency of their positive social initiations during free-play time, were the recipients of many more positive and significantly fewer negative social bids from their peers, were rated more favorably by their classmates on a sociometric rating scale, and were selected more frequently as best friends by their peers. In addition, follow-up data suggested partial maintenance of treatment effects when students no longer occupied manager positions.     

学生感知的教师欺凌态度与学生欺凌行为的关系——学生欺凌态度的中介作用及其性别的调节作用

校园欺凌严重影响青少年身心的健康发展,教师是预防和干预校园欺凌的重要力量。本研究拟在考察学生感知的教师欺凌态度与学生欺凌行为关系的基础上,探究学生欺凌态度的中介效应以及性别的调节作用。本研究采用《校园欺凌量表》、《学生欺凌态度量表》以及《学生感知的教师欺凌态度量表》对来自北京市两所初中的698名初一和初二学生进行测查。结果显示:(1)初中男生总体及不同类型的欺凌行为及其欺凌态度均显著高于女生,而女生所感知的教师欺凌严重性态度则显著高于男生;(2)学生感知的教师欺凌严重性态度显著负向预测学生欺凌行为;(3)学生欺凌态度在学生感知的教师欺凌态度和学生欺凌行为之间起部分中介作用;(4)学生欺凌态度的中介效应存在显著性别差异,男生欺凌态度为部分中介作用,而女生欺凌态度为完全中介作用。     

积极同伴压力、自尊对青少年不同冒险行为的影响

该研究基于问题行为理论,采用问卷法对普通高中、中职院校689名青少年学生进行调查,探讨了积极同伴压力、自尊对青少年不同冒险行为的影响及其交互作用和学校差异。结果表明:(1)中职院校生的积极同伴压力和冒险行为都显著高于普通高中生;(2)积极同伴压力不能预测青少年的适应不良冒险行为,但可显著预测普通高中生的社会可接受冒险行为;(3)自尊可显著负向预测青少年的适应不良冒险行为,显著正向预测普通高中生的社会可接受冒险行为;(4)自尊仅可以调节普通高中生的积极同伴压力与社会可接受冒险行为的关系:高自尊增强了高积极同伴压力对青少年社会可接受冒险行为的影响;但它不能调节无论哪所学校青少年的积极同伴压力与适应不良冒险行为的关系。     

Peer and Teacher-Selected Peer Buddies for Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Role of Social,Emotional, and Mentalizing Abilities

This study examined mentalizing abilities, social behavior, and social impact of adolescents who expressed the willingness to become peer buddies for adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders, and adolescents selected by their teachers and peers. Twenty-seven teachers and 395 adolescents from public high schools completed mentalizing abilities, social status, behavioral, and peer buddy nomination measures. Findings suggest that social status and preference play a significant role in the selection of peer buddies by both teachers and classmates. Furthermore, more advanced Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities and the engagement in prosocial behaviors differentiated peers selected as buddies from other classmates. When compared with nonparticipating students, adolescents who expressed willingness to participate were more often girls, and were more prosocial. Agreement between teacher and peer nominations of best peer was moderate.     

Subchance perception: Anxious, non-defensive individuals identify subliminally-presented positive words at below-chance levels

People who chronically experience anxiety are biased towards subliminally-presented negative information. Recent research has shown that they may also avoid subliminally-presented positive information. However, these findings are equivocal due to the limitations of previous paradigms and measures. This paper reports two experiments demonstrating that highly anxious, non-defensive individuals exhibit subchance perception when attempting to identify subliminally-presented positive words; that is, they identify such words with accuracy rates that are below chance (guessing). Participants attempted to identify masked positively and negatively valenced words that had been presented briefly (6.4 ms) in a two-alternative forced-choice paradigm. In Experiment 1, persons high in trait anxiety and low in defensiveness identified positive words at below-chance levels and negative words at above-chance levels. No other participant-group’s performance differed from chance. In Experiment 2, persons high in trait anxiety and low in defensiveness again exhibited subchance perception of positive words when responding quickly. This represents the clearest evidence to date that anxious, non-defensive individuals systematically avoid subliminally-presented positive information.     

Subchance perception: Anxious,non-defensive individuals identify subliminally-presented positive words at below-chance levels

People who chronically experience anxiety are biased towards subliminally-presented negative information. Recent research has shown that they may also avoid subliminally-presented positive information. However, these findings are equivocal due to the limitations of previous paradigms and measures. This paper reports two experiments demonstrating that highly anxious, non-defensive individuals exhibit subchance perception when attempting to identify subliminally-presented positive words; that is, they identify such words with accuracy rates that are below chance (guessing). Participants attempted to identify masked positively and negatively valenced words that had been presented briefly (6.4 ms) in a two-alternative forced-choice paradigm. In Experiment 1, persons high in trait anxiety and low in defensiveness identified positive words at below-chance levels and negative words at above-chance levels. No other participant-group’s performance differed from chance. In Experiment 2, persons high in trait anxiety and low in defensiveness again exhibited subchance perception of positive words when responding quickly. This represents the clearest evidence to date that anxious, non-defensive individuals systematically avoid subliminally-presented positive information.     

The impact of self and peer perceptual differences on student social behaviour

Background. The development of socially appropriate behaviour is increasingly seen as an important part of a student's education. Aim. To examine whether changes in a student's behaviour, as part of an ongoing social empathy intervention, can in part be explained by the difference between the student's self‐perception of their behaviour and their peers‐perception of their behaviour. Method. A school population (383 students from year levels 4 to 6) was assessed for a range of prosocial and antisocial behaviours. Assessments were made by the students themselves, and by peer nominations of their classmates. A perceptual difference index was calculated to determine the difference between the student's self‐assessment and their peers' assessment of their behaviour. Results. Hierarchical regression found that students' prosocial behaviour increased more over the course of the school year when self‐perception of their prosocial behaviour more closely matched the perceptions of their class‐peers. Similarly, students' antisocial behaviour decreased more over the school year when their self and peer perceptions of their antisocial behaviour were more closely aligned. Very few personal demographics were associated with either type of behaviour, and overall there was found to be a great deal of stability in behaviour. Conclusion. This study highlights the importance of taking into account students' personal characteristics when developing interventions to encourage socially appropriate behaviour. Furthermore, it suggests that in order to achieve positive change, any intervention must engage student's self‐beliefs regarding their behaviour.     

How much does physical appearance say about the psychological adjustment of competent and dysfunctional children?

Presents a study in which three sets of photographs of socially competent, aggressive, and anxious preschoolers were rated by college students (n = 150 raters per set), blind to the children's group membership. This was done to assess the extent to which adults are able to make valid and reliable evaluations of children's psychological adjustment on the basis of physical appearance alone. Sets 1 and 2 were photographs of different children taken under the same conditions and providing both facial and nonfacial cues. Sets 2 and 3 were of the same children taken under conditions that varied as to the amount of nonfacial cues they provided. Results showed that (a) socially competent children were judged to be better adjusted than their dysfunctional peers (i.e., more competent, less aggressive, less anxious, and less likely to have emotional or behavioral problems); (b) within the dysfunctional group, aggressive and anxious children were distinguished in ways that correspond closely to what is known about them from behavioral and clinical research; (c) irrespective of group membership, girls and boys were generally distinguished in ways that reflect normative beliefs about gender differences from social and developmental research; (d) group differences in ratings of psychological adjustment were generally comparable across photograph sets and could not be accounted for by differences in the children's perceived physical attractiveness; and (e) raters reported that they relied mainly on the children's expression, eyes, and posture to make their judgments of adjustment. These results replicate and extend earlier findings based on 1 of the 3 photograph sets (Serketich & Dumas, 1997). They suggest that when first impressions matter, competent children are at an advantage and their dysfunctional peers at a disadvantage even before their actual behavior comes to confirm or to invalidate these impressions. Theoretical and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.     

How awkward! Social anxiety and the perceived consequences of social blunders

Seventy high socially anxious (HSA) and 74 low socially anxious (LSA) participants rated perceived interpersonal and emotional consequences of both (a) autobiographical social blunders recalled from their own lives and (b) imagined blunders presented in standardized hypothetical social scenarios. Ratings of participants' autobiographical blunders were also provided by research assistants who were blind to hypotheses. Results indicated that HSA participants overestimated the negative consequences of their own autobiographical blunders. These negative perceptions among HSA participants extended to imagined blunders, even when participants were instructed to imagine a third party other than themselves as the person committing the blunder. This pattern of results suggests the conclusion that the perceived consequences of social blunders among HSA individuals are driven by the belief that social standards are high, inflexible, or both.     

When More Is Less: An Averaging/Summation Analysis of Social Anxiety

This research explored higher and lower socially anxious individuals' impressions of homogeneous and heterogeneous discussion groups. Based upon an averaging–summation analysis, it was expected that subjects would average their impressions and resultant anxiety in a heterogeneous group. This result was obtained; individuals anticipated experiencing less anxiety in a group composed of 1 faculty and 3 high school students than in a group composed of a single high status discussant. Furthermore, the responses of high and low socially anxious individuals to heterogeneous groups differed. These results suggest that high and low socially anxious individuals may differ in their focus of attention in small groups, resulting in a different weighting of status variables.     

Social anxiety and interpersonal perception: a social relations model analysis

Cognitive models of social phobia posit that an individual's negative beliefs about the way he or she is perceived by others (metaperceptions) are a core feature of the disorder. The social relations model () was used to analyze interpersonal perception data collected following unstructured social interactions in 62 socially anxious (SA) and 62 not socially anxious (NSA) individuals. Using this model, the interpersonal perceptions were analyzed to evaluate whether pathological levels of social anxiety are associated with self-perceptions, metaperceptions, and perceptions from others. SA participants saw themselves negatively and believed others saw them negatively. Although seen as more nervous by others, SA participants were not seen as less likeable. A mediational model demonstrated that the negative metaperceptions of SA individuals were more a function of their own self-perceptions than the negative perceptions of others. These findings were not attributable to depressive symptoms. Implications for theory and treatment of social phobia are discussed.