When Being Discrepant from One's Ideal or Ought Selves Hurts: The Moderating Role of Neuroticism

Self‐discrepancy theory posits that people experience emotional consequences when they perceive discrepancies between their actual and possible selves. However, the extent to which people react emotionally to these self‐discrepancies (i.e. ideal, ought and undesired) may be a function of individual differences in neuroticism. Across both experimental (Study 1; N = 155) and correlational designs (Study 2; N = 139) involving college students, the authors demonstrated that neuroticism moderated the discrepancy–emotion associations such that high‐neuroticism individuals showed elevated depression and anxiety symptoms when their self‐discrepancies were activated. The heightened symptoms were maintained over time. Negative repetitive thoughts (i.e. rumination and worry) were examined as potential mediating mechanisms between the discrepancy × neuroticism interaction and symptoms. Partial support was obtained in that rumination mediated between undesired discrepancy × neuroticism interaction and anxious/depressive symptoms. Implications and possible theoretical extensions for self‐discrepancy theory are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Integration,unintegration, disintegration: an introduction

This introduction to the two papers that follow by Anne Alvarez and Edna O'Shaughnessy is a revised version of the introduction to the ACP Study Day in February 2005 on ‘Integration, Unintegration, Disintegration’, at which Alvarez and O'Shaughnessy had presented and which the author had chaired. The background to the debate is given in terms of how the ACP Study Day itself came about, and the central theme is highlighted in terms of the question of whether unintegration is conceived of as a normal stage of development or only a temporary state of mind in response to catastrophic anxieties. Brief clinical material from a case supervised by the author is discussed in order to elaborate this central question.     

Social anxiety and self-protective communication style in close relationships

People with higher social anxiety tend to reveal less information about themselves in interactions with strangers, and this appears to be part of a self-protective strategy adopted in situations in which the risk of negative evaluation is judged to be particularly high. This research examined whether a similar style of communication may be adopted by people with higher social anxiety in their close relationships, and whether it may be associated with decrements in the quality (support, depth, conflict) of these relationships. Over 300 people from the community completed a series of online questionnaires measuring social anxiety and depression, and disclosure in and quality of their close friendships and romantic relationships. After controlling for levels of depression, social anxiety was associated with a paucity of disclosure in both romantic relationships and close friendships in females, but not males. There was an indirect association between higher social anxiety and lower relationship quality (lower support, with a trend towards greater conflict) via lower self-disclosure in women's romantic relationships, but not their close friendships. Addressing disclosure in the context of close relationships may assist socially anxious women to develop more fulfilling and harmonious close relationships.     

The effect of parental modeling of anxious behaviors and cognitions in school-aged children: An experimental pilot study

The current study tested: (1) the impact of parental modeling of anxious behaviors and cognitions on child anxiety level, anxious cognitions, desired avoidance, and objective performance using an experimental paradigm; and (2) whether the impact of parental modeling of anxious behaviors and cognitions differed by parent gender. Twenty-five parents (a random selection of 12 male and 13 female parents) participated with one of their children (ages 8-12 years; 56.0% male; 76.0% Caucasian). All children experienced two test conditions: an anxious condition in which their parent was trained to act anxiously before a planned spelling test and a non-anxious condition in which their parent was trained to act in a relaxed and confident manner before a planned spelling test. Results showed that, regardless of parent gender, children endorsed higher anxiety levels, anxious cognitions, and desired avoidance of the spelling test in the anxious relative to the non-anxious condition. Parental modeling of anxiety did not affect child spelling performance. Significant interaction effects indicated that fathers had a stronger impact on child anxiety level and cognitions than did mothers. Results highlight the importance of parental modeling and the potential role of both mothers and fathers in prevention and treatment for child anxiety.     

Social skills and social phobia: An investigation of DSM-IV subtypes

Social phobia is characterized as pervasive social timidity in social settings. Although much is known about this disorder, aspects of its clinical presentation remain unexplored, in particular characteristics that distinguish the generalized and non-generalized subtypes. For example, it remains unclear whether patients with the non-generalized subtype display social skills deficits in social interactions, and if so, are these deficits clinically, as well as statistically, significant? In this study, adults with either the non-generalized (NGSP; n = 60) or generalized (GSP; n = 119) subtype of social phobia and adults with no psychological disorder (n = 200) completed an extensive behavioral assessment of social skill and social anxiety. As expected, adults with NGSP and GSP reported equal distress and displayed similar rates of avoidance during an Impromptu Speech Task when compared to adults with no disorder. In contrast, the three groups were distinctly different when interacting with another person in various social situations. Adults with NGSP displayed social skill deficits when compared to individuals with no disorder, but they had fewer deficits than the GSP subtype. However, the identified skill deficits were clinically as well as statistically significant only for the GSP subtype. The results are discussed in terms of the contribution of skill deficits to the conceptualization and treatment of social phobia.     

Information processing bias against emotional facial expressions in social anxiety

The present study examined whether information processing bias against emotional facial expressions is present among individuals with social anxiety. College students with high (high social anxiety group; n  = 26) and low social anxiety (low social anxiety group; n  = 26) performed three different types of working memory tasks: (a) ordering positive and negative facial expressions according to the intensity of emotion; (b) ordering pictures of faces according to age; and (c) ordering geometric shapes according to size. The high social anxiety group performed significantly more poorly than the low social anxiety group on the facial expression task, but not on the other two tasks with the nonemotional stimuli. These results suggest that high social anxiety interferes with processing of emotionally charged facial expressions.     

Intergroup Contact Facilitates Physiological Recovery following Stressful Intergroup Interactions

A growing body of research has demonstrated the importance of intergroup contact in reducing fear, threat and anxiety in intergroup domains. Here we focus on the regulatory benefits of intergroup contact. We hypothesized that past intergroup contact would facilitate recovery from a stressful intergroup evaluation. White and Black participants completed a stressful evaluative task in the presence of two White or two Black interviewers while autonomic nervous system and hormonal responses were assessed. When examining how participants recovered after the stressful task, intergroup contact predicted faster physiological recovery for both autonomic and neuroendocrine reactivity. The importance of recovery from stress for physiological resilience in diverse contexts is discussed.     

新生儿重症监护室患儿家属焦虑和心理需求的调查研究

了解NICU家属的焦虑和心理需求,分析原因和对策。采用SAI和CCFNI量表来测定200名家属的焦虑及心理需求。结果家属SAI得分明显高于常模,且女性高于男性;家属的各项心理需求中最需求的是患儿的病情保证,而自身有关的需求相对不重要。结论认为NICU患儿家属有焦虑和心理需求,医护人员要有的放矢地满足这些需求,以减轻焦虑。     

The effectiveness of intergroup contact at work: Mediators and moderators of hospital workers' prejudice towards immigrants

The present research examines the effectiveness of intergroup contact between 167 Italian hospital workers and foreign patients in reducing prejudice towards immigrants in general. The outcomes of contact at work were analysed controlling for the influence of contact outside the workplace and through mass media, and taking into account the role of empathy, anxiety and group membership salience. Results indicate that the beneficial effects of contact at work were partially mediated by increased empathy and reduced anxiety, experienced both in the work environment and towards immigrants in general. Finally, high levels of group membership salience facilitated the influence of contact on intergroup emotions. These findings show that contact at work can be a powerful means to reduce prejudice, thanks to its capacity to evoke changes in affective responses. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Worry and Rumination in Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Ample work has already been conducted on worry and rumination as negative thought processes involved in the etiology of most of the anxiety and mood related disorders. However, minimal effort has been exerted to investigate whether one type of negative thought process can make way for another type of negative thought process, and if so, how it subsequently results in experiencing a host of symptoms reflective of one or the other type of psychological distress. Therefore, the present study was taken up to investigate whether rumination mediates the relationship between worry and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and between worry and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) in two clinical groups. Self-report questionnaires tapping worry, rumination, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) were administered to a clinical sample of 60 patients aged 30–40. Worry, rumination, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) correlated substantially with each other, however, rumination did not mediate the relationship between worry and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and between worry and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). We also analyzed differences of outcome variables within two clinical groups. These results showed that worry and rumination were significantly different between GAD and OCD groups.