Reduced willingness to approach genuine smilers in social anxiety explained by potential for social evaluation,not misperception of smile authenticity

ABSTRACT

We investigate perception of, and responses to, facial expression authenticity for the first time in social anxiety, testing genuine and polite smiles. Experiment 1 (N?=?141) found perception of smile authenticity was unaffected, but that approach ratings, which are known to be reduced in social anxiety for happy faces, are more strongly reduced for genuine than polite smiles. Moreover, we found an independent contribution of social anxiety to approach ratings, over and above general negative affect (state/trait anxiety, depression), only for genuine smiles, and not for polite ones. We argue this pattern of results can be explained by genuine smilers signalling greater potential for interaction – and thus greater potential for the scrutiny that is feared in social anxiety – than polite smiles. Experiment 2 established that, relative to polite smilers, genuine smilers are indeed perceived as friendlier and likely to want to talk for longer if approached. Critically, the degree to which individual face items were perceived as wanting to interact correlated strongly with the amount that social anxiety reduced willingness to approach in Experiment 1. We conclude it is the potential for social evaluation and scrutiny signalled by happy expressions, rather than their positive valence, that is important in social anxiety.     

When death thoughts lead to death fears: Mortality salience increases death anxiety for individuals who lack meaning in life

Research derived from terror management theory demonstrates that subtle reminders of mortality increase strivings for meaning. It is argued that such strivings reflect efforts to prevent the anxiety that death reminders may otherwise cause. However, no research has directly tested the assertions that subtle mortality primes increase death anxiety and perceptions of meaning in life moderate this effect. The current study examined these predictions. Meaning in life was measured, death cognition primed, and death anxiety assessed. A mortality prime increased death anxiety, but only for individuals who lack perceptions of meaning in life. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed.     

The effects of trait and state anxiety on attention to emotional images: An eye-tracking study

Attentional biases for threatening stimuli have been implicated in the development of anxiety disorders. However, little is known about the relative influences of trait and state anxiety on attentional biases. This study examined the effects of trait and state anxiety on attention to emotional images. Low, mid, and high trait anxious participants completed two trial blocks of an eye-tracking task. Participants viewed image pairs consisting of one emotional (threatening or positive) and one neutral image while their eye movements were recorded. Between trial blocks, participants underwent an anxiety induction. Primary analyses examined the effects of trait and state anxiety on the proportion of viewing time on emotional versus neutral images. State anxiety was associated with increased attention to threatening images for participants, regardless of trait anxiety. Furthermore, when in a state of anxiety, relative to a baseline condition, durations of initial gaze and average fixation were longer on threat versus neutral images. These findings were specific to the threatening images; no anxiety-related differences in attention were found with the positive images. The implications of these results for future research, models of anxiety-related information processing, and clinical interventions for anxiety are discussed.     

Confounding of Big Five Personality Assessments in Emotional Disorders by Comorbidity and Current Disorder

Foremost cross‐sectional studies of personality in common mental disorders show similar Big Five trait profiles [i.e. high neuroticism (N), low conscientiousness (C) and low extraversion (E)]. It remains undecided whether this lack of distinct personality profiles is partly due to comorbidity among disorders or contamination by current state. Using data from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety, we investigated 1046 participants with panic disorder (PD), social anxiety disorder (SAD) and/or major depressive disorder (MDD) and 474 healthy controls. Personality traits at baseline and two‐year follow‐up were assessed with the NEO‐Five Factor Inventory. The Composite International Diagnostic Interview was used to determine the presence of emotional disorders at baseline and at two‐year follow‐up; the Life Chart Interview determined symptom severity in the month prior to baseline and during follow‐up. By analysing pure cases and investigating the effects in remitted cases, PD participants were found to be higher in N, but not lower in E and C than controls. Pure PD participants were also lower in N and higher in E than SAD and MDD participants. Both SAD and MDD participants were characterized by high levels of N and low levels of E, irrespective of comorbidity or current disorder state. Future studies should be more attentive to confounding of personality profiles by comorbidity and state effects. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modeling Interactions Between Latent Variables in Research on Type D Personality: A Monte Carlo Simulation and Clinical Study of Depression and Anxiety

Several approaches exist to model interactions between latent variables. However, it is unclear how these perform when item scores are skewed and ordinal. Research on Type D personality serves as a good case study for that matter. In Study 1, we fitted a multivariate interaction model to predict depression and anxiety with Type D personality, operationalized as an interaction between its two subcomponents negative affectivity (NA) and social inhibition (SI). We constructed this interaction according to four approaches: (1) sum score product; (2) single product indicator; (3) matched product indicators; and (4) latent moderated structural equations (LMS). In Study 2, we compared these interaction models in a simulation study by assessing for each method the bias and precision of the estimated interaction effect under varying conditions. In Study 1, all methods showed a significant Type D effect on both depression and anxiety, although this effect diminished after including the NA and SI quadratic effects. Study 2 showed that the LMS approach performed best with respect to minimizing bias and maximizing power, even when item scores were ordinal and skewed. However, when latent traits were skewed LMS resulted in more false-positive conclusions, while the Matched PI approach adequately controlled the false-positive rate.     

Investigating a socially anxious‐impulsive subgroup of adolescents: A prospective community study

Previous research has identified a subgroup of socially anxious adults who are both anxious and impulsive. To date, however, this subgroup has not been identified in adolescence. Therefore, in this study we aimed to identify this subgroup in a sample of adolescents. In addition, we hypothesized that this subgroup would be higher on problem behaviors, and that these processes would be moderated by gender. We used longitudinal data from 714 adolescents who were in the 7th and 8th grades at Time 1. They were followed annually for three years. Cluster analyses identified an anxious‐inhibited subgroup as well as an anxious‐impulsive subgroup in early adolescence (Time 1). The socially anxious‐impulsive adolescent boys were generally higher on both intoxication frequency and delinquency compared with all other adolescents in all clusters at each time point. Findings suggest that social anxiety subgroups may differ on problem behavior, and that early detection of an anxious‐impulsive subgroup may be important to prevent maladjustment, especially for adolescent boys.     

不同特质焦虑水平的选择性注意偏向

高特质焦虑个体常表现出对威胁性刺激的选择性注意偏向的特点。然而其潜在的神经机制目前仍不清楚。通过记录高、低特质焦虑者各17名进行情绪加工时的ERP,比较了两组个体在选择性注意偏向发生的时间进程和相关的神经反应的差异。结果发现,高特质焦虑者诱发出更大的N1,进一步发现恐惧图片比中性图片诱发更大的N1;而低特质焦虑者诱发了更大的N2,特质焦虑得分越低, N2波幅越大。结果初步说明高特质焦虑者加工早期对恐惧图片分配了较多的注意资源,并且其抑制执行功能可能受损;而低特质焦虑者较晚开始区分恐惧图片和中性图片。这些结果提供了支持认知-动机模型的新证据。     

不同线索下特质焦虑个体的返回抑制

焦虑与注意偏向的研究是近年来情绪与认知领域的热点。为探讨特质焦虑个体的注意偏向特点及其返回抑制能力是否受不同线索的调节, 采用特质焦虑量表筛选高特质焦虑大学生29名, 低特质焦虑大学生28名完成线索-靶子任务。要求被试在提示线索消失后, 对位置进行快而准地辨别反应, 分别探索中性和情绪性提示线索下被试的返回抑制。结果发现：(1)在中性线索条件下, 高焦虑个体平均反应时慢于低焦虑个体。(2) 在情绪线索条件下, 高焦虑个体在负性线索下的反应时小于在正性线索下的反应时; 高、低焦虑个体在各种SOA条件下均出现了返回抑制, 但各组返回抑制量受到情绪线索的调节：在正性情绪线索条件下, 两组返回抑制量没有显著差异; 在负性情绪线索下, 高焦虑个体返回抑制量显著小于低焦虑个体。这表明, (1)焦虑个体的注意偏向受到刺激信息的影响：只对负性情绪线索出现注意警觉; (2)只有在涉及负性情绪信息时高、低焦虑个体返回抑制能力才有差异, 高焦虑个体存在对负性情绪线索的抑制困难。     

Psychological and behavioural effects of bone density screening for osteoporosis

Abstract

To examine the psychological effects of bone density measurement, 298 women were assessed two weeks before the bone density scan, immediately before the scan, after the results, a week later and three months later. For the group as a whole, ratings of anxiety and perceived vulnerability were lower at the three month follow-up than at the initial assessment. Women who received a low bone mineral density (BMD) result were more anxious and reported more osteoporosis-preventive behaviours at the three month follow-up than women who received a high BMD result; these differences had not been apparent at the initial assessment Women with low BMD results had higher ratings of perceived vulnerability after the scan, although for some of these ratings there were group differences before the scan. Women with a low BMD result showed a decrease in ratings of the seriousness of a below-average result, which may reflect minimization of the health threat     

Psychosocial consequences of recurrent vertigo

Abstract

Chronic vertigo is known to be associated with anxiety and depression in a significant proportion of patients, but there have been no systematic investigations into beliefs and behaviour related to recurrent vertigo. Twenty-three individuals with vertigo of various types were interviewed, generating over two thousand statements about vertigo and its psychosocial consequences. By means of progressive categorisation these were condensed into four tables of summary statements representing prevalent reactions to and effects of vertigo. Vertigo is viewed as intrinsically frightening and potentially stigmatising. In an attempt to avoid provoking attacks, particularly in public, subjects tended to impose restrictions on their activities and lifestyle which generated further feelings of helplessness and frustration. The statements obtained in this study provide an empirical basis for the development of a model that may be used to formulate predictions about the relationship between vertigo, handicap and distress, and the benefits of intervention.