The interaction model of anxiety: An empirical test in an examination situation.

Tested the interaction model of anxiety in an examination situation. 56 undergraduates completed the self-report Behavioral Reactions Questionnaire (BRQ), a measure of A-state, and measured their pulse rates prior to an important psychology exam. Under nonstressful conditions 2 wks later, Ss again completed the BRQ and measured their pulse rate. In addition they completed the S–R Inventory of General Trait Anxiousness (S–R GTA), a measure of A-trait. The differential hypothesis of the interaction model of anxiety predicted a significant interaction between interpersonal (ego-threatening) A-trait (high vs low) and the ego-threatening situation (exam), in affecting A-state arousal, but no significant interaction between the other facets of A-trait (physical danger, ambiguous, and innocuous) and the threatening exam situation. When pulse rate was used as the dependent variable, the congruent Interpersonal A-Trait?×?ego-stress exam situation interaction was significant. None of the remaining 6 noncongruent person-by-situation interactions was significant except for the Physical Danger A-Trait?×?Situation interaction for BRQ scores. The pulse rates results confirmed the differential predictions of the interaction model of anxiety. Ss responded differentially to the 4 situations of the GTA, and in general the results provide confirmation for the multidimensionality of A-trait. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal consequences of social anxiety.

The behavioral manifestations of social anxiety may have implications for social outcomes. Unfortunately, little is known about how anxiety shapes social interaction. The present study examined social interactions in dyads consisting of either 2 nonsocially anxious (NSA) individuals or 1 socially anxious (SA) and 1 NSA individual. Behavior, self-reported affect, and perceptions were examined. In comparison with the interactions of NSA pairs, high levels of fidgeting, poor reciprocity of smiling behavior, more self-talk, and more frequent reassurance seeking and giving characterized interactions between SA and NSA participants. Both SA participants and their NSA partners rated their interactions as being less smooth and coordinated than did participants in NSA-NSA dyads. In addition, SA participants' reassurance seeking and self-talk correlated negatively with partner positive affect and perceptions of interaction quality. The authors discuss self-focused attention and the interpersonal consequences of social anxiety. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's understanding of social anxiety.

202 2nd, 4th, and 7th graders evaluated story characters who were either highly or less motivated to impress an audience and had either high or low expectations of being able to accomplish their self-presentational goals. As predicted according to a self-presentation model of social anxiety, both factors were related to judgments of the character's social anxiety, especially for the older Ss. For all age groups, actors who expected to do poorly rather than well were regarded as more anxious, as more likely to exhibit nervous responses and to have communication difficulties, and as less likely to be successful in accomplishing their goal; they were also evaluated less favorably. The actor's motivation had different effects on younger and older Ss; 2nd graders attributed less anxiety to highly motivated actors, whereas older Ss attributed greater anxiety to them. For all age groups, high motivation was expected to have a channeling effect on behaviors that would increase interpersonal effectiveness. A finding that was consistent with the literature on social-cognitive development was that older Ss displayed greater differentiation in their cause–effect inferences and that they better appreciated the complex implications of social anxiety. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between maladaptive cognitions and social anxiety.

Used the cognitive theories of A. Beck (see PA, Vol 56:8303) and A. Ellis (see PA, Vol 37:1437) to identify cognitive phenomena thought to be related to social anxiety. Their constructs, risk appraisal and irrational beliefs, were operationalized for the present study. Both discriminated between a clinical sample of 46 anxious men and a group of 18 competent daters (18–26 yrs). Together they accounted for 35% of the variance in social anxiety for a mixed sample of high, moderate, and low confident men. Ss were administered the Irrational Beliefs Test, Survey of Heterosexual Interactions, and Situational Expectancies Inventory. Results are discussed in terms of their clinical significance and implications for cognitive assessment of social anxiety. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationships among imaginative, direct verbal, and physiological measures of anxiety in an achievement situation.

The relationships among 3 dispositional measures and 2 physiological indices of anxiety were investigated. The dispositional measures were low n Achievement, the Mandler-Sarason Test Anxiety Questionnaire, and the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale. Skin conductance and respiratory volume were the physiological indices. 25 male college students served as Ss. The correlation between n Achievement and Test Anxiety was -.43; between Test Anxiety and Manifest Anxiety, .53; and between Achievement and Manifest Anxiety, -.25. Need Achievement and Test Anxiety were both related to changes in skin conductance, but the Manifest Anxiety Scale did not relate to conductance change. 15 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attachment in individuals with social anxiety disorder: The relationship among adult attachment styles, social anxiety, and depression.

Despite their apparent implications for social functioning, adult attachment styles have never been specifically explored among persons with social anxiety disorder. In the current study, a cluster analysis of the Revised Adult Attachment Scale (N. L. Collins, 1996) revealed that 118 patients with social anxiety (58.6% males and 41.4% females, mean age 32.43 yrs) were best represented by anxious and secure attachment style clusters. Members of the anxious attachment cluster exhibited more severe social anxiety and avoidance, greater depression, greater impairment, and lower life satisfaction than members of the secure attachment cluster. This pattern was replicated in a separate sample of 56 patients and compared with the pattern found in 36 control participants. Social anxiety mediated the association between attachment insecurity and depression. Findings are discussed in the context of their relevance to the etiology, maintenance, and cognitive-behavioral treatment of social anxiety disorder. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between social connectedness and anxiety, self-esteem, and social identity.

Social connectedness and its relationship with anxiety, self-esteem, and social identity was explored in the lives of women. Social connectedness was negatively related to trait anxiety and made a larger unique contribution to trait anxiety than social support or collective self-esteem. Women with high connectedness also reported greater social identification in high, as compared with low, cohesion conditions. Women with low connectedness exhibited no difference in either condition. Social connectedness was also positively related to state self-esteem across both conditions but did not have an effect on state anxiety. Future research in gender and cultural differences, self-evaluation process, and intervention strategies are discussed in light of the findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of reinforcement and punishment in a minimal social situation.

"Two Ss, isolated from each other, were provided with two push buttons by means of which each could give the other a shock or score. The Ss were divided into a Weak Shock and a Strong Shock group. All Ss were merely told that they could press the two buttons in any manner that they pleased (no information was given concerning the purpose of the buttons). Each S was told to make as many points as possible. His score was indicated on a counter in front of S. It was found that the proportion of the total number of responses (both score and shock) that were correct (score responses) was significantly higher for the Strong Shock group. Learning occurred in the Strong Shock group within the first 5 minutes of the 25 minute experimental session. Learning was not, however, evident in the Weak Shock group." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

State anxiety as a function of trait anxiety and sex in a quasi-clinical situation.

Undergraduates who scored high, medium, or low on a scale of trait (predispositional) anxiety (n = 7 males and 7 females in each group) differed reliably in level of state (situational) anxiety when tested before and after 2 standardized interviews. This relationship held for both male and female Ss, although males manifested consistently higher levels of state anxiety than females. Moreover, first an increase and then a general decline in degree of state anxiety were noted over occasions of testing. Despite these temporary fluctuations in situational anxiety, however, the basic form of the state-trait relationship remained largely unchanged. Findings are interpreted as substantive confirmation of state-trait anxiety theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modeling influences in social drinking: An experimental analogue.

48 male college students classified as heavy social drinkers were assigned to 1 of 6 groups in a 3 * 2 factorial design. The 1st factor consisted of 3 modeling conditions: exposure to a model who was a heavy consumer of alcohol; a light drinking model; and a no-model control condition. For the 2nd factor, Ss engaged in a brief prior social interaction with the model who played a role that was either warm or cold in emotional quality. Modeling effects were then assessed in a laboratory wine-tasting task in which the S and the model participated together. Ss exposed to the heavy drinking model drank significantly more alcohol than Ss in the low-consumption model and no-model conditions, which did not differ from each other. The prior interaction conditions did not affect drinking behavior. Results are discussed within a theoretical framework that emphasizes the social learning determinants of drinking behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessment and treatment of social anxiety disorder.

Despite being associated with a high degree of distress, disability, and functional limitation, social anxiety disorder (SAD) often goes undetected and untreated. The disorder is receiving increased attention amid the development of various models of psychosocial treatments and through direct-to-consumer advertising campaigns launched by the pharmaceutical industry. While pharmacotherapy and psychosocial interventions appear to be efficacious as monotherapy, the best strategy over the long-term may be a combination approach. Rating instruments specific to SAD are available and are useful in allowing clinicians and patients to more objectively determine the outcome of treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Test anxiety and blame assignment in a failure situation.

It was found that high anxiety Ss tended to blame the self for failure to a significantly greater extent than did the low anxiety Ss. Also, high anxiety Ss proved more consistent in the direction of blame assignment than did the low anxiety Ss. A discussion of the order of presentation of test materials reveals a possible source of significant difference between groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The social self in bulimia nervosa: Public self-consciousness, social anxiety, and perceived fraudulence.

Bulimic women appear preoccupied not only with their physical presentation but also with their "social self," how others perceive them in general. This study examined the relationship of the social self to body esteem and to bulimia nervosa. In Phase 1, in which 222 nonclinical women (aged 16–50 yrs) participated, the social-self measures of Perceived Fraudulence, Social Anxiety, and Public Self-Consciousness were negatively associated with body esteem. In Phase 2, 34 bulimic women were compared with 33 Ss scoring high on the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT) and 67 matched controls. Bulimic Ss, high-EAT Ss, and control Ss all differed on Perceived Fraudulence, and bulimic Ss and high-EAT Ss scored higher than control Ss on Public Self-Consciousness and Social Anxiety. The findings strongly support the hypothesized link of social self concerns to body dissatisfaction and bulimia nervosa. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attention training for generalized social anxiety disorder.

Attentional bias toward negative social cues is thought to serve an etiological and/or maintaining role in social anxiety disorder (SAD). The current study tested whether training patients to disengage from negative social cues may ameliorate social anxiety in patients (N = 36) with a primary diagnosis of generalized SAD. Patients were randomly assigned to either an attention training condition (n = 18), in which patients completed a modified dot-probe task designed to facilitate attentional disengagement from disgusted faces, or a control dot-probe task condition (n = 18). As predicted, patients in the attention training condition exhibited significantly greater reductions in social anxiety and trait anxiety, compared with patients in the control condition. At termination, 72% of patients in the active treatment condition, relative to 11% of patients in the control condition, no longer met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) criteria for SAD. At 4-month follow-up, patients in the attention training condition continued to maintain their clinical improvement, and diagnostic differences across conditions were also maintained. Results support attention-based models of anxiety and suggest that attention training is a promising alternative or complementary intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Elevated social anxiety among early maturing girls.

Adolescence is a key period in terms of the development of anxiety psychopathology. An emerging literature suggests that early pubertal maturation is associated with enhanced vulnerability for anxiety symptomatology, although few studies have examined this association with regard to social anxiety. Accordingly, the current study was designed to further elucidate the relation between pubertal timing and social anxiety, with a focus on clarifying the role of gender. Participants were 138 adolescents (ages 12–17 years) recruited from the general community. Level of social anxiety was examined as a function of gender and within-sample pubertal timing. As expected, early maturing girls evidenced significantly higher social anxiety, compared with on-time girls and early maturing boys, and no other differences were found as a function of gender or developmental timing. Findings and future directions are discussed in terms of forwarding developmentally sensitive models of social anxiety etiology and prevention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peer social status of children with anxiety disorders.

The peer social status of 6–13-year-old children with anxiety disorders was investigated. Sixteen children who met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) criteria for anxiety disorders were compared with 26 children with conduct disorders and 45 nonreferred children. Anxiety-disorder children were liked significantly less than normal children, but anxious and conduct-disorder children did not differ from one another. The conduct-disorder group received more "like-least"" and "fight-most"" nominations than the anxious and nonreferred groups, which did not differ. Furthermore, the anxious group received the lowest social-impact scores (total like-most and like-least nominations) of any group and were most likely to fall in the socially neglected category of peer status. The lack of popularity of children with anxiety disorders may be limited to those with concurrent depression. Overall, these findings indicate that childhood anxiety disorders, at least when they coexist with depression, are associated with diminished peer popularity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exposure and anxiety management in the treatment of social phobia.

Divided 45 18–65 yr old social phobia outpatients into 3 groups of 15 Ss each: Group 1 received exposure with anxiety management. Group 2 received exposure with a nonspecific "filler" treatment instead of anxiety management. Group 3 served as a waiting-list control. Results show that Groups 1 and 2 improved more than Group 3 and the improvement was maintained for 6 mo. At the end of treatment, Group 1 had lower scores than Group 2 on 2 cognitive measures of social anxiety. Six months later, Group 1 had lower scores on 4 additional measures. No S in Group 1 requested additional treatment within a year, while 40% of Group 2 did so. It is suggested that anxiety management increases the effect of exposure treatment because it helps Ss adapt to unpredictable situations, relaxation and distraction are useful techniques, and emphasis on self-help and rationale are important. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The measurement of social support and its relation to stress.

Examined the empirical relationship between 3 measures of social support (amount of contact, problem-centered feedback, and relationship importance) and several stress indices among 99 mothers who completed questionnaires approximately 8 wks after their newborns had been home from the hospital. Correlational analysis showed a consistent pattern of weak to moderate direct associations between measures, suggesting that unique types of support are extended by different network members. Discussion of the meaning of the pattern of positive correlations between the 2 sets of variables centers on the distinction between the role of social support in the coping process and its bearing on stress and on health outcomes. (French summary) (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The changing world of mental measurement and its social significance.

Discusses the impact of educational reform and other pressures within american society on the use of objective tests of mental ability. Some alternatives to the dilemmas growing out of criticism of mental tests are detailed. These include curriculum changes, automated individualized instruction, and computer-assisted branched testing. Another departure from standardized normative testing involves the development of a system of social indicators to measure changes in many aspects of society. A final area of change involves the increased respect for social, cultural, and linguistic variability among different kinds of people, E.g., blacks, chicanos, and american indians. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perfectionism, negative social feedback, and interpersonal rumination in depression and social anxiety.

The current study investigated the associations among trait perfectionism, perfectionistic self-presentation, negative social feedback, interpersonal rumination, depressive symptoms, and social anxiety. New measures of negative social feedback and interpersonal rumination were used to evaluate their relevance to the social aspects of perfectionism and their roles in distress. A sample of 155 undergraduate students completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, the Perfectionistic Self-Presentation Scale, the Social Feedback Questionnaire, Rumination About an Interpersonal Offense, and measures of depressive symptoms and social anxiety. The results confirmed that socially prescribed perfectionism and perfectionistic self-presentation were associated significantly with negative social feedback and rumination following interpersonal events (i.e., being hurt, humiliated, mistreated). Also, depressive symptoms and social anxiety were associated significantly with negative social feedback, interpersonal rumination, trait perfectionism, and perfectionistic self-presentation. Additional analyses indicated that negative social feedback and interpersonal rumination mediated the links between components of the perfectionism construct and distress. Overall, our findings suggest that self-reported receipt of frequent negative feedback from others and engaging in rumination about an interpersonal event play important roles in the distress experienced by certain individuals with high levels of perfectionism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)