Search

People with social anxiety disorder (SAD) display maladaptive attitudes towards emotions. In this experience-sampling study, we explored the extent to which people with SAD viewed anxiety and pain as an impediment to pursuing personal strivings and deriving meaning in life. Participants were adults diagnosed with SAD and a control comparison group who completed baseline questionnaires and daily surveys for 14 consecutive days. People with SAD perceived anxiety and pain as interfering with progress towards their strivings to a greater degree than healthy controls. Perception of emotion-related goal interference was inversely associated with daily meaning. This relationship was moderated by diagnostic group such that there was a strong, inverse association with daily meaning in life for people with SAD; for controls, no association was found. Results suggest that negative beliefs about the value of anxiety and pain are pronounced in people with SAD and may impede derivation of meaning in life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals with Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) have difficulty engaging in social situations because their actions are predicated on minimizing the subjectively biased high potential for rejection. That is, individuals with SAD frequently perceive social situations as challenging, and their performance as subpar. Yet when individuals perceive themselves as succeeding in challenging situations, they typically report these situations as enjoyable and rewarding. This subjective experience of succeeding in a challenging situation has been studied as flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975; 2000). Thirty-three adults with SAD and 34 matched healthy controls completed a baseline assessment, along with daily and experience sampling entries for 14 days. Results were analyzed using three-level generalized linear mixed effects models, with observations nested within days, nested within participants. Although individuals with and without SAD experienced the same frequency of flow in daily life, social situations led to proportionally more flow in participants with SAD than healthy controls. Both results were unexpected, and reasons for them are explored at length. Several experiential variables (positive emotions during and importance ascribed to the event) predicted the probability of flow during each situation. These results offer intervention-relevant suggestions for how individuals may benefit from seeking out challenging situations that offer maximal rewards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical touch is central to the emotional intimacy that separates romantic relationships from other social contexts. In this study of 256 adults (128 heterosexual couples, mean relationship length = 20.5 months), we examined whether individual differences in social anxiety influenced comfort with and avoidance of physical touch. Because of prior work on sex difference in touch use, touch comfort, and social anxiety symptoms and impairment, we explored sex-specific findings. We found evidence that women with greater social anxiety were less comfortable with touch and more avoidant of touch in same-sex friendships. Additionally, a woman’s social anxiety had a bigger effect on a man’s comfort with touch and avoidance of touch in the romantic relationship than a man’s social anxiety had on the woman’s endorsement of touch-related problems. These effects were uninfluenced by the length of romantic relationships. Touch is a neglected emotional experience that offers new insights into the difficulties of individuals suffering from social anxiety problems, and their romantic partners. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Social anxiety tends to be examined from an intrapersonal perspective. Only recently have researchers started to explore social anxiety in the context of close relationships. In the current study, we investigated whether people with greater social anxiety respond defensively when the threat of being rejected by one׳s romantic partner becomes salient. Confronted with possible rejection, we hypothesized that people with greater social anxiety would devalue their partners to minimize the impact of the rejection. Fifty one couples participated in a laboratory interaction with one member assigned to a rejection condition—led to believe that their partner was listing excessive negative characteristics about them; the other member was assigned to a neutral condition in which they received an innocuous filler task. Results revealed a positive association between social anxiety and rejection concerns that could not be attributed to depressive symptoms, rejection sensitivity, attachment styles, or trust. People with greater social anxiety coped with these concerns by devaluing romantic partners following the rejection condition; in the neutral condition, they adopted an overly positive/enhanced perception of partners. Our findings illustrate the defensive, risk management strategies used by people with greater social anxiety in aversive relational contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dominant theoretical models of social anxiety disorder (SAD) suggest that people who suffer from function-impairing social fears are likely to react more strongly to social stressors. Researchers have examined the reactivity of people with SAD to stressful laboratory tasks, but there is little knowledge about how stress affects their daily lives. We asked 79 adults from the community, 40 diagnosed with SAD and 39 matched healthy controls, to self-monitor their social interactions, social events, and emotional experiences over 2 weeks using electronic diaries. These data allowed us to examine associations of social events and emotional well-being both within-day and from one-day to the next. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we found all participants to report increases in negative affect and decreases in positive affect and self-esteem on days when they experienced more stressful social events. However, people with SAD displayed greater stress sensitivity, particularly in negative emotion reactions to stressful social events, compared to healthy controls. Groups also differed in how previous days' events influenced sensitivity to current days' events. Moreover, we found evidence of stress generation in that the SAD group reported more frequent interpersonal stress, though temporal analyses did not suggest greater likelihood of social stress on days following intense negative emotions. Our findings support the role of heightened social stress sensitivity in SAD, highlighting rigidity in reactions and occurrence of stressful experiences from one day to the next. These findings also shed light on theoretical models of emotions and self-esteem in SAD and present important clinical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Extending prior work on social anxiety and positivity deficits, we examined whether individual differences in social anxiety alter the ability to share and respond to the good news of romantic partners (i.e., capitalization support) and how this influences romantic relationship satisfaction and commitment. In this study of 174 heterosexual couples (average age of 21.5 with 58.3% identifying as Caucasian), greater social anxiety was associated with the provision and receipt of less supportive responses to shared positive events as measured by trait questionnaires, partner reports, and behavioral observations in the laboratory. In longitudinal analyses, individuals in romantic relationships with socially anxious partners who experienced inadequate capitalization support were more likely to terminate their relationship and report a decline in relationship quality six months later. As evidence of construct specificity, social anxiety effects were independent of depressive symptoms. Taken together, social anxiety influenced a person's ability to receive and provide support for shared positive events; these deficits had adverse romantic consequences. Researchers and clinicians may better understand social anxiety by exploring a wider range of interpersonal contexts and positive constructs. The addition of capitalization support to the social anxiety literature offers new insights into interpersonal approaches and treatments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Despite the increased attention that researchers have paid to social anxiety disorder (SAD), compared with other anxiety and mood disorders, relatively little is known about the emotional and social factors that distinguish individuals who meet diagnostic criteria from those who do not. In this study, participants with and without a diagnosis of SAD (generalized subtype) described their daily face-to-face social interactions for 2 weeks using handheld computers. We hypothesized that, compared with healthy controls, individuals diagnosed with SAD would experience fewer positive emotions, rely more on experiential avoidance (of anxiety), and have greater self-control depletion (feeling mentally and physically exhausted after socializing), after accounting for social anxiety, negative emotions, and feelings of belonging during social interactions. We found that compared with healthy controls, indi-viduals with SAD experienced weaker positive emotions and greater experiential avoidance, but there were no differences in self-control depletion between groups. Moreover, the differences we found could not be attributed to comorbid anxiety or depressive disorders. Our results suggest that negative emotions alone do not fully distinguish normal from pathological social anxiety, and that assessing social anxiety disorder should include impairments in positive emotional experiences and dysfunctional emotion regulation (in the form of experiential avoidance) in social situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The current study examined whether depressed outpatients with comorbid SAD respond differently to a cognitive-behavioral group intervention and if so, how and why. Using growth curve modeling, we found evidence that depressed clients with comorbid SAD had rapid improvement in depressive symptoms over the course of treatment and generally did not differ from those without comorbidity in developing close therapeutic relationships and modifying the direction of attentional focus away from the self. Non-linear effects demonstrated that rates of change in depressive symptoms, relationship variables, and focus of attention, were most rapid early in treatment. In contrast to hypotheses, trajectories of change in therapeutic relationships and attentional focus did not mediate the effect of SAD on treatment improvement in depressive symptoms. These findings suggest that comorbid SAD does not have a detrimental effect on the course of depression treatment and group-based treatments can be as beneficial for depressed individuals with comorbid SAD. It may be that group-based treatments for depression provide explicit opportunity for emotional processing in social situations (i.e., exposure) and hence mimic efficacious therapies for SAD. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Individuals experiencing high levels of social anxiety report frequent and intense anger. Yet, little is known about how they manage this emotion. Despite general tendencies towards anger suppression, subsets of individuals with social anxiety regulate anger through outward expression. In this study, we investigated rejection as an antecedent to anger, examined how and when individuals with high social anxiety suppress anger, and evaluated experiential avoidance (EA) as a moderator of the relationship between social anxiety and anger suppression. 170 undergraduate students described their responses to everyday social situations that were designed to elicit anger; several situations reflected instances of social rejection. Our results suggest that rejection was a potent source of anger for most people and that social anxiety predicted both anger and EA in response to imagined rejection. In addition, as evidence of a moderation model, individuals with low social anxiety and low EA reported the least anger suppression; no significant differences were found for individuals with high social anxiety. We discuss the implications for understanding the interface of social anxiety and anger. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Although neglected in diagnostic criteria lists, theoretical models, and treatment approaches, attenuated positive emotions and cognitions distinguish social anxiety and social anxiety disorder from other anxiety conditions (and cannot be accounted for by comorbidity with depression). We present a self-control resource depletion model to explain how the intense self-regulatory efforts of high socially anxious individuals dampen positive experiences and events. We review existing research on individuals with social anxiety difficulties, focusing on impoverished positive experiences and quality of life, atypical reactions to overtly positive social outcomes, the absence of a normative bias toward the positive in social situations, and a meaningful subset of individuals who show signs of impulsive, short-lived positive events. We also discuss findings from the social psychology literature for how to enhance positive experiences, positive events, and self-regulatory capacity in individuals with social anxiety difficulties. The aim of the review is to broaden theory, research, and treatment efforts to the positive spectrum of human functioning. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: To expose biases in self-perceptions of people high in social anxiety, information is needed on actual and perceived informant reports following social situations. We measured trait social anxiety (SA) in 90 college students arranged in pairs for “getting acquainted” conversations. Half participated in a small-talk task, where they took turns answering superficial questions; half participated in a closeness-generating task, where questions required gradual increases in self-disclosure. Afterward, students rated themselves and their partner on positive and negative attributes and how they think their partner viewed them. People with high SA judged themselves more negatively and less positively than their partner did (accuracy); when interacting with a partner endorsing low SA, they possessed enhanced negativity biases about how they expected to be viewed (meta-accuracy), and believed their partner''s judgments were less positive than their own low self-judgments (perceived dissent). Conversely, people with low SA showed evidence of a self-enhancement bias about the impression they made on low SA strangers. Other moderators of the social cognitions of people with high SA included gender and the social situation (distortions being amplified in men and small-talk conversations). Our findings suggest that the study of SA cannot be understood using decontextualized approaches, instead requiring consideration of the synergy among the person, partner, and situation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Diminished positive experiences and events might be part of the phenomenology of social anxiety; however, much of this research is cross-sectional by design, limiting our understanding of the everyday lives of socially anxious people. Sexuality is a primary source of positive experiences. We theorized that people with elevated social anxiety would have relatively less satisfying sexual experiences compared to those who were not anxious. For 21 days, 150 college students described their daily sexual episodes. Social anxiety was negatively related to the pleasure and feelings of connectedness experienced when sexually intimate. The relationship between social anxiety and the amount of sexual contact differed between men and women—it was negative for women and negligible for men. Being in a close, intimate relationship enhanced the feelings of connectedness during sexual episodes for only individuals low in social anxiety. Depressive symptoms were negatively related to the amount of sexual contact, and the pleasure and feelings of connectedness experienced when sexually intimate. Controlling for depressive symptoms did not meaningfully change the social anxiety effects on daily sexuality. Our findings suggest that fulfilling sexual activity is often compromised by social anxiety. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Experiential avoidance, or attempts to alter or avoid undesirable thoughts and feelings, has been theorized to be relevant to the development of emotional disturbances, particularly anxiety problems. Prior work has relied on two methodologies: global self-report measures or laboratory manipulations. To better understand links between experiential avoidance and emotional disturbances, we measured experiential avoidance in the context of prominent anxious autobiographical events. Trained raters coded events for emotionality and reliance on experiential avoidance. Our interest was whether experiential avoidance could be measured as a memory characteristic and how it relates to social anxiety, depressive, and anger symptoms. As evidence of construct validity, experiential avoidance ratings were related to more intense negative emotions and coping difficulties during anxious events, memory vividness, and emotion suppression tendencies. Experiential avoidance was positively related to social anxiety and depressive symptoms and predicted an increase in social anxiety over a 3-month period; findings could not be attributed to the emotionality of memories. In contrast, no relations were found with inward or outward expressions of anger, or longitudinal change in depressive or anger symptoms. Results suggest that experiential avoidance is an important dimension of people''s life narratives and particularly relevant to social anxiety problems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The majority of definitions, research studies, and treatment programs that focus on social anxiety characterize the prototypical person with the disorder as shy, submissive, inhibited, and risk averse. This stereotype, however, has been challenged recently. Specifically, a subset of people with social anxiety who are aggressive, impulsive novelty seekers deviate from that prototype. People with this atypical profile show greater functional impairment and are less likely to complete or fare well in treatment compared with inhibited socially anxious people. The difference between these two groups of people with social anxiety cannot be explained by the severity, type, or number of social fears, nor by co-occurring anxiety and mood disorders. Conclusions about the nature, course, and treatment of social anxiety may be compromised by not attending to diverse behaviors and self-regulatory styles. These concerns may be compounded in neurobiological and clinical studies of people with social anxiety problems that rely on smaller samples to make claims about brain patterns and the efficacy of particular treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Little is known about people with social anxiety disorder (SAD) who are not behaviorally inhibited. To advance knowledge on phenomenology, functional impairment, and treatment seeking, we investigated whether engaging in risk-prone behaviors accounts for heterogeneous outcomes in people with SAD. Using the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication (NCS-R) dataset, our analyses focused on people with current (N = 679) or lifetime (N = 1143) SAD diagnoses. Using latent class analysis on NCS-R risk-prone behavior items, results supported two SAD classes: (1) a pattern of behavioral inhibition and risk aversion and (2) an atypical pattern of high anger and aggression, and moderate/high sexual impulsivity and substance use problems. An atypical pattern of risk-prone behaviors was associated with greater functional impairment, less education and income, younger age, and particular psychiatric comorbidities. Results could not be subsumed by the severity, type, or number of social fears, or comorbid anxiety or mood disorders. Conclusions about the nature, course, and treatment of SAD may be compromised by not attending to heterogeneity in behavior patterns. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We examined how social anxiety is related to appraisals for various disinhibited behaviors and sought to identify potential subgroups of socially anxious people. College students completed trait measures and appraised disinhibited behaviors on their potential for threat, opportunity to satisfy curiosity, and ability to enhance social status. Three months later, participants were asked to report on their frequency of disinhibited behaviors since the initial assessment. People with greater social anxiety demonstrated frequent approach–avoidance conflicts – co-existing recognition of threats and rewards – about social interactions and disinhibited behaviors. Even when asked about the activity most likely to be avoided, participants with greater social anxiety evaluated these as having potential to satisfy curiosity and advance their social status. Three qualitatively different groups of people were identified based on social anxiety tendencies and approach–avoidance appraisal patterns. Groups differed on the degree of approach–avoidance conflicts, measures of psychological and social well-being, and frequency of social interactions and disinhibited behaviors. Moderately socially anxious people who were approach oriented reported the most difficulties. Results suggest that social anxiety is associated with tension between competing desires to avoid anxiety and explore. However, there appears to be important variability in the regulatory orientation, behavior, and well-being of socially anxious people. Conclusions about the nature of social anxiety may be compromised by not attending to existing differences in self-regulatory orientation and strategies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study examined potential subgroups of patients with generalized social anxiety disorder (SAD) based on novelty-seeking tendencies. Eighty-two outpatients with DSM-IV generalized SAD were recruited from an outpatient anxiety clinic and assessed with the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire. The novelty-seeking subscales, reflecting risk-prone and disinhibited behavior tendencies, served as dependent measures in a series of cluster analysis procedures. Two qualitatively different SAD subgroups were identified: (1) low novelty-seeking tendencies and (2) high-novelty–seeking tendencies. These groups did not differ in social anxiety symptom severity. Women were less likely to be classified in the high-novelty–seeking group. Clinician severity ratings for comorbid substance use disorders were greater in the high-novelty–seeking group. These findings contribute to growing evidence for the heterogeneity of SAD. High-novelty–seeking, risk-prone, and disinhibited behavior tendencies are a characteristic feature of a distinct subgroup. Depression and Anxiety 0:1–7, 2007. Published 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present study was to examine social anxiety as a predictor of positive emotions using a short-term prospective design. We examined whether the effects of social anxiety on positive emotions are moderated by tendencies to openly express or supress emotions. Over the course of a 3-month interval, people with excessive social anxiety endorsed stable, low levels of positive emotions. In addition, people with low social anxiety who frequently display their emotions openly, whether negative or positive, reported the greatest increases in positive emotions. Similar results were found when using a measure of emotion suppression (low social anxiety and less tendency to rely on these types of regulatory acts led to the greatest positive emotions). These social anxiety main and interactive effects could not be attributed to depressive symptoms. Our findings suggest that relations between social anxiety and positive emotional experiences over time are best understood in the context of meaningful individual differences such as affect regulatory strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In general, expressing emotions is beneficial and withholding emotions has personal and social costs. Yet, to serve social functions there are situations when emotions are withheld strategically. We examined whether social anxiety influenced when and how emotion expressiveness influences interpersonal closeness in existing romantic relationships. For people with greater social anxiety, withholding the expression of negative emotions was proposed to preserve romantic relationships and their benefits. We examined whether social anxiety and emotion expressiveness interacted to predict prospective changes in romantic relationship closeness over a 12-week period. For people with less social anxiety, relationship closeness was enhanced over time when negative emotions were openly expressed whereas relationship deterioration was found for those more likely to withhold emotions. The reverse pattern was found for people with greater social anxiety such that relationship closeness was enhanced over time for those more likely to withhold negative emotions. Related social anxiety findings were found for discrepancies between desired and actual feelings of closeness over time. Findings were not attributable to depressive symptoms. These results suggest that the costs and benefits of emotion expression are influenced by a person''s degree of social anxiety. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Using a self-presentation perspective, we hypothesized that during social interactions in which social attractiveness could be easily appraised by others, more socially anxious individuals would be more prone to ruminate and rumination would have more adverse emotional consequences. After assessing social anxiety and depressive symptoms, unacquainted college students participated in 45-min structured social interactions manipulated to induce personal self-disclosure or mimic superficial, small-talk. Affective experiences were assessed immediately after and 24h after social interactions. Results found that social anxiety was associated with negative post-event rumination more strongly among those with elevated depressive symptoms. Further, at higher levels of social anxiety, post-event rumination was associated with increases in NA following personal disclosure interactions and decreases in NA following small-talk interactions. Individuals with more depressive symptoms experienced increases in NA following small-talk interactions, but not personal disclosure interactions. Contrary to expectation, positive relations between social anxiety and rumination were not mediated by self-presentation concerns during interactions. Fitting with relevant theory, findings implicated symptom and social contextual variables that moderate the affective consequences of rumination. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Until recently, there has been limited recognition that diminished positive psychological experiences are important to understanding the nature of social anxiety. Meta-analytic techniques were used to evaluate the strength, consistency, and construct specificity of relations between the social anxiety spectrum with positive affect and curiosity. The social anxiety spectrum had significant inverse relations with positive affect (r =−.36; 95% CI: −.31 to −.40) and curiosity (r =−.24; 95% CI: −.20 to -.28). Relations between social anxiety and positive affect were stronger in studies sampling from clinical populations. Specificity findings (e.g., statistically controlling for depressive symptoms and disorders) further confirmed negative associations with positive affect (r =−.21; 95% CI: −.16 to −.26) and curiosity (r =−.21; 95% CI: −.08 to −.32). The literature on social rank, self-presentation concerns, self-regulatory resources, and experiential avoidance is reviewed and integrated to elaborate a framework of how, why, and when social anxiety may be inversely related to positive experiences. The specificity of theory and data to social interaction anxiety is supported by an examination of existing work on social performance/observation fears and other anxiety conditions. Overall, these findings highlight the importance of diminished positive psychological experiences in understanding excessive social anxiety. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We examined the roles of trait curiosity and social anxiety (and the contributions of the behavioral inhibition and activation systems; BIS, BAS) in predicting positive and negative affect (PA; NA) during social interactions. In Study 1, individuals interacted with same-sex confederates on topics that gradually escalated in emotional self-disclosure. In Study 2, cross-sex pairs of students were randomly assigned to a closeness-generating or small-talk interaction. There were several consistent findings across studies. Higher curiosity uniquely predicted greater interpersonally generated PA. Higher social anxiety uniquely predicted greater interpersonally generated NA in Study 1, and in Study 2, this relationship varied by social context. Specifically, high compared to low socially anxious individuals reported greater NA during small-talk, with no differences during intimate interactions. Furthermore, Study 2 demonstrated that individuals with stronger BAS’s experienced greater PA in the intimate compared to small-talk condition. There appear to be important traits that differentially contribute to appetitive and aversive interpersonal experiences. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: There are few studies examining the relationship between psychopathology and positive experiences and traits. Although initial studies suggest persons with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are at increased risk for excessive social anxiety, there have been no studies to date evaluating how these conditions might interact to affect positive experiences and traits. Using self-report scales, informant ratings, and experience-sampling methodologies, we examined the association of social anxiety with well-being and character strengths in veterans with and without PTSD. Controlling for PTSD and trait negative affect, social anxiety was negatively related to global ratings of well-being and character strengths. Social anxiety also accounted for incremental variance in day-to-day well-being (i.e., daily affect balance, percentage of pleasant days, positive social activity, self-esteem, gratitude) over a 14-day assessment period. Although veterans with PTSD reported lower levels of global and daily well-being and character strengths than veterans without PTSD, a diagnosis of PTSD failed to exhibit unique relationships with these constructs. Building on a growing body of work, these data suggest that social anxiety is uniquely associated with disturbances in positive experiences, events, and traits. Our findings support the value of directly addressing social anxiety in the study and treatment of PTSD. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Depressive symptoms are associated with both the presence of negative subjective experiences and relative absence of positive subjective experiences. A similar affective profile of high negative affect and low positive affect (PA) has been associated with excessive social anxiety (SA). This initial cross-sectional study evaluated the incremental effects of social interaction anxiety on hedonic deficits beyond the effects of depressive and anxiety (i.e., physiological arousal, worry) symptoms. From a sample of 97 college students, a factor analysis on self-report measures of hedonic functioning derived two domains: Positive Subjective Experiences and Curiosity. Social interaction anxiety was uniquely, negatively related to Positive Subjective Experiences and Curiosity after removing variance attributable to various depressive and anxiety symptoms. In contrast, anxious arousal and nonspecific anxiety had near-zero relationships with both domains, and depressive symptoms were negatively related to Positive Subjective Experiences. These data provide some evidence for an association between social interaction anxiety and hedonic deficits that is not attributable to covariance with other internalizing conditions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Most research on the link between social anxiety and alcohol consumption has examined problematic outcomes without consideration of potential adaptive functions. Alcohol is an anxiolytic that has the short-term benefit of reducing anxiety; consumption may act as a social lubricant that facilitates higher quality social interactions. Using experience-sampling methodology, we examined how consuming alcohol attenuates the adverse effects of social anxiety in naturally occurring social interactions. Participants (N = 160) completed demographic and trait measures, then completed daily assessments for 14 consecutive days. Results from multilevel model analyses revealed that during face-to-face social interactions, state social anxiety was inversely related to 10 indicators of healthy social interactions (e.g., enjoyment, laughter, feelings of acceptance). Alcohol consumption moderated seven of these associations, such that when participants consumed alcohol in social situations, state social anxiety was no longer associated with social interaction quality. The quantity of alcoholic drinks consumed moderated two of these associations. Furthermore, we found evidence for directionality, such that social anxiety in a given social interaction predicted alcohol consumption in a subsequent social interaction, but not the reverse (i.e., alcohol consumption did not prospectively predict state social anxiety). In social situations that involved alcohol, experiences of social anxiety no longer thwarted one's ability to derive social benefits. These results should be interpreted in the context of a participant sample with relatively low levels of trait social anxiety and frequency of alcohol use. Nonetheless, obtaining social rewards may be a reinforcement mechanism that maintains the link between social anxiety and alcohol consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stress generation theory suggests that people engage in certain behaviors that causally generate "dependent" stressful life events. Stress generation has primarily been studied in the context of depression with limited consideration of anxiety. People with social anxiety exhibit maladaptive social and regulatory behaviors that may uniquely generate stress. Across two studies, we examined if people with elevated social anxiety experienced more dependent stressful life events than those lower in social anxiety. On an exploratory basis, we examined differences in perceived intensity, chronicity, and self-blame of stressful life events. As a conservative test, we examined whether observed relationships held after covarying depression symptoms. Community adults (N s = 303; 87) completed semi-structured interviews about recent stressful life events. Participants with higher social anxiety symptoms (Study 1) and social anxiety disorder (SAD; Study 2) reported more dependent stressful life events than those with lower social anxiety. In Study 2, healthy controls rated dependent events as less impactful than independent events; those with SAD rated dependent and independent events as equally impactful. Regardless of social anxiety symptoms, participants placed greater blame on themselves for the occurrence of dependent than independent events. Life events interviews are retrospective and preclude conclusions about short-term changes. Mechanisms of stress generation were not assessed. Results provide initial evidence for the role of stress generation in social anxiety that may be distinct from depression. Implications for assessing and treating unique and shared features of affective disorders are discussed. • People high in social anxiety and depression experience more dependent stressors. • Social anxiety is associated with stress generation above and beyond depression. • People with SAD are similarly impacted by dependent and independent events. • Social anxiety is associated with greater self-blame for stressful events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers and clinicians assume a strong, positive correlation between anxiety symptoms and functional impairment. That assumption may be well-justified since diagnostic criteria typically include functional impairment. Still, the relationship remains largely unavailable in any systematic review. Our aim with this paper was to provide empirical evidence for this assumed relationship and to document the observed correlations between anxiety symptom measures and functional impairment measures. Correlations existed for symptoms of six anxiety disorders (Panic Disorder, Agoraphobia, Social Anxiety Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) across four functional domains (global, social, occupational, and physical). Overall, the mean of 497 correlations across all disorders and functional domains was modest ( r = .34); since the variability between disorders and functional domains tended to be rather large, we explored these correlations further. We presented these results and the potential explanations for unexpected findings along with the clinical and research implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social anxiety impacts functional impairment in several life domains; in children, the most notable effect is a decline in academic performance. Socially anxious children report that communicating with peers and teachers, as well as public speaking are their biggest fears in academic settings. Prior research has shown that these children attribute a lack of academic achievement to difficulties communicating interpersonally or publicly. For apprehensive children, many resources are devoted to interventions at the individual level, with little consideration given to their environment — the classroom. The current study examined the association between communication apprehension, social features of the classroom environment, and academic outcomes — current achievement and future ambitions. Three out of four classroom environmental factors (promoting interaction, promoting respect, and teacher support) buffered the negative effects of communication apprehension on current academic achievement. Interestingly, these same factors increased the negative effects of communication apprehension on future academic ambition (intentions to attend college). Implications for the mixed results of a classroom environment that encourages communication are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People with social anxiety disorder (SAD) are at increased risk for alcohol-related problems. Most research exploring social anxiety and alcohol use has examined negative drinking consequences, with less consideration of positive consequences-namely positive social experiences-that may reinforce alcohol use. In this daily diary study, we examined how adults diagnosed with SAD (N = 26) and a psychologically healthy control group (N = 28) experienced positive drinking consequences in naturally occurring drinking episodes during the study period. For 14 consecutive days, participants answered questions about alcohol use, motives for drinking, and positive consequences of drinking. On days when participants drank, those with SAD were more likely than healthy controls to perceive a reduction in anxiety, but the two groups did not differ in their likelihood of experiencing positive social drinking consequences. For both groups, on days when they were more motivated to drink to enhance social experiences (affiliation motives) or cope with distress (coping motives), they were more likely to obtain positive consequences from drinking. Compared to controls, participants with SAD endorsed stronger trait and daily coping motives (anxiety-coping, social anxiety-coping, and depression-coping). Results are discussed in the context of reinforcement mechanisms that may maintain social anxiety and alcohol use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What are the major vulnerabilities in people with social anxiety? What are the most promising directions for translational research pertaining to this condition? The present paper provides an integrative summary of basic and applied translational research on social anxiety, emphasizing vulnerability factors. It is divided into two subsections: intrapersonal and interpersonal. The intrapersonal section synthesizes research relating to (a) self-representations and self-referential processes; (b) emotions and their regulation; and (c) cognitive biases: attention, interpretation and judgment, and memory. The interpersonal section summarizes findings regarding the systems of (a) approach and avoidance, (b) affiliation and social rank, and their implications for interpersonal impairments. Our review suggests that the science of social anxiety and, more generally, psychopathology may be advanced by examining processes and their underlying content within broad psychological systems. Increased interaction between basic and applied researchers to diversify and elaborate different perspectives on social anxiety is necessary for progress. • We review research on proposed basic processes in social anxiety. • Intrapersonal processes include self-referential, emotion, & information processing. • Interpersonal processes include approach, avoidance, social rank, & affiliation. • Future work should examine multiple processes and their interactions. • Collaboration between basic and applied researchers can advance the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Judgments about the self compared to internalized standards are central to theoretical frameworks of social anxiety. Yet, empirical research on social comparisons-how people view themselves relative to others-and social anxiety is sparse. This research program examines the nature of everyday social comparisons in the context of social anxiety across 2 experience-sampling studies containing 8,396 unique entries from 273 adults. Hypotheses and analyses were preregistered with the Open Science Foundation (OSF) prior to data analysis. Study 1 was a 3-week daily diary study with undergraduates, and Study 2 was a 2-week ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study with a clinical sample of adults diagnosed with social anxiety disorder (SAD) and a psychologically healthy comparison group. In both studies, social anxiety was associated with less favorable, more unstable social comparisons. In both studies, favorable social comparisons were associated with higher positive affect and lower negative affect and social anxiety. In both studies, social comparisons and momentary affect/social anxiety were more strongly linked in people with elevated trait social anxiety/SAD compared to less socially anxious participants. Participants in Study 2-even those with SAD-made more favorable social comparisons when they were with other people than when alone. Taken together, results suggest that social anxiety is associated with unfavorable, unstable self-views that are linked to compromised well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Retrospective studies have found that people with elevated social anxiety (SA) show a preference for digital/online communication, which may be due to perceptions of enhanced emotional safety. Whether these individuals prefer digital compared to face-to-face communication and experience emotional benefits naturalistically remains unclear.Methods: We recruited college students (N = 125) and community adults (N = 303) with varying levels of SA and sampled their emotions during digital and face-to-face communication using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) (Study 1) and a day reconstruction method (DRM) (Study 2). We preregistered our hypotheses (https://osf.io/e4y7x/).Results: Results from both studies showed that SA did not predict the likelihood of engaging in digital compared to face-to-face communication, and SA was associated with less positive and more negative emotions regardless of the communication medium. Study 2 showed that whether digital communication was synchronous (e.g., in real time via phone/video chat) or asynchronous (e.g., texting/instant messaging) did not impact the association between SA and emotions.Limitations: EMA and DRM methods, despite their many advantages, may be suboptimal for assessing the occurrence of digital communication behaviors relative to more objective methods (e.g., passively collecting smartphone communication data). Using event-contingent responding may have also yielded more reports of digital communication, thus strengthening our power to detect small, cross-level interaction effects.Conclusions: These results challenge beliefs that digital/online communication provides a source of emotional safety for people with elevated SA and suggests a greater need to address SA-related emotional impairments across digital communication platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality contact with other people serves as a reliable mood enhancement strategy. We wondered if the emotional benefits of socializing are present even for those with a psychological disorder defined by social distress and avoidance: social anxiety disorder (SAD). We conducted two ecological momentary assessment (EMA) studies and analyzed 7243 total surveys. In both studies, community adults diagnosed with SAD and healthy controls received five surveys each day for 2 weeks. Consistent with research on positivity deficits in SAD, between-person analyses in both studies suggest that, on average, participants with SAD reported lower positive and higher negative affect in social and non-social situations than healthy controls. Within-person analyses, however, revealed that in both studies participants with SAD and healthy controls reported higher positive affect when with others than when alone; no differences were found for negative affect for those with SAD. The difference in positive affect between social and nonsocial situations was smaller for participants with SAD in Study 1, suggesting that people with SAD may experience diminished reward responding when socializing. Our results suggest that even those with a mental illness defined by interpersonal distress can and do derive positive emotions from social interactions. • People with SAD display positive affect deficits in daily life. • People with SAD report higher positive affect when with others than when alone. • People with SAD may experience diminished reward responding when socializing. • People with and without SAD report similar affect across interaction partners. • Anxiety about socializing does not preclude positive emotions while socializing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]