Task 3

Question 1

With which disorders is social anxiety disorder highly comorbid?

Answer 1

Mood and other anxiety disorders

Question 2

Why do so many of social anxiety cases become chronic?

Answer 2

Because they are left untreated

Question 3

Describe the two pathways of how Social Anxiety can lead to post-event rumination.

Answer 3

Direct: The anxiety directly leads to rumination
Indirect: Anxiety leads to a biased self-perception due to cognitive biases, which then leads to rumination

Question 4

How are pre- and post-event rumination connected?

Answer 4

post-event rumination leads to cognitive processes that lead to pre-event rumination, which then further reinforces post-event rumination

Question 5

What are central aspects of the cognitive-behavioral model of social anxiety disorder by Rapee and Heimberg?

Answer 5

The way the individual imagines how other people see him/her and the assumption of the audiences standards/expectations.

Question 6

What is a key process in Clark & Well’s cognitive model of social anxiety?

Answer 6

perceiving social situations as dangerous

Question 7

How did Hoffman combine the previous models of social anxiety?

Answer 7

High perceived social standards and heightened self-focused attention lead to multiple cognitive “traps”, like negative self-perception, poor perceived social skills, high estimated social cost, which then lead to rumination and avoidance behaviors. This then in turn reinforces the heightened sensitivity for social situations and self-focused attention.

Question 8

What are key components of most cognitive models of social anxiety disorder?

Answer 8

• Performance appraisal involving self-appraisal
• Self-efficacy - discrepancy between one’s perceived abilities and perceived expectations
• Threat appraisals: overestimation of cost and probability of a negative social outcome
• Self-imagery
• Self-focused attention
• Rumination

Question 9

What where the findings of Voncken & Bögels when researching the effect of social anxiety on actual performance?

Answer 9

• People with social anxiety rate their own performance much worse than it actually is independently of the task.
• In speech tasks, where they only had to present something, social anxiety patients didn’t differ significantly in performance from controls.

Question 10

What is the lifetime prevalence of social anxiety disorder?

Answer 10

between 3 and 7 %

Question 11

How do women differ statistically from men when it comes to social anxiety disorder?

Answer 11

They show a higher prevalence and higher severity.

Question 12

When do most cases of social anxiety develop?

Answer 12

early adolescence

Question 13

What is something that many social anxiety patients have experienced during childhood/adolescence?

Answer 13

traumatic social experiences like bullying

Question 14

What is meant with the term “Public self-referent”?

Answer 14

Assumption of how others see you

Question 15

How you see yourself is also called…?

Answer 15

Private self-referent

Question 16

What are two drugs that can be used for suppressing the symptoms of social anxiety?

Answer 16

SSRIs and SNRIs

Question 17

What happens during a CBT treatment of social anxiety?

Answer 17

• Patients are exposed to increasing levels of intensity of social situations
• The compulsive safety behaviors are identified and eliminated
• Identifying and combating cognitive biases about oneself and social situations

Question 18

What is the lifetime prevalence of panic disorder?

Answer 18

3 to 5%

Question 19

What are mental disorders, panic disorder cooccurs with?

Answer 19

substance use disorders and generalized anxiety disorders

Question 20

Is the tendency to develop a panic disorder connected with genetics?

Answer 20

Yes, heritability around 45%

Question 21

Which neurotransmitters are involved in panic disorder?

Answer 21

Norepinephrine & Serotonin

Question 22

What are three cognitive factors that can lead to a panic attack?

Answer 22

1) Interoceptive Awareness: (Overly) close attention to one’s bodily sensations
2) Anxiety sensitivity: Expecting these sensations to have negative consequences
3) Catastrophizing

Question 23

What is interoceptive conditioning?

Answer 23

When bodily cues, that have predicted a panic attack in the past become the conditioned stimulus for another attack

Question 24

What is the premise of the integrated model of panic disorders?

Answer 24

• Many people with panic disorders seem to be biologically predisposed for it.
• Catastrophizing reinforces these physiological symptoms
• This results in worry, which actually increases the likelihood of further attacks

Question 25

Why might a panic disorder lead to Agoraphobia?

Answer 25

When interoceptive conditioning happens, the conditioned associated stimuli are avoided (Conditioned Avoidance Response), which can lead to a vicious circle of avoiding more and more things until agoraphobia is present.

Question 26

What does it mean, that generalized anxiety patients make maladaptive assumptions?

Answer 26

They expect the worst possible outcome.

Question 27

Explain the Cognitive Avoidance of GAD.

Answer 27

GAD patients prefer the chronic but familiar state of anxiousness over sudden negative surprises.

Question 28

What can be a cause of GAD?

Answer 28

unpredictable or uncontrollable life experiences

Question 29

Name two biases present in social phobia patients, that maintain the anxiety disorder, as confirmed by Voncken et al.

Answer 29

• Interpretation Bias: Ambiguous events are interpreted negatively
• Judgement Bias: Overestimation of cost and probability of being negatively evaluated

Question 30

Explain what happens according to Clark’s Cognitive Mediation Theory.

Answer 30

Certain activities induce panic because they cause bodily sensations that are misinterpreted by the patient.
(inhalation of CO2, infusion of Sodium Lactate, Voluntary Hyperventilation)

Question 31

What are most common treatment paradigms for agoraphobia?

Answer 31

Exposure Therapy / Systematic Desensitization

Question 32

What happens in most cases of SAD?

Answer 32

They are left untreated and become chronic.

Question 33

What are key factors in maintaining the cycle of social anxiety?

Answer 33

Pre- and post-event rumination.