Week 3: Social Anxiety Disorder Flashcards
What are the 2 cognitive behavioural models of SAD and how are they distinguished?
- Clark and Wells:
-Suggest that self-focused attention is the central, if not only, critical attentional process that generates anxiety, impairs performance, and precludes the perception of information inconsistent with social fear.
-SAD individuals reliably direct their attention toward internal cues - Rapee and Heimberg
-The importance of vigilance to socially relevant threat stimuli in the environment
–Namely negative evaluation in the audience
-Suggest that SAD individuals direct their attention toward both internal and external cues
Which of the two models assumes that the individual will not look to the audience to determine performance?
Clark and Wells’s
In the Clark and Wells model, which dysfunctional beliefs and assumptions are activated upon detection of an audience?
Others hold high standards for their performance
Conditional beliefs about social evaluation
Unconditional beliefs about the self.
In the Clark and Wells model, which critical and unidirectional process is it centered on?
Self-focused attention and creating the impression of oneself as a social object
How do interoceptive perception influence SAD, according to Clark and Wells? (3)
The fear of negative outcomes forces one to overmonitor themselves (Self-Focus):
-Physiological arousal increases, which causes one to perceive themselves as anxious and failing
-This over attendance also inhibits performance, by reducing cognitive capacity.
-Safety behaviours to hide and distract from physical cues
Which bias is unique to the Rapee & Heimberg model?
Bias for detecting negative external cues
According to Rapee & Heimberg, what sort of components comprise the individual’s perception of “self-as-object”?
This self-image is a composite of several inputs, such as:
-How one generally appears to others (information obtained in mirrors, photographs, etc.)
-Past difficult experiences in social situations which are consistent with core beliefs and the self-schema
Define ‘Self-Focus’ in social anxiety
An awareness of self-referent internally generated information that stands in contrast to an awareness of externally generated information derived through sensory receptors (Ingram, 1990)
In the context of SAD, what does ‘Private’ and ‘Public’ mean?
Private
* Involves goals that are autonomous and egocentric, which do not require a consideration of others’ reactions to one’s behavior
Public
* Related to behaviors that take into account the reactions, needs, or desires of others and thus is necessarily influenced by the aim for social consensus or a consideration for how one’s actions influence others’ perceptions of oneself.
What is interesting about self-images? (4)
Images more likely to be seen from observer perspective
Typically linked to specific social memories
Viewing self as observer appears unique to social anxiety, as opposed to other anxiety disorders
Additionally, SAD individuals rate negative self-imagery as familiar and ego-syntonic
True or False:
Using mirrors will cause individuals with SAD to perceive themselves more, which will increase self-focus, and thereby increase anxiety.
False:
Causal Effects of Self-Focus: General Manipulation
Mirrors to induce self-focus:
* SAD participants listed fewer negative personality characteristics
Inconsistent with Clark & Wells, greater self-focus did not result in greater negative self-perception
Define Interpretation Bias
The tendency to interpret ambiguous or neutral stimuli as threatening.
How might interpretation bias manifest in SAD?
SA has been associated with:
o Threat interpretations of positive social events (Alden et al. 2008)
o Failure to accept others’ positive reactions at face value
o More negative interpretations of positive events than individuals with other anxiety disorders, including panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), but not obsessive-compulsive disorder
Quicker detection of high-intensity anger and fear under conditions of moderate threat
Slower detection of low-intensity sadness and anger (if no threat)
How could one possibly intervene on spontaneous imagery in SAD?
Imagery Rescripting
-Begins with a period of cognitive restructuring focusing on the negative belief reflected in the spontaneous and recurring image reported by the client.
-Involves repeated evocation of the memory, insertion of corrective information into the image, and a compassionate stance toward the self in imagery.
Video Feedback:
-Studies that added cognitive preparation demonstrated robust effects on self-perceptions of performance, and the magnitude of the discrepancy between self ratings and observer ratings predicted responses to video feedback
–However, little impact on:
SA
Confidence
Willingness to approach a subsequent public speaking task
Why might Task Concentration Training reduce social anxiety? Which sort of SAD might particularly benefit from this intervention?
o Reduction of focus on negative self-aspects correlates with reductions in SA
o Also, reduction in self-focused attention during treatment was a significant predictor of long-term change in SA and fears of blushing, trembling, and sweating
> (Task Concentration Training) More effective than applied relaxation in treating individuals with SAD with fears of blushing, trembling, or sweating
Why might acceptance and mindfulness-based approaches also reduce SAD?
They target avoidance, which theoretically can be applied to Self-Focus tendencies
