Social fear is prevalent in both clinical and non-clinical samples, and avoidance of social situations is an essential component of this condition. Parental verbal messages about social situations...Show moreSocial fear is prevalent in both clinical and non-clinical samples, and avoidance of social situations is an essential component of this condition. Parental verbal messages about social situations may influence the development of social anxiety in children. Investigation into the factors contributing to the acquisition of social anxiety from parents is crucial for the development of more effective strategies aimed at preventing social fears in children. In this study, children received verbal threat and safety information about strangers from their primary caregiver, after which they were required to give a speech in front of these strangers. The effect of parental verbal threat (vs. safety) information about strangers on child avoidance of that stranger was studied during a social speech task in an experimental design with a community sample of children (N = 73, M = 11.62 years; 37 girls) who participated with their primary caregiver. Furthermore, the possible moderating role of the social anxiety level of the primary caregiver was explored. The findings did not reveal a significant effect of parental verbal threat (vs. safety) information on observed child stranger avoidance. Thus, the children did not show more avoidance towards the stranger paired with the parental threat (vs. safety) information. Additionally, the effects of parental verbal threat (vs. safety) messages did not differ as a function of the social anxiety level of the primary caregiver. We conclude that a single exposure to parental threat messages does not induce visible avoidance in social situations, irrespective of parental social anxiety levels.Show less
The cognitive models of social anxiety disorder (SAD) reason that SAD is caused and maintained by self-focused attention and safety behaviors. The avoidance of eye contact is viewed as a safety...Show moreThe cognitive models of social anxiety disorder (SAD) reason that SAD is caused and maintained by self-focused attention and safety behaviors. The avoidance of eye contact is viewed as a safety-seeking behavior employed to reduce the risk of negative evaluation and is reported by both adults and children with SAD. In the light of growing evidence for the cognitive models of SAD, it seems likely that changing socially anxious individuals’ negative beliefs about themselves, and their performance could lead to more eye gaze behavior, which in turn could break the vicious cycle maintaining SAD. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of a cognitive behavioral intervention on the the relation between socially anxious adolescents’ cognitions and their eye gaze behavior. Cognitions were assessed by a questionnaire and eye gaze behavior was assessed using a wearable eye tracker during a public speaking task. The participants’ total fixation time, total fixation counts and average fixation time on the faces of nine virtual audience members were measured. As expected, the results showed a significant increase in positive cognitions and a significant decrease in negative cognitions from pre-test to post-test. The group as a whole did not show a significant increase in eye gaze behavior, however participants who showed more substantial improvements in terms of positive self-statements on average fixated longer on the audience members’ faces. These findings offer support for the cognitive models of SAD and suggest that promoting more positive self-statements in socially anxious adolescents would be clinically beneficial.Show less
This study focuses on the contributing factors that could predict the likelihood of developing a psychological addiction to mystical experiences induced by psychedelics. A cross-sectional online...Show moreThis study focuses on the contributing factors that could predict the likelihood of developing a psychological addiction to mystical experiences induced by psychedelics. A cross-sectional online survey study (n = 200) was conducted to investigate these effects using a combination of questionnaires and open questions. Contrary to expectations, avoidance was not found to be connected to psychological addiction to mystical experiences. However, sensation-seeking proved to relate to psychological addiction and was correlated with an increased likelihood of using psychedelics in the future. The relationship between absorption and psychological addiction was found to be mediated by the intention to confront difficult emotions. The findings indicate that higher scores on absorption increase the likelihood of using psychedelics with the intention to confront negative emotions. In contrast to expectations, the intention to confront one's emotions was found to increase the likelihood of using psychedelics in the future, therefore making the person more likely to become psychologically addicted to mystical experiences. Exploratory analysis revealed that the perceived importance of a facilitator in a non-clinical setting and the importance of experiencing ego death were not connected to psychological addiction and the future likelihood of using psychedelics. Five intentions for psychedelic use were found to be connected to an increased likelihood of psychological addiction to mystical experiences. Additionally, alternative explanations for hypotheses and new research are suggested.Show less
