State self-esteem responds more sensitively to unexpected social feedback than to expected social feedback. This social prediction error sensitivity was elevated among individuals with lower global...Show moreState self-esteem responds more sensitively to unexpected social feedback than to expected social feedback. This social prediction error sensitivity was elevated among individuals with lower global self-esteem. Which factors shape elevated social prediction error sensitivity among individuals with low global self-esteem is yet unknown. In addition to lower global self-esteem, individuals with elevated social prediction error sensitivity exhibited higher anxiety symptoms. Therefore, the present study investigated whether the relationship between elevated social prediction error sensitivity and lower global self-esteem can be explained by co-occurring anxiety symptoms related to social anxiety and trait anxiety. Furthermore, this study investigated which anxiety modality is more critical for shaping elevated social prediction error sensitivity. Considering biased social feedback processing among socially anxious individuals and the relevance of social anxiety symptoms in social feedback processing, it was hypothesized that social anxiety symptoms contribute more strongly to social prediction error sensitivity than trait anxiety symptoms. A sample of 221 university students (64% female, Age range = 17-38, Mage = 22.30, SDage = 3.36) participated in a computerized social evaluation task. Contrary to hypotheses, results indicated that anxiety symptoms did not influence social prediction error sensitivity. Results are discussed regarding differences in sample size and statistical analyses. This study marks the first investigation that intended to promote better understanding of elevated social prediction error sensitivity among individuals with lower global self-esteem. Its implications offer guidance for future research into factors underpinning biased social information processing of low self-esteem individuals who represent an at-risk population for developing psychopathology.Show less
Social anxiety has been shown to influence the way individuals dynamically update their self-feelings after receiving feedback, with socially anxious individuals more easily incorporating negative...Show moreSocial anxiety has been shown to influence the way individuals dynamically update their self-feelings after receiving feedback, with socially anxious individuals more easily incorporating negative rather than positive feedback into their self-feelings and the reverse tending to be true for non-socially anxious individuals. This study aimed to explore the role online peer victimization has on this ‘affective updating process’. Additionally, we explored the interaction between social anxiety, online peer victimization, age and affective updating. We hypothesized that more frequent online peer victimization would make socially anxious individuals more likely to feel worse about themselves after negative performance feedback, while being less prone to better self-feelings after positive performance feedback. Furthermore, we hypothesized that younger socially anxious individuals would show similar patterns. The sample consisted of 192 participants (164 female) between the ages of 12-25 years. Participants were asked to give an impromptu speech and rate themselves on 80 evaluative items afterwards. Per item, participants received feedback from a judge and were asked to indicate how they felt about themselves. A computational model was used to calculate whether participants updated their self-feelings more strongly based on positive or negative feedback. Participants with higher self-reported social anxiety updated their self-feelings more negatively after receiving negative feedback. We did not find evidence of the hypothesized influence of past experiences of online peer victimization or age on updating of self-feelings following feedback. Our study suggests that social anxiety, but not past experiences of online peer victimization or age influence how quickly negative feedback is integrated into our self-feelings. This study builds on the current knowledge base, while highlighting the need for further research into other influencing factors, such as coping strategies and resilience. These insights are important for advancing practical interventions, to better support and promote healthier updating of self-feelings in socially anxious individuals.Show less
Introduction. Because public speaking anxiety is among the most common social fears, yet still has a knowledge gap, the aim of our study was to 1) investigate in how far adolescents’ behavior when...Show moreIntroduction. Because public speaking anxiety is among the most common social fears, yet still has a knowledge gap, the aim of our study was to 1) investigate in how far adolescents’ behavior when presenting is related to their reported level of public speaking anxiety [PSA], and 2) explore if self-perception plays a role in this relationship. It was expected that adolescents with PSA show less expressiveness, appear less confident, and show more agitated behavior. Furthermore, we expected that self-perception plays a mediating role between PSA and behavior. Method. The sample consisted of 41 adolescents (11-17 years old) who met the criteria for a social anxiety disorder, and were asked to give a presentation while their behavior was coded for analysis. However, only 14 participants had all the necessary data for both analyses. Data was collected using the Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety [PRPSA], Speech Performance Observation Scale for Youth [SPOSY], and the Competence Perception Scale for Adolescents [CBSA]. Data was analyzed using a MANOVA and through mediation analysis. Results. No significant correlations were found between PSA and expressiveness (p = .532), PSA and lack of confidence (p = .118), or PSA and agitation (p = .833). Furthermore, results showed that PSA and self-perception were correlated (p = .011), but self-perception and lack of confidence (p = .275), or self-perception and agitation (p = .100) were not. For self-perception and expressiveness, we did find a significant result, but the proportion mediated effect indicated no partial mediation. Discussion. Based on our results, we cannot accept our hypotheses. In our study, there is no relation between PSA and behavior while presenting, nor does self-perception play a mediating role. We expect that we did not find significant results due to our low sample size and not having a control group. Another possibility is that adolescents have learned more presenting skills by being exposed to presenting in school. Because knowledge on this topic is scarce, our study is a valuable contribution to an underrepresented topic. However, more research is needed to understand how public speaking anxiety, self-perception and behavior interact with each other.Show less
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a prevalent disorder in adolescents. It manifests itself in avoidance of social situations, difficulties forming relationships and an overall increased impairment...Show moreSocial anxiety disorder (SAD) is a prevalent disorder in adolescents. It manifests itself in avoidance of social situations, difficulties forming relationships and an overall increased impairment in social functioning. In adulthood, individuals with SAD report an overall poorer quality of life. Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and coping strategies have been associated with SAD in recent literature. However, information on this subject is scarce in adolescents. This study investigates the relationship between IU and traits of social anxiety (SA) in adolescents, incorporating age as a moderating variable and adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies as a mediating variable. Data on SA traits, IU and coping strategies was collected within a larger study from a non-clinical sample using questionnaires. This study included 233 participants (Mage = 18.6, SD = 3.3) of which 81% were female. Results of this study show a positive relationship between IU and SA traits. This positive relationship weakens with age during adolescence. Additionally, maladaptive coping strategies mediate the relationship between SA and IU, strengthening this relationship. These findings indicate IU, age and coping are important factors to be considered in relation to the development and maintenance of SAD. Future research should continue on this subject to provide additional practical implications for the prevention and treatment of SADShow less
Previous research has suggested that social perception can be greatly influenced by stress and anxiety during an interaction, however the research on the influence of mimicry in social interactions...Show morePrevious research has suggested that social perception can be greatly influenced by stress and anxiety during an interaction, however the research on the influence of mimicry in social interactions is scarce. In this study, we examine how different levels of anxiety influence how individuals evaluate virtual avatars that mimic their pupil dilation compared to when it is not mimicked. We additionally examine how likely individuals are to partake in a future interaction with the avatars. Participants were presented with 6 different avatars reiterating a different story each time. Their level of anxiety was measured using the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) questionnaire prior to being presented with the avatars. Afterwards, participants filled out a questionnaire including questions measuring how the individuals perceived the avatars. The results from the questionnaire were taken and examined. Our findings showed that participants with high and low social anxiety did not evaluate the virtual avatars differently, regardless if mimicry occurred or not. However, we found that level of anxiety did influence responses on the Desire for a Future Interaction (DIF) questionnaire; those with low social anxiety are more likely to score higher on the DIF questionnaire, suggesting they are more likely to be willing to interact with the avatars again. However, given that previous research has found significant effects regarding how different levels of social anxiety influence social perception, we conclude that our findings do not support this; the level of social anxiety did not influence how participants evaluate the avatars, regardless if mimicry occurs or not.Show less
Although Social Anxiety is well-understood, the neural mechanisms behind this phenomenon are still under debate. Recent research suggests that Frontal Midline Theta power level expression seems...Show moreAlthough Social Anxiety is well-understood, the neural mechanisms behind this phenomenon are still under debate. Recent research suggests that Frontal Midline Theta power level expression seems indicative of the emotional processing of social evaluative feedback. However, it is still unclear what pattern this FM-theta expression follows in Socially Anxious individuals. The FM-theta power responses to social evaluative feedback in Rejection Sensitive people is not investigated thoroughly yet, although recent research points to a clear increase in FM-theta power in responses to unexpected rejection. In the current study, utilizing a social evaluative learning task, we tested whether the construct Rejection Sensitivity could influence the relationship between social anxiety and FM theta power expression in 12 female participants. Social feedback was provided by peers who provided positive social feedback in fixed numbers, creating Peer 1 who would provide positive social feedback in 85% of trials and Peer 4, who would provide positive social feedback in 15% of trials. We also examined which coping mechanisms are utilized more often in both Socially Anxious and Rejection Sensitive population (e.g. self-blaming, other blaming, catastrophizing, rumination, acceptance, refocusing, positive reappraisal, putting into perspective). Correlation analyses revealed a strong negative correlation between Rejection Sensitivity and FM-theta level expression in unexpected rejection by Peer 1, whereby lower FM-theta levels were associated with higher Rejection Sensitivity. A large, positive and significant correlation between receiving unexpected rejection and unexpected acceptance by Peer 4 was observed. Unfortunately, the main question about the influence of Rejection Sensitivity on the relationship between Social Anxiety and FM-theta power as a response to social evaluative feedback, could not be answered due to methodological issues related to a small sample size. These issues also led the analysis of coping mechanisms to be invalid and therefore no results are indicative as to which coping mechanisms are utilized more often. Finally, FM-theta band activity seems to be a servicing as a reactive error correcting mechanism, which might lead to clear responses in Rejection Sensitive people, but not necessary in Socially Anxious individuals, who suffer more from anticipating fears. Therefore, it seems somewhat unsure whether FM theta is completely suitable for the investigation of emotional processing within Socially Anxious people. It is advised for future studies to include a larger sample.Show less
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) can be a crippling disorder characterized by strong avoidance of social situations and encounters due to fear of judgment from others, leading to various social and...Show moreSocial anxiety disorder (SAD) can be a crippling disorder characterized by strong avoidance of social situations and encounters due to fear of judgment from others, leading to various social and interpersonal problems. Socially anxious individuals (SAI) often have cognitive biases that influence how they perceive social feedback from others and can perpetuate the disorder. How SAI learn from social feedback is important, as this can determine their self-view. The goal of this study is to investigate the influence of a specific cognitive bias in attention in socially anxious individuals (SAI) on social feedback learning. This study was conducted using a modified social judgment paradigm, designed to expose participants to positive and negative social feedback from 4 fictitious peers, who vary in their percentage of positive feedback. Participants will learn which peer gives the most and least feedback throughout the task. This will be conducted and measured using Electroencephalography (EEG). The results showed that SAI tend to orient their attention towards unexpected social feedback, regardless of valence. As well as this, SAIs tend to learn less from unexpected negative social feedback compared to lower SAI. Even though SAI payed more attention to unexpected social feedback, we propose that there might be an avoidance coping mechanism which influences the SAI to learn less from the unexpected negative social feedback.Show less
The present study investigated possible underlying mechanisms of presentation anxiety in adolescents with a mild to borderline intellectual disability. Presentation anxiety was measured through...Show moreThe present study investigated possible underlying mechanisms of presentation anxiety in adolescents with a mild to borderline intellectual disability. Presentation anxiety was measured through self-reports and teacher-reports. Due to disagreements on whether presentation anxiety exists independently from, or as a subtype of, social anxiety, the present study investigated both anxiety-types separately. Participants were 14 adolescents with MBID in the age of 12-23 who completed abbreviated intelligence measures and questionnaires on the underlying mechanisms. Results showed neither a correlation nor a difference between self- and teacher-reported presentation anxiety. Moreover, self-reported presentation anxiety was positively correlated with social anxiety and negative interpretation bias, whereas teacher-reported presentation anxiety was not correlated with any of the variables. Hierarchical regression analyses controlling for IQ showed that peer attachment was a significant predictor for self-reported presentation anxiety and social anxiety. It is concluded that peers play an important role in the development of presentation anxiety in MBID adolescents and should therefore be a point of attention for schools, caregivers and treatments. Future studies should focus on including a larger sample and should consider including peer-reports.Show less
