Social anxiety and emotion knowledge: a meta-analysis

Let's face it! The role of social anxiety and executive functions in recognizing others' emotions from faces: Evidence from autism and specific learning disorders

Youth with different developmental disorders might experience challenges when dealing with facial emotion recognition (FER). By comparing FER and related emotional and cognitive factors across developmental disorders, researchers can gain a better understanding of challenges and strengths associated with each condition. The aim of the present study was to investigate how social anxiety and executive functioning might underlie FER in youth with and without autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and specific learning disorders (SLD). The study involved 263 children and adolescents between 8 and 16 years old divided into three groups matched for age, sex, and IQ: 60 (52 M) with ASD without intellectual disability, 63 (44 M) with SLD, and 140 (105 M) non-diagnosed. Participants completed an FER test, three executive functions' tasks (inhibition, updating, and set-shifting), and parents filled in a questionnaire reporting their children's social anxiety. Our results suggest that better FER was consistent with higher social anxiety and better updating skills in ASD, while with lower social anxiety in SLD. Clinical practice should focus on coping strategies in autistic youth who could feel anxiety when facing social cues, and on self-efficacy and social worries in SLD. Executive functioning should also be addressed to support social learning in autism.

The link between anxiety and theory of mind in children: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

The ability to reason about someone else's mental states, an ability known as theory of mind, is essential to help children navigate social life. However, not all children are socially skilled. Given socialisation is key for healthy development in children, finding what might exacerbate these difficulties is important. Emerging research suggests a potential link between anxiety and theory of mind abilities in children. This meta-analysis aims to characterise that link.

METHOD

Four electronic databases were systematically searched to identify relevant studies. Search terms included variations of terms for theory of mind, anxiety, and children. Studies were screened with inclusion and exclusion criteria for eligibility and identified papers were appraised on quality.

RESULTS

The search returned 3674 papers of which 20 were included in the analysis. These included a total of 3110 participants, aged 4-19. Overall, it was found that anxiety had a negative relationship with theory of mind and this appeared to be more pronounced in theory of mind processes related to affective states. There were no differences in the negative relationship between subtypes of anxiety or between studies with autistic and neurotypical children.

CONCLUSION

The findings suggest that anxious children may have difficulties using theory of mind abilities. Heterogeneity was substantial in the data, which limits the confidence in conclusions. Quality appraisal identified that the quality of theory of mind and anxiety measures varied between studies.

Remote work arrangement: a blessing in disguise for socially anxious individuals

This research examines the link between social anxiety disorder (SAD), psychological distance (PD), and burnout using survey data from 463 software development workers who are currently working remotely. According to the results of the study, SAD was associated with higher PD, but, in contrast to what had been shown in earlier studies, this higher PD had no effect on the participants' reported levels of burnout. Both psychological safety and workplace attachment orientation (WAO) were tested for their moderating effects in this study. According to the study's findings, the link between SAD and PD was moderated by WAO but not by psychological safety. The findings of this study underscore the importance of conducting additional research on the challenges faced by people with social anxiety in the workplace and the steps that can be taken by employers to better accommodate them.

Vulnerabilities in social anxiety: Integrating intra- and interpersonal perspectives

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.

Social anxiety is associated with personal distress and disrupted recognition of negative emotions

Past research investigating the relation between social anxiety (SA), empathy and emotion recognition is marked by conceptual and methodological issues. In the present study, we aim to overcome these limitations by examining whether individuals with high (n = 40) vs. low (n = 43) social anxiety differed across these two facets of empathy and whether this could be related to their recognition of emotions. We employed a naturalistic emotion recognition paradigm in which participants watched short videos of individuals (targets) sharing authentic emotional experiences. After each video, we measured self-reported empathic concern and distress, as well as their ability to recognize the emotions expressed by the targets in the videos. Our results show that individuals with high social anxiety recognized the targets' emotions less accurately. Furthermore, high socially anxious individuals reported more personal distress than low socially anxious individuals, whereas no significant difference was found for empathic concern. The findings suggest that reduced recognition of emotions among SA individuals can be better explained by the negative effects of social stress than by a general deficit in empathy.

Longitudinal relationship of empathy and social anxiety among adolescents: The mediation roles of psychological inflexibility and rejection sensitivity

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of study was to explore the roles of psychological inflexibility and rejection sensitivity in the relationship between (cognitive and affective) empathy and social anxiety among adolescents.

METHODS

A two-wave longitudinal design was adopted in the present study. A total of 2481 participants (41.60 % male; Mage = 16.48) aged from 13 to 21 in 2021 completed the Chinese Version of Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI-C), Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ), Chinese version of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II), Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth (AFQ-Y8), Child Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire (CRSQ), and Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescent (SAS-A) at baseline assessment (T1), and completed the SAS-A again three months later (T2).

RESULTS

(1) Results showed, personal distress at T1 could significantly and positively predict social anxiety at T2. (2) Mediation analyses results demonstrated that adolescents' experience avoidance and rejection sensitivity at T1 were significant mediators between cognitive empathy at T1 and social anxiety at T2, but with the opposite effect. As for affective empathy, rejection sensitivity at T1 significantly mediated the relationship between adolescents' empathic concern at T1 and social anxiety at T2. Furthermore, experience avoidance and rejection sensitivity at T1 significantly mediated the association between personal distress at T1 and social anxiety at T2.

CONCLUSIONS

Cognitive and affective empathy had different roles in contributing to adolescents' social anxiety. The findings in the current study can also provide empirical support for targeting adolescents' social anxiety by reducing personal distress directly and decreasing experiential avoidance and rejection sensitivity indirectly.

Mediating effect of social interaction anxiety between emotional intelligence and life satisfaction in physical education students: post-COVID-19 study

The aim of this research is to analyze the effect of social interaction anxiety on satisfaction with life mediated by emotional intelligence. The research design was descriptive, cross-sectional, and non-randomized. In total, 1,164 Mexican physical education students participated (Mage = 21.21; SD = 3.26; 30.0% female; 69.6% male; 0.4% other). The scales used were the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale, Trait Meta-Mood Scale and Satisfaction with Life and a structural equation analysis with latent variables was conducted. The results highlight that it can be asserted that emotional clarity and repair had a mediating effect between social interaction anxiety and satisfaction with life, as they did decrease the negative effects of social interaction anxiety on satisfaction with life. In addition, social interaction anxiety had a direct and positive effect on emotional attention and a negative effect on emotional clarity and repair.

Cognitive functioning in anxiety and depression: results from the ALSPAC cohort

Anxiety and depression are associated with a range of impairments in cognitive functioning. Understanding the nature of these deficits may identify targets for intervention and prevent functional decline. We used observational and genetic methods to investigate the relationship of anxiety and depression with three cognitive domains: emotion recognition, response inhibition, and working memory, in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). We examined: (i) cross-sectional associations between anxiety, depression, and cognition at age 24 (n = 2187), (ii) prospective associations between anxiety and depression at age 18 and cognition at age 24 (n = 1855), and (iii) the casual effect of anxiety and depression on cognition using Mendelian randomization (MR). Both disorders were associated with altered emotion recognition; anxiety with decreased happiness recognition (b = -0.27 [-0.54,0.01], p = 0.045), and depression with increased sadness recognition (b = 0.35 [0.07,0.64], p = 0.016). Anxiety was also associated with poorer working memory (b = -0.14 [-0.24,0.04], p = 0.005). There was no evidence for an association with response inhibition. MR provided no clear evidence of causal relationships between mental health and cognition, but these analyses were underpowered. Overall, there was little evidence for impairments in executive functioning, but moderate alterations in emotion recognition. This may inform the development of psychosocial interventions.

Comparison of Social-Evaluative Anxiety and Theory of Mind Functions in Social Anxiety Disorder, Schizophrenia, and Healthy Controls

INTRODUCTION

Despite the similarities in poor social competence and clinical manifestations of poor social behavior, no study has compared the theory of mind performance between social anxiety disorder (SAD) and schizophrenia, considering the effect of social-evaluative anxiety and neurocognitive functions. In our study, we aimed to compare the theory of mind functions and social-evaluative anxiety between patients with SAD and schizophrenia and healthy controls and to examine the relationship between the theory of mind, neurocognitive skills, and social-evaluative anxiety.

METHODS

Thirty-four consecutive patients with schizophrenia, 29 patients with SAD, and 30 controls matched by age, education level, and sex were enrolled in the study. Structured Clinical Interview for DSM, Beck Depression Inventory, Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, Theory of Mind measures (Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test, Hinting Task, Faux Pas Test), Social Appearance Anxiety Scale, Fear of Positive Evaluation Scale, Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale-Short Form, and neuropsychological tests were administered to all participants.

RESULTS

A greater significant deterioration in theory of mind and neurocognitive functions was found in patients with schizophrenia compared to those with SAD and healthy controls. Social evaluation anxiety was highest in patients with SAD. Although social-evaluative anxiety was associated with the theory of mind function in schizophrenia, only fear of positive evaluation was associated with SAD. In all groups, neither theory of mind nor neurocognitive ability measures were correlated with social anxiety levels and related symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

The impaired theory of mind functioning detected in our study is more prominent in the schizophrenia group and largely independent of anxiety in schizophrenia and SAD. Although social evaluation anxiety, as a transdiagnostic concept, seems to be independent of theory of mind function in general, fear of positive evaluation seems to be associated with hinting in both disorders.

Pathways from Trait Emotional Intelligence to factors of distress in Rosacea: The mediating role of Social Phobia and Self-Esteem

BACKGROUND

Rosacea is a skin disease characterized by facial erythema and inflammatory pustules that may result in emotional distress. Social Phobia and Self-Esteem appear to be linked to the development of higher levels of distress in dermatological conditions, while Trait Emotional Intelligence (Trait EI) has been consistently associated with greater levels of adaptation to one's chronic condition. Hence, it seems extremely relevant to observe the interplay between these dimensions in the context of Rosacea. The goal of the current study is to test the hypothesis that an association between Trait EI and General Distress, in individuals with Rosacea would be mediated by Self-Esteem and Social Phobia.

METHODS

Questionnaires were administered to 224 individuals suffering from Rosacea to assess Trait EI, Social Phobia, Self-Esteem, and General Distress.

RESULTS

Results highlighted that Trait EI was positively related to Self-Esteem and negatively related to Social Phobia and General Distress. In addition, both Self-Esteem and Social Phobia showed a mediating role in the relationship between Trait EI and General Distress.

LIMITATIONS

The main limitations of this work consist in the cross-sectional nature of the data, the small number of participants, also it was not possible to differentiate the participants according to the type of rosacea.

DISCUSSION

These results emphasize how individuals with Rosacea may be vulnerable to internalizing states and how high levels of Trait EI may constitute a protective factor for the onset of distressing states and it would be useful to create programs aimed at fostering Trait EI in Rosacea sufferers.

Emotions in social anxiety disorder: A review

Extant cognitive behavioral models of social anxiety disorder (SAD) have primarily focused on cognitions and behaviors that maintain the disorder. Emotional aspects of SAD have been investigated but have not been sufficiently integrated into current models. To facilitate such integration, we reviewed the literature on emotional constructs (emotional intelligence, emotional knowledge, emotional clarity, emotion differentiation, and emotion regulation), and discrete emotions (anger, shame, embarrassment, loneliness, guilt, pride, and envy) in SAD and social anxiety. We present the studies conducted on these constructs, summarize the main findings, suggest areas for future research, discuss the findings in the context of existing models of SAD and attempt to integrate the findings into these existing models of the disorder. Clinical implications of our findings are also discussed.

Relationships among inferiority feelings, fear of negative evaluation, and social anxiety in Chinese junior high school students

Introduction

This study aimed to explore the relationship between feelings of inferiority and social anxiety in Chinese junior high school students. In addition, it examined the potential mediating effect of fear of negative evaluation in this relationship.

Methods

A survey was administered to a sample of 734 Chinese junior high school students. The Feelings of Inadequacy Scale, Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale, and Social Avoidance Distress Scale were used.

Results

First, there were significant positive correlations between all subscales for the inferiority feelings, social anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation. Furthermore, fear of negative evaluation mediated the predictive effects of four inferiority subscales (i.e., self-esteem, academic ability, appearance, and physical ability) for social anxiety. However, the total score for the sense of inferiority and social confidence subscale lacked this mediating effect.

Conclusion

The inferiority feelings of self-esteem, academic ability, appearance, and physical ability may directly and indirectly predict social anxiety through fear of negative evaluation.

Examining Unique Associations of Social Anxiety and Depression on Behaviorally Assessed Affective Empathy

A growing body of research suggests that cognitive empathy (i.e., understanding other people’s mental states) may be impaired in socially anxious and depressed individuals. However, few studies have examined whether affective empathy (i.e., sharing other people’s emotional states, referred to as “affect sharing”) may likewise be impaired in either form of psychopathology. In Study 1 ( n = 202), we examined the unique association between social anxiety (or depression) and affect sharing and the moderating role of anhedonia and stimuli valence above and beyond depression (or social anxiety). No main or interaction effects were found for social anxiety or depression in the prediction of affect sharing. In Study 2, we conducted a direct replication of Study 1 with a larger sample ( n = 324), which confirmed our findings from Study 1. Thus, the unique effects of social anxiety and depression may be more related to difficulties in cognitive, rather than affective, empathic processes.

Adolescent social anxiety undermines adolescent-parent interbrain synchrony during emotional processing: A hyperscanning study

Social anxiety severely impacts adolescents’ social interactions with others; however, the underlying neural mechanism has not been revealed. This study examined how adolescent's social anxiety level influences the interbrain synchrony within adolescent-parent dyads during emotional processing by using electroencephalograph (EEG) hyperscanning. A sample of 25 adolescent-parent dyads completed the picture processing task. Adolescents’ ages ranged from 10 to 14 years old. The results showed that (1) at parietal areas, greater gamma interbrain synchrony was observed in the high social anxiety adolescent-parent dyads (HSAs) than the low social anxiety adolescent-parent dyads (LSAs) in the positive conditions. However, greater gamma interbrain synchrony of the picture processing task was observed in the LSAs than the HSAs in the negative conditions. (2) Compared with the neutral condition, LSAs induced greater interbrain synchronization in the negative condition than in the neutral condition at central and parietal areas. However, HSAs induced greater interbrain synchronization in the positive condition than in the negative condition at parietal areas. (3) HSAs induced greater interbrain synchronization at parietal areas than in the central areas in positive conditions. The results provide neurological evidence that the way parent and adolescent process different emotions in the same emotional episode could be affected by the adolescent's anxiety level.

Social anxiety and behavioral assessments of social cognition: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Social anxiety is highly prevalent and has increased in young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since social anxiety negatively impacts interpersonal functioning, identifying aspects of social cognition that may be impaired can increase our understanding of the development and maintenance of social anxiety disorder. However, to date, studies examining associations between social anxiety and social cognition have resulted in mixed findings.

METHODS

The aim of this systematic review was to summarize the literature on the association between social anxiety and social cognition, while also considering several potential moderators and covariates that may influence findings.

RESULTS

A systematic search identified 52 studies. Results showed mixed evidence for the association between social anxiety and lower-level social cognitive processes (emotion recognition and affect sharing) and a trend for a negative association with higher-level social cognitive processes (theory of mind and empathic accuracy). Most studies examining valence-specific effects found a significant negative association for positive and neutral stimuli.

LIMITATIONS

Not all aspects of social cognition were included (e.g., attributional bias) and we focused on adults and not children, limiting the scope of the review.

CONCLUSIONS

Future studies would benefit from the inclusion of relevant moderators and covariates, multiple well-validated measures within the same domain of social cognition, and assessments of interpersonal functioning outside of the laboratory. Additional research examining the moderating role of attention or interpretation biases on social cognitive performance, and the potential benefit of social cognitive skills training for social anxiety, could inform and improve existing cognitive behavioral interventions.

Longitudinal effects of emotion awareness and regulation on mental health symptoms in adolescents with and without hearing loss

Emotion awareness (EA) and regulation (ER) are each known to associate with mental health symptoms, yet there is a paucity of longitudinal studies examining them jointly during adolescence. Furthermore, little is known about these skills and their relations in deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) adolescents, who are at risk for reduced emotion socialization and for more mental health symptoms. This longitudinal study examined the development and unique contributions of EA (emotion differentiation, emotion communication and bodily unawareness) and ER (approach, avoidance and worry/rumination) to internalizing and externalizing symptoms in adolescents with and without hearing loss. Using self- and parent's reports, we assessed 307 adolescents (age 9-15) three times over 18-month period. We found stability over time in development of EA and avoidance ER, increase in approach ER and decrease in worry/rumination. High levels and increases over time in two aspects of EA, emotion differentiation and communication, and in approach and avoidance ER were related to decreases in depressive symptoms. An increase in approach ER was also related to a decrease in anxiety symptoms. Yet, low levels or decreases in worry/rumination were related to decreased levels of depressive, anxiety and externalizing symptoms. Hearing loss did not moderate any of the variables or relations tested. Preliminary tests suggested heterogeneity within the DHH group according to educational placement, language abilities and parental education level. Overall, findings pointed at unique contributions of EA and ER to mental health development, suggesting that DHH adolescents, especially in mainstream schools, do not differ from their hearing peers in their emotion awareness and regulation.

Meta-Analysis of the Associations Among Constructs of Intrapersonal Emotion Knowledge

To better define the boundaries of conceptually overlapping constructs of intrapersonal emotion knowledge (EK), we examined meta-analytic correlations among five intrapersonal EK-related constructs (affect labelling, alexithymia, emotional awareness, emotional clarity, emotion differentiation) and attention to emotion. Affect labelling, alexithymia, and emotional clarity were strongly associated, and they were moderately associated with attention to emotion. Alexithymia and emotional awareness were weakly associated, and emotion differentiation was unrelated with emotional clarity. Sample characteristics and measures moderated some of the associations. Publication bias was not found, except for the alexithymia-emotional awareness association. This study helped to clarify the extent to which similarly defined constructs overlap or are distinct, which can inform our decision to adequately label important constructs and employ corresponding measures.

Social anxiety, rejection sensitivity, and theory of mind decoding ability

OBJECTIVES

Recent initiatives have highlighted the importance of investigating clinically relevant variations in social processes that contribute to mental illness. Surprisingly little research has examined the associations between socially and clinically relevant transdiagnostic factors, such as social anxity (SA) and rejection sensitvity (RS), on theory of mind (ToM) decoding ability.

METHODS

The Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task and self-report measures of SA and RS were completed by 199 adult participants.

RESULTS

Linear regression analyses suggest a specific difficulty decoding positive emotion associated with SA and global decrements in ToM associated with RS that may reflect a negative interpretation bias.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings may have important implications for understanding how those with SA and RS perceive and navigate social interactions, which may contribute to the maintenance of symptoms and decreased psychosocial functioning.

Exploring the Relationship Between Interpersonal Emotion Regulation and Social Anxiety Symptoms: The Mediating Role of Negative Mood Regulation Expectancies

Background

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between interpersonal emotion regulation (IER) and social anxiety symptoms and the mediating role of negative mood regulation expectancies (NMRE). We hypothesised that IER is positively associated with social anxiety symptoms, controlling for depression and intrapersonal emotion regulation strategies of suppression and reappraisal, and NMRE mediate this relationship.

Methods

Study 1 was conducted with a student sample (N = 400) and Study 2 included a community sample with 271 participants.

Results

Study 1 showed that, of four IER strategies, soothing and social modeling were positively, and perspective-taking was negatively related to social anxiety symptoms controlling for depression, suppression and reappraisal. Study 2 replicated these findings and extended them by showing the mediated relationship between the two IER strategies (i.e. enhancing positive affect and soothing) and social anxiety symptoms through NMRE.

Conclusions

The results contribute to the limited research on IER by portraying its relationship with social anxiety symptoms and revealing the mediating role of NMRE in this relationship.

Linking RDoC and HiTOP: A new interface for advancing psychiatric nosology and neuroscience

The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) and the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) represent major dimensional frameworks proposing two alternative approaches to accelerate progress in the way psychopathology is studied, classified, and treated. RDoC is a research framework rooted in neuroscience aiming to further the understanding of transdiagnostic biobehavioral systems underlying psychopathology and ultimately inform future classifications. HiTOP is a dimensional classification system, derived from the observed covariation among symptoms of psychopathology and maladaptive traits, which seeks to provide more informative research and treatment targets (i.e., dimensional constructs and clinical assessments) than traditional diagnostic categories. This article argues that the complementary strengths of RDoC and HiTOP can be leveraged in order to achieve their respective goals. RDoC's biobehavioral framework may help elucidate the underpinnings of the clinical dimensions included in HiTOP, whereas HiTOP may provide psychometrically robust clinical targets for RDoC-informed research. We present a comprehensive mapping between dimensions included in RDoC (constructs and subconstructs) and HiTOP (spectra and subfactors) based on narrative review of the empirical literature. The resulting RDoC-HiTOP interface sheds light on the biobehavioral correlates of clinical dimensions and provides a broad set of dimensional clinical targets for etiological and neuroscientific research. We conclude with future directions and practical recommendations for using this interface to advance clinical neuroscience and psychiatric nosology. Ultimately, we envision that this RDoC-HiTOP interface has the potential to inform the development of a unified, dimensional, and biobehaviorally-grounded psychiatric nosology.

Awakening to recognize the detrimental effects of social avoidance and the possibility of healing through reconnection

BACKGROUND

Loneliness and social avoidance are widespread and serious mental health problems. People experiencing loneliness or social avoidance have difficulties maintaining ordinary life activities and often experience profound suffering. How do we as clinicians deal with or help people out of loneliness and social avoidance?

AIMS

In this paper, we introduce the issue on loneliness and social avoidance. We do so by first defining loneliness and social avoidance and outlining the impact on mental health issues of these phenomena. Next, we introduce the six papers central to the special issue along with some thoughts on how to understand therapy and treatment of social avoidance.

DISCUSSION

We discuss new directions and how to move beyond more conventional therapeutic approaches to these problems.

Social Anxiety and Empathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to clarify the association between social anxiety and affective (AE) and cognitive empathy (CE).

METHODS

1442 studies from PsycINFO, Medline, and EMBASE (inception-January 2020) were systematically reviewed. Included studies (N = 48) either predicted variance in empathy using social anxiety scores or compared empathy scores between socially anxious individuals and a control group.

RESULTS

Social anxiety and AE were statistically significantly positively associated, k = 14, r = .103 (95%CI [.003, .203]), z = 2.03, p = .043. Sex (Q_M (2) = 18.79, p <  .0001), and type of measures (Q_M (1 = 7.34, p = .007) moderated the association. Correlations were significant for male samples (r_male = .316, (95%CI [.200, .432])) and studies using self-report measures (r_self-report = .162 (95%CI [.070, .254])). Overall, social anxiety and CE were not significantly associated, k = 52, r =-.021 (95%CI [-.075, .034]), z= -0.74, p = .459. Sample type moderated the association (Q_M (1) = 5.03, p < .0001). For clinical samples the association was negative (r_clinical= -.112, (95%CI [-.201, -.017]).

CONCLUSION

There was evidence for a positive association between social anxiety and AE, but future studies are needed to verify the moderating roles of sex and type of measure. Besides, low CE might only hold for patients with SAD.

Look at me: The relation between empathy and fixation on the emotional eye-region in low vs. high social anxiety

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Fixation on another person's eye-region may be an effective measure of one's level of empathy. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that this type of empathy measure may not be appropriate for individuals with high levels of social anxiety, since avoidance or hypervigilance attentional biases towards emotional faces are frequent in this condition.

METHODS

Using eye-tracking, we measured fixation time on the eye-region of another person in participants with low vs. high social anxiety, and we correlated this measure with empathy levels. In a second eye-tracking task, the two groups of participants were presented with pairs of emotional-neutral faces to determine the presence of attentional biases.

RESULTS

While participants with low social anxiety showed an association between empathy and fixation time on the other person's eyes, the association was null for participants with high social anxiety. Attentional biases towards emotional faces were absent in high social anxiety, but social anxiety correlated negatively with fixation on the eye region.

LIMITATIONS

Our sample was made up of Psychology undergraduates, and this may have had an influence on gaze behavior towards the eye region.

CONCLUSION

Fixation on the eye region is not a valid measure of empathy in high social anxiety, possibly due to systematic eye-region avoidance.

New Developments in Emotion-Focused Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a highly complex, chronic, disabling and costly anxiety disorder. Although cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is effective for many patients, many others do not respond to CBT or remain considerably symptomatic at the end of treatment. Pharmacological effects are also modest. More empirically-supported treatment options are needed in order to increase patient access to effective treatment. Emotion-focused therapy (EFT) shows great promise in treating SAD effectively and is particularly suitable for treating SAD because pervasive emotional avoidance, difficulties with emotional differentiation, and high levels of self-criticism, which are central psychopathological processes in SAD, are also primary therapeutic targets in EFT. EFT is based on the assumption that the most efficient way to change a maladaptive emotion is not through reason or skill learning, but through the activation of other, more adaptive emotions. EFT aims to access shame-based emotional memories that underlie SAD, and transform them by exposing them to new adaptive emotional experiences, such as empowering assertive anger, grief, and self-compassion. In this paper, the core features of EFT for SAD are presented, as well as the EFT view of dysfunction in SAD and EFT change processes. Research findings regarding the effectiveness of EFT for SAD are presented together with initial findings regarding mechanisms of change occurring during treatment.

Difficulties in Emotion Regulation, Alexithymia, and Social Phobia Are Associated With Disordered Eating in Male and Female Undergraduate Athletes

Investigations of disordered eating in the athlete population tend to focus on females and the influence of sport level. This leaves unanswered whether, and how, team interdependence (i.e., whether the competition is engaged with one person or as a team) may differentially impact male athletes. In the present study, we recruited a sample of non-athletes, individual athletes, and team athletes and examined the interaction of gender and teammate interdependence on established psychosocial risk factors for disordered eating, including social phobia, alexithymia, and emotion regulation. Although we identified a significant main effect of gender, there was no main effect of team type, nor was there a significant interaction of gender and team type. Using descriptive discriminant analysis, these variables significantly discriminated between genders. Women were defined by higher scores than men on drive for thinness, body dissatisfaction, and emotion recognition and men were defined by relatively higher scores on emotion dysregulation and binge eating. When we combined all athletes and compared them with non-athletes, a significant interaction of gender and athlete status emerged such that female athletes, compared to male athletes and women non-athletes, were defined by higher scores on drive for thinness, emotion dysregulation, and binge eating. Conversely, male athletes, compared to female athletes, were defined by greater difficulty identifying feelings and body dissatisfaction. Non-athletes were not well defined by the discriminant function. These results highlight that emotional processes convey risk of eating disorders in men and women, particularly in athletes, and these risk factors are not uniform.

The Role of the Oxytocin System in Anxiety Disorders

Oxytocin, a neuropeptide synthesized by the hypothalamus, plays a central role in human social behavior, social cognition, anxiety, mood, stress modulation, and fear learning and extinction. The relationships between oxytocin and psychiatric disorders including depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and autism spectrum disorder have been extensively studied. In this chapter, we focus on the current knowledge about oxytocin and anxiety disorder. We discuss the anxiolytic effects of oxytocin in preclinical and clinical findings, possible related neurobehavioral mechanisms (social cognition, fear learning, and extinction), related neurotransmitter and neuroendocrine systems (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis, serotoninergic, and GABAergic systems), and studies regarding plasma levels of oxytocin, genetic and epigenetic findings, and effects of intranasal oxytocin in DSM-5 anxiety disorder (primarily social anxiety disorder and separation anxiety disorder) patients.

Changes in Empathy Mediate the Effects of Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy but Not Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Social Anxiety Disorder

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) has been shown to be associated with difficulty in the ability to vicariously share others' positive emotions (positive affective empathy). Mixed evidence also suggests potentially impaired recognition of the positive and negative emotions of others (cognitive empathy) and impaired or enhanced sharing of the negative emotions of others (negative affective empathy). Therefore, we examined whether two efficacious treatments for SAD, cognitive-behavioral group therapy (CBGT) and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), improve empathy in SAD relative to a wait-list condition and whether improvements in empathy mediate improvements in social anxiety. In the context of a randomized controlled trial, participants with SAD completed an empathy task at baseline, posttreatment/wait-list (N = 81), and 1-year follow-up (N = 37). Relative to both MBSR and wait-list, CBGT resulted in significant improvements in positive affective empathy. CBGT-related changes in positive affective empathy also mediated improvements in social anxiety at both posttreatment/wait-list and at 1-year follow-up. Other indices of empathy did not change differentially across the three conditions. Therefore, one way in which CBGT may specifically confer benefits to individuals with SAD is through increasing their ability or willingness to share in the positive emotions of others.

Social anxiety disorder and emotion regulation problems in adolescents

BACKGROUND

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) in adolescents may be associated with the use of maladaptive emotion regulation (ER) strategies. The present study examined the use of maladaptive and adaptive ER strategies in adolescents with SAD.

METHODS

30 adolescents with SAD (CLIN) and 36 healthy adolescents for the control group (CON) aged between 11 and 16 years were assessed with the standardized questionnaires PHOKI (Phobiefragebogen für Kinder und Jugendliche) for self-reported fears as well as FEEL-KJ (Fragebogen zur Erhebung der Emotionsregulation bei Kindern und Jugendlichen) for different emotion regulation strategies.

RESULTS

Compared to controls, adolescents with SAD used adaptive ER strategies significantly less often, but made use of maladaptive ER strategies significantly more often. There was a significant positive correlation between maladaptive ER and social anxiety in adolescents. Examining group differences of single ER strategy use, the CLIN and CON differed significantly in the use of the adaptive ER strategy reappraisal with CLIN reporting less use of reappraisal than CON. Group differences regarding the maladaptive ER strategies withdrawal and rumination, as well as the adaptive ER strategy problem-solving were found present, with CLIN reporting more use of withdrawal and rumination and less use of problem-solving than CON.

CONCLUSIONS

Promoting adaptive emotion regulation should be a central component of psychotherapy (cognitive behavioral therapy-CBT) for social anxiety in adolescents from the beginning of the therapy process. These findings provide rationale for special therapy programs concentrating on the establishment of different adaptive ER strategies (including reappraisal). As an increased use of maladaptive ER may be associated with SAD in adolescents, it may be paramount to focus on reduction of maladaptive ER (for example withdrawal and rumination) from the beginning of the psychotherapy process. Incorporating more ER components into psychotherapy (CBT) could increase the treatment efficacy. Further investigations of the patterns of emotion regulation in specific anxiety groups like SAD in adolescents is needed to continue to optimize the psychotherapy (CBT) concept.

Are Socially Anxious Children Poor or Advanced Mindreaders?

Why are some children more socially anxious than others? One theory holds that socially anxious children are poor mindreaders, which hampers their social interactions; another that socially anxious children are advanced mindreaders leading to heightened self-consciousness in social situations. To test these theories simultaneously, this study (N = 105, ages 8-12) assessed children's mindreading (accuracy in detecting mental states from the eye region), self-consciousness (indexed as physiological blushing during public performance), and social anxiety levels. Results support both theories, showing a quadratic relation between mindreading and social anxiety. Low mindreading was related to clinical levels of social anxiety. High mindreading was related to subclinical levels of social anxiety through blushing. Our findings suggest two social-cognitive pathways to heightened social anxiety.

Facing Anxiety, Growing Up. Trait Emotional Intelligence as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Self-Esteem and University Anxiety

The current study analyzed how trait emotional intelligence (trait EI) mediates the relationship between self-esteem and state anxiety and trait anxiety. The sample was composed of 153 undergraduate students from the University of Cádiz, Spain (71.9% women and 28.1% men). Students completed measures of self-esteem, state anxiety, trait anxiety, and trait EI. Mediation analyses were completed with three trait EI dimensions (EA, emotional attention; EC, emotional clarity; and MR, mood repair) as mediating variables, self-esteem as the independent variable, and state anxiety and trait anxiety as the dependent ones. Our results confirmed that self-esteem scores explained and predicted both, state and trait anxiety values (13% for state and 21% for trait anxiety). This explanatory capacity is increased by 8% when accounting for all trait EI dimensions. Considering state anxiety, the results of the direct effects showed that a decrease in their levels is predicted through the increases in the levels of both, self-esteem and MR. Regarding trait anxiety, the results of the direct effects showed that a decrease in their levels is predicted, in addition to an increment of self-esteem and MR values, by an increase of EC and a decrease of EA. Conversely, indirect effects revealed that higher levels of self-esteem were associated with worse scores in EA and worse MR, which in turn would enhance both state and trait anxiety levels. Moreover, regarding trait anxiety higher levels of self-esteem were associated with worse scores in EA and worse EC, therefore increasing trait anxiety levels. As shown, the negative association found between self-esteem and EA becomes a key element. The effect of self-esteem on EA and the influence that the latter had on EC and MR exerts an indirect mediated effect with the power to invert the influence that self-esteem wields on both types of anxiety. In this sense, the apparent protective role of self-esteem changed, turning into a risk factor that promotes higher anxiety values.

Beyond diagnosis: Mentalization and mental health from a transdiagnostic point of view in adolescents from non-clinical population

An increasing volume of evidence suggests that mentalization (MZ) can be an important factor in the transition from mental health to mental illness and vice versa. However, most studies are focused on the role of MZ in specific disorders. This study aims to evaluate the relationship between MZ and mental health as a trans-diagnostic process. A sample of 172 adolescents aged 12 to 18 years old (M = 14.6, SD = 1.7; 56.4% of girls) was assessed on measures of MZ, psychopathology and psychological functioning from a multimethod and multi-informant perspective. Contrary to predictions, MZ was not associated with general psychopathology and comorbidity, even when explored from a broad, trans-diagnostic perspective. However, we observed a robust association linking MZ to functioning and well-being across many dimensions, involving social, role and several psychological indicators of adjustment and mental health. These results suggest that MZ may contribute to mental health beyond symptoms, not so much associated with psychopathology, but rather resilience and well-being.

The Development of the Working Alliance and Its Ability to Predict Outcome in Emotion-Focused Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder

The study focuses on the alliance of 12 patients receiving emotion-focused therapy for social anxiety. Anxiety symptoms and patient perception of the working alliance were examined weekly. The first eight sessions of each patient were coded for within- and between-sessions alliance levels (1008 segments were coded). At the sample level, the alliance shows linear development over time but high variability between individuals. More than half the patients showed alliance development consistent with the rupture-resolution pattern. Without accounting for the temporal relationship between alliance and symptoms, alliance significantly predicted symptoms across treatment. When we accounted for the temporal relationship between alliance and symptoms, we found that symptoms can predict alliance but alliance cannot predict symptoms. We obtained the same findings using patient-rated and coded alliance.

Social anxiety disorder exhibit impaired networks involved in self and theory of mind processing

Most previous studies regarding social anxiety disorder (SAD) have focused on the role of emotional dysfunction, while impairments in self- and theory of mind (ToM)-processing have relatively been neglected. This study utilised functional connectivity density (FCD), resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) and discriminant analyses to investigate impairments in self- and ToM-related networks in patients with SAD. Patients with SAD exhibited decreased long-range FCD in the right rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) and decreased short-range FCD in the right superior temporal gyrus (STG)—key nodes involved in self- and ToM-processing, respectively. Decreased RSFC of the right rACC and STG with widespread frontal, temporal, posteromedial, sensorimotor, and somatosensory, regions was also observed in patients with SAD. Altered RSFC between the right rACC and bilateral superior frontal gyrus, between the right rACC and right middle frontal gyrus, and within the right STG itself provided the greatest contribution to individual diagnoses of SAD, with an accuracy of 84.5%. These results suggest that a lack of cognitive inhibition on emotional self-referential processing as well as impairments in social information integration may play critical roles in the pathomechanism of SAD and highlight the importance of recognising such features in the diagnosis and treatment of SAD.

Emotional clarity and attention to emotions in cognitive behavioral group therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction for social anxiety disorder

We examined (1) differences between controls and patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD) in emotional clarity and attention to emotions; (2) changes in emotional clarity and attention to emotions associated with cognitive-behavioral group therapy (CBGT), mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), or a waitlist (WL) condition; and (3) whether emotional clarity and attention to emotions moderated changes in social anxiety across treatment. Participants were healthy controls (n = 37) and patients with SAD (n = 108) who were assigned to CBGT, MBSR, or WL in a randomized controlled trial. At pretreatment, posttreatment, and 12-month follow-up, patients with SAD completed measures of social anxiety, emotional clarity, and attention to emotions. Controls completed measures at baseline only. At pretreatment, patients with SAD had lower levels of emotional clarity than controls. Emotional clarity increased significantly among patients receiving CBGT, and changes were maintained at 12-month follow-up. Emotional clarity at posttreatment did not differ between CBGT and MBSR or between MBSR and WL. Changes in emotional clarity predicted changes in social anxiety, but emotional clarity did not moderate treatment outcome. Analyses of attention to emotions were not significant. Implications for the role of emotional clarity in the treatment of SAD are discussed.

Autistic traits and social anxiety predict differential performance on social cognitive tasks in typically developing young adults

The current work examined the unique contribution that autistic traits and social anxiety have on tasks examining attention and emotion processing. In Study 1, 119 typically-developing college students completed a flanker task assessing the control of attention to target faces and away from distracting faces during emotion identification. In Study 2, 208 typically-developing college students performed a visual search task which required identification of whether a series of 8 or 16 emotional faces depicted the same or different emotions. Participants with more self-reported autistic traits performed more slowly on the flanker task in Study 1 than those with fewer autistic traits when stimuli depicted complex emotions. In Study 2, participants higher in social anxiety performed less accurately on trials showing all complex faces; participants with autistic traits showed no differences. These studies suggest that traits related to autism and to social anxiety differentially impact social cognitive processing.

Childhood behavioral inhibition is associated with impaired mentalizing in adolescence

Recent advances suggest that impairment in social cognition (SC) may play a role in the development of social anxiety (SA). However, very few studies have analyzed whether SA fosters poorer social-cognitive development as it leads to social avoidance. This study aimed to analyze whether retrospectively assessed behavioral inhibition (BI) (i.e., an early form of SA) in childhood is associated with a deficit in social cognition operationalized as impairment of mentalizing (MZ) in adolescence. A sample of 256 adolescents (range: 12-18 years; mean age: 14.7 years; SD = 1.7) from general population were assessed for MZ capacities and retrospective BI through self-report and interview measures. Results comparing three groups of adolescents with different levels of childhood BI (low, moderate or high) and controlling for concurrent SA and depression reveal that the higher the level of BI, the lower the level of MZ. These results were consistent for almost all mentalization measures, including when both extreme (i.e., high vs. low BI) and non-extreme (i.e., high vs. moderate BI) were compared in both self-report and interview measures and in both dimensions of MZ (i.e., MZ referred to others' and to own mental states). These findings support that childhood forms of SA are associated to deficit in SC in adolescence. A possible bi-directional relationship between SA and SC, and the role that it may play in the pathway to clinical SA are discussed.

Social Anxiety Symptoms in Young Children: Investigating the Interplay of Theory of Mind and Expressions of Shyness

Children’s early onset of social anxiety may be associated with their social understanding, and their ability to express emotions adaptively. We examined whether social anxiety in 48-month-old children (N = 110; 54 boys) was related to: a) a lower level of theory of mind (ToM); b) a lower proclivity to express shyness in a positive way (adaptive); and c) a higher tendency to express shyness in a negative way (non-adaptive). In addition, we investigated to what extent children’s level of social anxiety was predicted by the interaction between ToM and expressions of shyness. Children’s positive and negative expressions of shyness were observed during a performance task. ToM was measured with a validated battery, and social anxiety was assessed using both parents’ reports on questionnaires. Socially anxious children had a lower level of ToM, and displayed more negative and less positive shy expressions. However, children with a lower level of ToM who expressed more positive shyness were less socially anxious. Additional results show that children who displayed shyness only in a negative manner were more socially anxious than children who expressed shyness only in a positive way and children who did not display any shyness. Moreover, children who displayed both positive and negative expressions of shyness were more socially anxious than children who displayed shyness only in a positive way. These findings highlight the importance of ToM development and socio-emotional strategies, and their interaction, on the early development of social anxiety.

Emotional Competence and Anxiety in Childhood and Adolescence: A Meta-Analytic Review

Anxiety is conceptualized as a state of negative emotional arousal that is accompanied by concern about future threat. The purpose of this meta-analytic review was to evaluate the evidence of associations between emotional competence and anxiety by examining how specific emotional competence domains (emotion recognition, emotion expression, emotion awareness, emotion understanding, acceptance of emotion, emotional self-efficacy, sympathetic/empathic responses to others' emotions, recognition of how emotion communication and self-presentation affect relationships, and emotion regulatory processes) relate to anxiety in childhood and adolescence. A total of 185 studies were included in a series of meta-analyses (N's ranged from 573 to 25,711). Results showed that anxious youth are less effective at expressing (r = -0.15) and understanding emotions (r = -0.20), less aware of (r = -0.28) and less accepting of their own emotions (r = -0.49), and report less emotional self-efficacy (r = -0.36). More anxious children use more support-seeking coping strategies (r = 0.07) and are more likely to use less adaptive coping strategies including avoidant coping (r = 0.18), externalizing (r = 0.18), and maladaptive cognitive coping (r = 0.34). Emotion acceptance and awareness, emotional self-efficacy, and maladaptive cognitive coping yielded the largest effect sizes. Some effects varied with children's age. The findings inform intervention and treatment programs of anxiety in youth and identify several areas for future research.

Empathy for positive and negative emotions in social anxiety disorder

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is associated with elevated negative and diminished positive affective experience. However, little is known about the way in which individuals with SAD perceive and respond emotionally to the naturally-unfolding negative and positive emotions of others, that is, cognitive empathy and affective empathy, respectively. In the present study, participants with generalized SAD (n = 32) and demographically-matched healthy controls (HCs; n = 32) completed a behavioral empathy task. Cognitive empathy was indexed by the correlation between targets' and participants' continuous ratings of targets' emotions, whereas affective empathy was indexed by the correlation between targets' and participants' continuous self-ratings of emotion. Individuals with SAD differed from HCs only in positive affective empathy: they were less able to vicariously share others' positive emotions. Mediation analyses revealed that poor emotional clarity and negative interpersonal perceptions among those with SAD might account for this finding. Future research using experimental methodology is needed to examine whether this finding represents an inability or unwillingness to share positive affect.

Oxytocin, but not vasopressin, impairs social cognitive ability among individuals with higher levels of social anxiety: a randomized controlled trial

Individuals with social anxiety are characterized by a high degree of social sensitivity, which can coincide with impairments in social cognitive functioning (e.g. theory of mind). Oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (AVP) have been shown to improve social cognition, and OT has been theorized as a potential therapeutic agent for individuals with social anxiety disorder. However, no study has investigated whether these neuropeptides improve social cognitive ability among socially anxious individuals. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, between-subjects design we investigated whether social anxiety moderated the effects of OT or AVP (vs placebo) on social working memory (i.e. working memory that involves manipulating social information) and non-social working memory. OT vs placebo impaired social working memory accuracy in participants with higher levels of social anxiety. No differences were found for non-social working memory or for AVP vs placebo. Results suggest that OT administration in individuals with higher levels of social anxiety may impair social cognitive functioning. Randomized-controlled trial registration: NCT01680718.

Cluster A personality pathology in social anxiety disorder: a comparison with panic disorder

BACKGROUND

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) has been associated with cluster A personality disorder (PD) traits, mainly paranoid and schizoid traits.

AIM

The aim of the study was to further investigate cluster A personality pathology in patients with SAD.

METHODS

Self-reported PD traits were investigated in a clinical sample of 161 participants with SAD and in a clinical comparison group of 145 participants with panic disorder with or without agoraphobia (PAD).

RESULTS

A diagnosis of SAD was associated with more paranoid and schizotypal PD traits, and an association between depression and personality pathology could indicate a state-effect of depression on PD traits.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with SAD had more cluster A personality pathology than patients with PAD, with the most solid indication for paranoid personality pathology.