“Build Your Social Confidence”: A Social Anxiety Group for College Students

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.

Relationship Between Hardiness and Social Anxiety in Chinese Impoverished College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Moderation by Perceived Social Support and Gender

During the COVID-19 epidemic, quarantine and financial disadvantages might exacerbate social anxiety among impoverished college students. Based on the hardiness model and the social support buffering model, the present study proposed and verified a dual moderation model to investigate the effects of hardiness on social anxiety and the moderating roles of gender and perceived social support. The hardiness scale, the perceived social support scale, and the social anxiety subscale of the self-consciousness scale were administered to 673 Chinese college students aged 18 to 23 years who were recognized as impoverished by the Chinese authorities and provided with funding. The results revealed that (1) hardiness had a significant negative effect on social anxiety, (2) perceived social support moderated the effect of hardiness on social anxiety, and (3) gender moderated the effect of hardiness on social anxiety. The dual moderated model proposed in the study provides practical implications for helping impoverished college students cope with social anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brief cognitive behavior group therapy for social anxiety among medical students: A randomized placebo-controlled trial

OBJECTIVE

To compare brief cognitive behavior group therapy (bCBGT) for social anxiety disorder (SAD) to a credible placebo, psychoeducational-supportive therapy (PST), in a sample of medical students.

METHOD

This was a single-center, rater-blind, randomized, attention placebo-controlled, parallel-group study. Participants were 50 consenting undergraduate medical students of a state government medical college in Cuttack, India having a primary diagnosis of SAD, who recieved 6 weekly 2-h group sessions. Assessments were carried out at baseline, post intervention and at two-month follow. Independent raters assessed the participants on the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale and Clinical Global Impression- Improvement scale (CGI-I). Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN), a self-rated measure, was administered in the same periods.

RESULTS

bCBGT group improved significantly across periods from pre-treatment to post-treatment and from pre-treatment to two-month follow-up. bCBGT was statistically superior to PST at the post-treatment and follow-up assessments and showed large effect sizes at both post-treatment and follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

A 6-session bCBGT is an efficacious treatment for SAD among medical students. A longer follow-up and replication in other groups, and clinical settings are necessary for generalization to a broader SAD population.