Emotion beliefs in social anxiety disorder: Associations with stress, anxiety, and well‐being

An interactive online educational environment to reduce anxiety, improve emotional well-being, and critical thinking for college students

Interactive education can reduce anxiety among students by creating a supportive and supportive learning environment. This approach can also stimulate critical thinking, as it requires active student participation in debates, analysis, and discussions. The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of interactive learning on Zoom on the anxiety, emotional well-being, and critical thinking of college students. The experiment involved 80 college students between 18 and 21 years of age. The research was performed by scientists from the [Zhengzhou University of Technology] University. To analyze the impact of the proposed strategy on emotional and cognitive well-being, the study used a set of questionnaires, namely Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, WAM (Well-being Assessment Measure), and Subjective Questionnaire for assessing critical thinking. The obtained results confirm the effectiveness of the interactive learning methodology, which significantly reduced anxiety and increased the level of critical thinking among students. Anxiety decreased by 14 points, and critical thinking improved by 2.5 points, indicating positive dynamics of psychological and cognitive development. Despite the positive results, some contextual factors such as the level of the learning environment, cultural characteristics, and the personalities of students can influence the generalization of the findings. These findings can have practical application in the pedagogical practice of creating a favorable learning environment. Future research may focus on improving the methodology of interactive learning, studying its impact on other aspects of learning and development. It is also necessary to explore the use of interactive learning in various cultural and educational contexts.

Studies of Social Anxiety Using Ambulatory Assessment: Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

There has been an increased interest in understanding social anxiety (SA) and SA disorder (SAD) antecedents and consequences as they occur in real time, resulting in a proliferation of studies using ambulatory assessment (AA). Despite the exponential growth of research in this area, these studies have not been synthesized yet.

OBJECTIVE

This review aimed to identify and describe the latest advances in the understanding of SA and SAD through the use of AA.

METHODS

Following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, a systematic literature search was conducted in Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science.

RESULTS

A total of 70 articles met the inclusion criteria. The qualitative synthesis of these studies showed that AA permitted the exploration of the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral dynamics associated with the experience of SA and SAD. In line with the available models of SA and SAD, emotion regulation, perseverative cognition, cognitive factors, substance use, and interactional patterns were the principal topics of the included studies. In addition, the incorporation of AA to study psychological interventions, multimodal assessment using sensors and biosensors, and transcultural differences were some of the identified emerging topics.

CONCLUSIONS

AA constitutes a very powerful methodology to grasp SA from a complementary perspective to laboratory experiments and usual self-report measures, shedding light on the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral antecedents and consequences of SA and the development and maintenance of SAD as a mental disorder.

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.

Relation of emotion malleability beliefs to subjective well-being: A short-term longitudinal study

Prior research has shown that emotion malleability beliefs are positively related to subjective well-being, but less is known about the longitudinal relationship between both variables. The present study used a two-wave longitudinal design to examine the temporal directionality of the relationship in a sample of Chinese adults. Using cross-lagged models, we found that emotion malleability beliefs predicted all three dimensions of subjective well-being (i.e. positive affect, life satisfaction, and negative affect) 2 months later. However, we did not detect any reverse or reciprocal effect between emotion malleability beliefs and subjective well-being. In addition, emotion malleability beliefs still predicted life satisfaction and positive affect after controlling for the effect of the cognitive or emotional component of subjective well-being. Our study provided primary evidence for the temporal directionality of the association between emotion malleability beliefs and subjective well-being. Implications and suggestions for future research were discussed.

Role of self-esteem in the association between mindset of socioeconomic status and well-being: A cross-lagged panel analysis

People who believe that their socioeconomic status (SES) can be changed-with growth mindset or incremental implicit theory of SES-tend to have better psychological well-being. Nevertheless, it remains unclear on why growth mindset of SES benefits well-being. The present research aims to answer this question by investigating the longitudinal associations between mindset of SES and well-being (i.e. depression and anxiety) and a potential mechanism (i.e. self-esteem). We recruited 600 adults in Guangzhou, China, as participants in this study. Participants completed a list of questionnaires containing measures of mindset of SES, self-esteem, depression, and anxiety at three time points over the course of 18 months. The cross-lagged panel model showed that individuals holding a growth mindset of SES reported significantly lower depression and anxiety 1 year later, but the effect was not sustained later. More importantly, self-esteem accounted for the associations of mindset of SES with both depression and anxiety, such that individuals with growth mindset of SES had higher self-esteem, and in turn, demonstrated lower depression and anxiety over 18 months. These findings deepen the understanding of the salutary effects of implicit theories of SES on psychological well-being. Implications for future research and mindset-related interventions are discussed.

The association between emotion malleability beliefs and severe psychological distress stratified by sex, age, and presence of any psychiatric disorders

Background

Recent studies have shown an association between psychological distress and emotion malleability beliefs, meaning mindsets about whether one's emotions are fixed or changeable. However, most studies have not examined the association between these beliefs and sociodemographic factors.

Methods

A nationwide cross-sectional Internet survey of residents of Japan aged 15-79 years was conducted using sampling weights for national estimates to investigate the association between emotion malleability beliefs and sociodemographic factors and between fixed beliefs and severe psychological distress (SPD). SPD was defined as a Kessler 6 Scale score of ≥13. Adjusted odds ratios for SPD were calculated considering potential confounders. Further analyses were stratified by sex, age and presence of any psychiatric disorder.

Results

The analysis included 23,142 participants (female, 48.64%). Fixed beliefs were associated with female sex, age < 45 years, and presence of psychiatric disorders. These beliefs were associated with SPD, and additional analysis showed stronger associations with SPD among female respondents, respondents aged 45-59 years, and those aged ≥60 years.

Conclusion

Results indicate that female sex, age < 45 years, and current mental disorders were associated with fixed emotion malleability beliefs. Associations between fixed emotion malleability beliefs and SPD were particularly strong among female respondents and people aged ≥45 years compared with the general population. Our study extends the association between emotion malleability beliefs and psychological health to the general population. Future studies should explore mechanisms underlying individual differences in emotion beliefs.

How do fundamental emotion beliefs affect the rapid emotional processing? An ERP study

Beliefs about whether emotions are good or bad, controllable or uncontrollable are two fundamental emotion beliefs. Studies have confirmed the link between the two beliefs and emotional responses, but how emotion beliefs affect the process from emotional stimulus perception to emotion generation and automatic regulation is unclear. Answering this question helps to understand the role of emotion beliefs in emotional dysfunction and dysregulation and can provide a basis for effective emotion regulation. Therefore, the current study used event-related potential (ERP) measures to examine the time course and neural mechanisms by which emotional beliefs influence the processing of emotional pictures. One hundred participants were divided into four groups (25 per group) according to controllable or uncontrollable beliefs about emotions and good or bad beliefs about negative emotions, and viewed emotional negative and neutral pictures. Results showed that P2 was more positive in participants with emotion controllable vs. uncontrollable belief. The early posterior negativity (EPN) was more negative for unpleasant than neutral images in participants with emotion good and controllable beliefs as well as with bad and uncontrollable beliefs. On late positive potential (LPP), middle LPP (500-1000ms) was more positive in emotion good vs. bad belief holders and the late LPP (1000-2000 ms) was more positive for negative than neutral images in emotion uncontrollable belief holders. The findings suggest that fundamental emotion beliefs can affect individuals' early attention and late meaning evaluation towards unpleasant stimuli. Furthermore, they provide insight into altered beliefs about emotion in people with emotion dysfunction or dysregulation.

Stress generation in social anxiety and depression: A two-study community assessment

BACKGROUND

Stress generation theory suggests that people engage in certain behaviors that causally generate "dependent" stressful life events. Stress generation has primarily been studied in the context of depression with limited consideration of anxiety. People with social anxiety exhibit maladaptive social and regulatory behaviors that may uniquely generate stress.

METHOD

Across two studies, we examined if people with elevated social anxiety experienced more dependent stressful life events than those lower in social anxiety. On an exploratory basis, we examined differences in perceived intensity, chronicity, and self-blame of stressful life events. As a conservative test, we examined whether observed relationships held after covarying depression symptoms. Community adults (Ns = 303; 87) completed semi-structured interviews about recent stressful life events.

RESULTS

Participants with higher social anxiety symptoms (Study 1) and social anxiety disorder (SAD; Study 2) reported more dependent stressful life events than those with lower social anxiety. In Study 2, healthy controls rated dependent events as less impactful than independent events; those with SAD rated dependent and independent events as equally impactful. Regardless of social anxiety symptoms, participants placed greater blame on themselves for the occurrence of dependent than independent events.

LIMITATIONS

Life events interviews are retrospective and preclude conclusions about short-term changes. Mechanisms of stress generation were not assessed.

CONCLUSIONS

Results provide initial evidence for the role of stress generation in social anxiety that may be distinct from depression. Implications for assessing and treating unique and shared features of affective disorders are discussed.

Lay perspectives on emotion: past, present, and future research directions

Empirical research has demonstrated that individuals vary widely in how they view their emotions. We call the viewpoints that individuals have towards their emotions emotion perspectives. While many subdisciplines of psychology, such as social psychology and clinical psychology, have studied this topic, research thus far can be siloed, despite overlap in terms and constructs. The goal of the current special issue and this introduction is to describe the state of research on emotion perspectives, highlight common themes in streams of emotion perspective research, and present future directions for investigation. The first portion of this introduction to the special issue provides a basic review of emotion perspective research, spotlighting topics such as emotion beliefs, emotion mindsets, lay theories of emotion, and attitudes toward emotion. The second portion of the introduction presents themes that cut across papers in the special issue, with a discussion of future research directions throughout. The goal of this introduction and special issue is to serve as a guide for greater integration in emotion perspective research and to provide a roadmap for emotion perspective research moving forward.

Examining associations between intelligence mindset, mental health symptom severity, and academic self-efficacy and performance

Individuals possess different beliefs regarding the malleability of intelligence, also known as intelligence mindsets. Despite evidence demonstrating a link between a growth mindset of intelligence-the belief that intelligence can develop through effort-and academic achievement, this link has not been closely examined from a mental health perspective. Given the increasing prevalence of mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression, among undergraduate students, an important question is whether the well-established link between mental health symptom severity and academic outcomes depends on the intelligence mindset beliefs that individuals possess. A growth mindset of intelligence might buffer the negative impact of anxiety and depression on academic outcomes, whereas a fixed mindset-the belief that intelligence cannot be changed-might exacerbate this negative relationship. The present study examined data collected from 660 undergraduate psychology students in the United States to test whether intelligence mindset beliefs moderated the relationship between mental health symptom severity and various indicators of academic outcomes: academic self-efficacy, GPA, and perceived academic standing. Results revealed that intelligence mindset beliefs did not moderate the observed negative association between mental health symptom severity and academic outcomes. Findings indicate that promoting a growth mindset of intelligence might not be a particularly effective strategy for buffering university students from the negative impact of anxiety and depression on academic outcomes. However, this conclusion is limited by the cross-sectional design of the study, and future prospective research is necessary to further clarify the relationship between intelligence mindset, mental health, and academic outcomes.

Growth mindset, persistence, and self-efficacy in early adolescents: Associations with depression, anxiety, and externalising behaviours

ABSTRACTGrowth mindset, persistence, and self-efficacy are important protective factors in understanding adolescent psychopathology, including depression, anxiety, and externalising behaviours. Previous studies have shown that dimensions of self-efficacy (academic, social, and emotional) have differential protective effects with mental health outcomes and these differences vary by sex. This study examines the dimensional mediation of self-efficacy from motivational mindsets on anxiety, depression, and externalising behaviours in a sample of early adolescents ages 10-11. Surveys were administered to participants to measure growth mindset and persistence on internalising and externalising symptoms. The Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children (SEQ-C) was used to measure domains of self-efficacy for mediation analysis. Multi-group structural equation modelling by sex indicated that structural paths were not invariant by sex. Significant direct effects were identified from persistence to externalising behaviours in boys, and significant direct effects were identified from growth mindset to depression in girls. In a sample of Tanzanian early adolescents, self-efficacy mediates the protective association between motivational mindsets on psychopathology. Higher academic self-efficacy was associated with reduced externalising problems in both boys and girls. Implications for adolescent programmes and future research are discussed.

The relationship between social acknowledgment and prolonged grief symptoms: a multiple mediation effect of beliefs about the goodness and controllability of grief-related emotions

Background: Social acknowledgment is a protective factor for survivors of trauma. However, the role of social acknowledgment in association with prolonged grief symptoms has not yet been established.Objectives: The current study aims to explore the relationship between social acknowledgment and prolonged grief via two beliefs foundational to how people think about grief-related emotions (1) goodness (i.e. whether emotions are desirable, useful, or unwanted and harmful), and (2) controllability (i.e. whether emotions are regulated according to our will or involuntary, arising of their own accord). These effects were explored in two different cultural samples of bereaved people.Methods: One hundred and fifty-four German-speaking and two hundred and sixty-two Chinese bereaved people who lost their loved ones completed questionnaires assessing social acknowledgment, beliefs about the goodness and controllability of grief-related emotions, and prolonged grief symptoms.Results: Correlation analyses showed that social acknowledgment was positively linked with stronger beliefs about the goodness and controllability of grief-related emotions and negatively related to prolonged grief symptoms. Beliefs about the goodness and controllability of grief-related emotions correlated negatively with prolonged grief symptoms. Multiple mediation analyses suggested that beliefs about the controllability and goodness of grief-related emotions mediated the link between social acknowledgment and prolonged grief symptoms. Cultural groups did not moderate the above model.Conclusion: Social acknowledgment may be related to bereavement adjustment consequences via the roles of beliefs about the goodness and controllability of grief-related emotions. These effects seem to be consistent cross-culturally.

Smartphone addiction and cross-cultural adjustment among overseas Chinese students: The role of emotion regulation beliefs and strategies

Background

Few studies have focused on the cross-cultural adjustment of Chinese students studying in Belarus with the size of this group increasing in recent years. The current study aimed to map the process of cross-cultural adjustment onto various factors including childhood emotional neglect, emotion regulation beliefs, emotional regulation strategies, and smartphone addiction in the international students. Emotional regulation strategy and emotion regulation beliefs could perform as key parts in adapting into overseas life from social learning perspective. Furthermore, smartphone addiction could precipitate a failed adjustment process.

Materials and methods

A total of 356 Chinese students in Belarus completed a self-administered questionnaire including the Chinese versions of the 12-item general health questionnaire (GHQ-12), sociocultural adaptation scale, mobile phone addiction tendency scale for college students, emotion regulation questionnaire, emotion and regulation beliefs scale, and childhood trauma questionnaire-short form. Correlation analysis, regression analysis and T-tests were used to explore the relationship between the variables. Structural equation modeling was carried out to test the hypotheses for association.

Results

Emotion regulation beliefs of international students mediated the effect of childhood emotional neglect on cross-cultural adjustment through expression suppression and smartphone addiction. While, in another chain mediation model, childhood emotional neglect affected cross-cultural adjustment only through emotion regulation beliefs and smartphone addiction. Cognitive appraisal independently influenced adjustment through smartphone addiction.

Limitations

Limitations include its cross-sectional design and self-reported survey methodology. In the future, we can combine experimental manipulations to explore the mechanisms by which various emotion beliefs act on smartphone addiction and cross-cultural adjustment in different situations.

Conclusion

This study displays the correlation between emotion regulation beliefs to smartphone addiction and cross-cultural adjustment, as well as the harmful effects of childhood emotional neglect; these components should be further addressed in future studies.

Always Saying the Wrong Thing: Negative Beliefs About Losing Control Cause Symptoms of Social Anxiety

Background

Individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD) often report a fear that they will lose control of their emotions or report intense, unpleasant thoughts or images of uncontrollably humiliating themselves in social situations. These fears and associated beliefs that one is likely to lose control may underlie the anxiety and/or cognitive biases (e.g., self-focused attention and negative post-event processing) experienced during and following social situations. The present experiment examined whether manipulating beliefs about losing control would cause changes in symptoms of SAD.

Methods

One hundred and twenty-six undergraduate psychology students were given false feedback that they were either at high or low risk of losing control, and then completed a social interaction task with an actor. Participants rated their anxiety before and during the interaction and completed a post-event processing questionnaire 24-hours later.

Results

Participants in the high beliefs about losing control (HLC) condition reported significantly greater subjective anxiety than those in the low beliefs about losing control (LLC) condition leading up to the social interaction task, and significantly more negative post-event processing.

Conclusion

Results suggest beliefs about losing control may play a causal role in the development and maintenance of SAD. These beliefs may represent a novel domain to be targeted in CBT.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10608-022-10325-w.

It’s all about beliefs: Believing emotions are uncontrollable is linked to symptoms of anxiety and depression through cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression

The aim of this study was to examine the link between personal beliefs about emotion controllability and symptoms of anxiety and depression, with a particular focus on the mediating role of emotion regulation. To date, there has been little research examining the mediating role of cognitive reappraisal or expressive suppression in the link between beliefs about emotion controllability and symptoms of anxiety. Online questionnaires measuring emotion regulation, beliefs about emotion controllability, and depression and anxiety, were completed by 1227 participants (n = 336 males; Mage = 25.3, SD = 10.1; range = 16 to 83 years). The results indicated that perceived control over one’s own emotions predicted better psychological health (fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression). This link between beliefs about emotion controllability and psychological heath was partially mediated by cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression, with cognitive reappraisal predicting a reduction in clinical symptoms and expressive suppression predicting an increase in clinical symptoms. These findings suggest that individuals’ beliefs about emotion controllability, leads to the use of certain emotion regulation strategies which in turn, have important consequences for psychological health.

Trait rumination and social anxiety separately influence stress-induced rumination and hemodynamic responses

We aimed to investigate stress-reactive rumination in response to social stress and its association with social anxiety and trait rumination. From previous investigations we know that people with a certain vulnerability to rumination show increased stress-reactive rumination. However, up to date the possible influence of social anxiety on this relationship is still unclear. Therefore, we reanalyzed the data of two of our previous studies assessing healthy low and high trait ruminators and depressed patients performing the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). We measured cortical oxygenation using functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) as well as different behavioral outcome measures (subjective stress levels, negative affect, state rumination). On a behavioral level, we found an influence of both, social anxiety and trait rumination, on state rumination, even when correcting for the other factor, respectively, implying two potentially independent factors of influence. On a neural level, we observed reduced activation in brain regions of the cognitive control network (CCN) for higher social anxiety and trait rumination, which might be a result of reduced cognitive and attentional control. Results indicate a specific role of social anxiety, at least on a behavioral level, and therefore implicate a crucial factor to be considered in the treatment of depression.

Validation of the South Korean Version of the Beliefs about Emotions Scale

Background

Beliefs about the unacceptability of experiencing or expressing negative emotions can contribute to diverse psychological symptoms and associated with poor treatment outcomes and low treatment attempts. The Beliefs about Emotions Scale (BES) was developed to assess such beliefs based on the cognitive-behavioral models; however, no study has reported on the psychometric properties of the BES in Korea. The present study aimed to cross-culturally adapt and validate the BES for the Korean population (BES-K).

Methods

The BES-K was administered to 592 Korean adults (323 men and 269 women) aged 20–59 years. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were used to assess the factor model of the scale. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to evaluate the relationships between the BES-K and other psychological measures.

Results

The result showed a two-factor model of the BES-K, with Factor 1 relating to Interpersonal and Factor 2 representing Intrapersonal aspects. The scale had significant yet moderately low correlations with measures of depression, anxiety, and difficulties in emotion regulation.

Conclusion

The BES-K is a useful instrument in evaluating the beliefs about emotions in the Korean population.

The Child and Adolescent Thriving Index 1.0: Developing a Measure of the Outcome Indicators of Well-Being for Population Health Assessment

The well-being of children and adolescents is emerging as an area of interest for population health measurement. Previous approaches assessing national and state trends in well-being have relied on composite indices. However, these methodologies suffer from several weaknesses. This paper develops an improved index for the United States that is measurable with existing population-data resources. It derives the appropriate weights for items in this index using a longitudinal panel of 2,942 children in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Candidate component measures are selected for the index based on their demonstrated association with several subjective scales assessed during young adulthood. The final index demonstrates that a broad range of measures indicate higher levels of population-level well-being. The predictive validity of the index for outcomes during young adulthood is also assessed: a one-standard-deviation increase in the index score is associated with a 7.9-percentage-point decrease [95% CI: 5.9 - 9.8] in ever reporting fair or poor health, a 6.3-percentage-point decrease [95% CI: 4.6 - 8.0] in ever reporting depression, and a 17.2% [95% CI: 13.7% - 20.5%] increase in peak earnings. These values for predictive validity are slightly higher than those of existing methodologies. We also find that incorporating contextual indicators from childhood and adolescence does not substantively improve predictive validity. Policy-makers and government agencies interested in population-level well-being of children and adolescents can continue to use existing indices as reasonable proxies, but should also commit to upgrading data systems to make them more child-centric in the future.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12187-022-09962-0.

The development and validation of the Misophonia response scale

OBJECTIVE

Most current Misophonia scales are not validated, do not include both emotional and physiological responses to triggers, and/or focus only on auditory triggers. This research aimed to develop and validate a measure of the magnitude of the Misophonic response that addressed these omissions.

METHOD

Three studies were carried out with individuals with self-diagnosed Misophonia. In study 1, expert opinion and participants commented on initial items to determine both face and content validity. In study 2, scale structure, reliability, and convergent and discriminant validity were determined using correlations, principal component analysis (PCA), and reliability analysis. In study 3, factor structure was confirmed in another sample of participants using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

RESULTS

The final 22-item scale assesses the magnitude of responses to triggers across any sensory modality. There are three subscales (emotional, physiological, and participation in life), with three additional items measuring frequency of triggers, avoidance of triggers, and time taken to recover from the triggers. The final scale showed suitable discriminant and convergent validity, with good internal consistency (Cronbach's alphas range 0.77 to 0.89). The three-component solution extracted using PCA explained 53.97% of variance, with all items loading between 0.45 and 0.84. The structure was confirmed with CFA (χ² = 269.01, p < .001; CFI = 0.96; TLI = 0.96 and RMSEA = 0.045 (CI 0.037-0.053).

CONCLUSION

The Misophonia Response Scale, which is valid and reliable, will facilitate understanding of Misophonia as it is short and easy to use for self-report in research.

The moderating effects of reported pre-pandemic social anxiety, symptom impairment, and current stressors on mental health and affiliative adjustment during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Individuals with social anxiety (SA) have well-established fears of being negatively evaluated and exposing self-perceived flaws to others. However, the unique impacts of pre-existing SA on well-being and interpersonal outcomes within the stressful context of the pandemic are currently unknown.

DESIGN

In a study that took place in May 2020, we surveyed 488 North American community participants online.

METHODS

We used multiple linear regression to analyze whether retrospective reports of pre-pandemic SA symptoms predicted current coronavirus anxiety, loneliness, fears of negative evaluation, use of preventive measures, and affiliative outcomes, and whether pre-pandemic functional impairment and recent COVID-related stressors moderated these relations.

RESULTS

Results highlighted the negative effects of pre-pandemic SA on current mental health functioning, especially for participants with higher pre-pandemic functional impairment and greater exposure to COVID-related stressors. Although participants with higher pre-pandemic SA reported currently feeling lonelier and more fearful of negative evaluation, they also endorsed greater efforts to affiliate with others.

CONCLUSIONS

High SA individuals may have heightened desire for social support within the isolating context of the pandemic, in which COVID-related social restrictions enable greater avoidance of social evaluation but may also mask the enduring impairment associated with pre-pandemic SA.

Emotion Malleability Beliefs and Emotion Experience and Regulation in the Daily Lives of People with High Trait Social Anxiety

Background

The extent to which a person believes they can change or control their own emotions is associated with trait-level symptoms of mood and anxiety-related psychopathology. Method: The present study examined how this belief relates to momentary and daily self-reports of affect, emotion regulation tendencies, and perceived effectiveness of emotion regulation attempts throughout a five-week experience sampling study conducted in N = 113 high socially anxious people (https://osf.io/eprwt/).

Results

Results suggest that people with relatively stronger beliefs that their emotions are malleable experienced more momentary and daily positive affect (relative to negative affect), even after controlling for social anxiety symptom severity (although only daily positive affect, and not momentary positive affect, remained significant after correcting for false discovery rate). However, emotion malleability beliefs were not uniquely associated with other emotion regulation-related outcomes in daily life, despite theory suggesting malleability beliefs influence motivation to engage in emotion regulation.

Conclusion

The paucity of significant associations observed between trait malleability beliefs and momentary and daily self-reports of emotion regulation (despite consistent findings of such relationships at trait levels) calls for additional research to better understand the complex dynamics of emotion beliefs in daily life.

Predictors of well-being and productivity among software professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic - a longitudinal study

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced governments worldwide to impose movement restrictions on their citizens. Although critical to reducing the virus' reproduction rate, these restrictions come with far-reaching social and economic consequences. In this paper, we investigate the impact of these restrictions on an individual level among software engineers who were working from home. Although software professionals are accustomed to working with digital tools, but not all of them remotely, in their day-to-day work, the abrupt and enforced work-from-home context has resulted in an unprecedented scenario for the software engineering community. In a two-wave longitudinal study (N = 192), we covered over 50 psychological, social, situational, and physiological factors that have previously been associated with well-being or productivity. Examples include anxiety, distractions, coping strategies, psychological and physical needs, office set-up, stress, and work motivation. This design allowed us to identify the variables that explained unique variance in well-being and productivity. Results include (1) the quality of social contacts predicted positively, and stress predicted an individual's well-being negatively when controlling for other variables consistently across both waves; (2) boredom and distractions predicted productivity negatively; (3) productivity was less strongly associated with all predictor variables at time two compared to time one, suggesting that software engineers adapted to the lockdown situation over time; and (4) longitudinal analyses did not provide evidence that any predictor variable causal explained variance in well-being and productivity. Overall, we conclude that working from home was per se not a significant challenge for software engineers. Finally, our study can assess the effectiveness of current work-from-home and general well-being and productivity support guidelines and provides tailored insights for software professionals.

Cognition malleability belief, emotion regulation and adolescent well-being: examining a mediation model among migrant youth

Objective: The well-being of migrant youth is a major global public health concern. This developmental stage is fraught with many challenges, with migrant youth suffering additional challenges as a result of migration. One avenue to better understand the psychological mechanisms that underpin the well-being of migrant youth is examining how mindsets - or implicit theories about the malleability of human characteristics - affect well-being. The aim of the current study was to test a conceptual model in which cognition malleability belief on well-being would be mediated by emotion regulation styles in two samples of migrant youth using two different measures of well-being. Methods: In Study 1, mainland China migrant youth (N = 735, Mean age = 13.89, SD = 1.23) completed a survey measuring demographics and cognition malleability belief, emotion regulation style (cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression), and well-being (holistic well-being). In Study 2, Hong Kong migrant youth (N = 285, Mean age = 15.09, SD = 2.75) completed the same measures; however, well-being was assessed by the Life Satisfaction Scale. As different measures of the dependent variable (well-being) were used, two separate models were specified. Computations were performed with SPSS 22 and with the PROCESS macro. Results: Both studies demonstrated support for the conceptual model. As predicted, cognition malleability belief was associated with cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, and well-being of migrant youth from mainland China and Hong Kong. Cognitive reappraisal was positively associated with well-being, while expressive suppression was not significantly associated with well-being. The association between cognition malleability belief and well-being was mediated by cognitive reappraisal. Conclusion: Current findings provide avenues for future longitudinal and experimental research to test the efficacy of these mechanisms in changing beliefs about cognition malleability to promote the well-being of migrant youth.

Effortful Emotion Regulation as a Unique Form of Cybernetic Control

Emotion regulation is important for psychological well-being, yet we know relatively little about why, when, and how hard people try to regulate emotions. This article seeks to address these motivational issues by considering effortful emotion regulation as a unique form of cybernetic control. In any domain of self-regulation, emotions serve as indices of progress in regulation and inform the expected value of regulation. In emotion regulation, however, emotions also serve as the very target of regulation. This interdependence gives rise to ironic processes that may render people less likely to exert effort in emotion regulation, precisely when they need it most. The proposed analysis complements and extends existing theories of emotion regulation, sheds new light on available findings, carries implications for psychopathology and well-being, and points to new hypotheses that could lead to theoretical and applied advances in the field.

Lay Theories About Whether Emotion Helps or Hinders: Assessment and Effects on Emotional Acceptance and Recovery From Distress

This investigation examined how people's beliefs about the functionality of emotion shape their emotional response and regulatory strategies when encountering distressing events. In Study 1, we present data supporting the reliability and validity of an 8-item instrument, the Help and Hinder Theories about Emotion Measure (HHTEM), designed to assess an individual's beliefs about the functionality of emotion. Participants who more strongly endorsed a Help Theory reported greater wellbeing, emotional acceptance, and use of reappraisal to regulate emotion. Participants who more strongly endorsed a Hinder Theory reported less wellbeing and more expressive suppression and substance use. In Study 2, we demonstrate that encouraging participants to view emotion as helpful affected their physiological and regulatory response to a distressing event. Participants in the Help Theory condition showed greater physiological reactivity (SCL) during a distressing film than control participants but were more accepting of their emotional response. Shortly after the film, SCL decreased for participants in the Help Theory condition. Compared to control participants, they engaged in less suppression and reported less lingering effect of the film on their mood. Together, these studies suggest that people's theories about the functionality of emotion influence their reactivity, the strategies they adopt to regulate emotion, and their ability to rebound after distressing events.

Growth mindsets and psychological distress: A meta-analysis

We investigated if growth mindsets-the belief in the malleable nature of human attributes-are negatively related to psychological distress and if they are positively related to treatment value and active coping. In the meta-analysis, we included articles published between 1988 and 2019, written in English, that reported on mindsets as well as a qualifying dependent variable and included information required to calculate an effect size. With a random effects approach, meta-analytic results (k = 72 samples, N = 17,692) demonstrated that mindsets relate, albeit with minimal effects, to distress, treatment and coping. Specifically, there is a negative relation between growth mindsets and psychological distress (r = -0.220), a positive relation between growth mindsets and treatment value (r = 0.137) and a positive relation between growth mindsets and active coping (r = 0.207). Differences in mindset domain, assessment method of mindsets and timing of assessments moderated effects. There were not differences based on operationalization of psychological distress outcome or sample characteristics (i.e., developmental stage, diagnostic status, ethnicity). We discuss theoretical and practical applications of the findings.

Do I really feel better? Effectiveness of emotion regulation strategies depends on the measure and social anxiety

BACKGROUND

Effective emotion regulation (ER) is important to long-term healthy functioning, but little is known about what constitutes effective ER in the moment or how social anxiety symptoms and different strategies influence short-term effectiveness outcomes.

METHODS

Intensive ecological momentary data from N = 124 college students illustrate how different ways of operationalizing ER effectiveness leads to different conclusions about the short-term effectiveness of different strategies in daily life.

RESULTS

When effectiveness is operationalized as the degree to which participants judged that their ER attempts made them feel better, social anxiety severity was negatively associated with effectiveness, and avoidance-oriented strategies were judged to be less effective than engagement-oriented strategies. In contrast, when effectiveness is operationalized as the degree of change in self-reported affect following ER attempts, social anxiety severity was not related to effectiveness, and avoidance-oriented strategies were more effective than engagement-oriented strategies. Social anxiety and ER strategy type did not interact in either model, regardless of how effectiveness was measured.

CONCLUSIONS

The study highlights discrepancies when examining two common but distinct ways of measuring the same overarching effectiveness construct, and raises intriguing questions about how forms of psychopathology that are intimately tied to emotion dysregulation, like social anxiety, moderate different ways of measuring the effectiveness of ER attempts.

Affective vulnerability in substance use disorders

Substances of abuse are characterized by their rewarding effects and engagement of reward pathways in the brain. However, these substances also provide rapid relief of negative affect, and thus are highly negatively reinforcing. Accordingly, negative affectivity and other affective vulnerabilities (factors related to the experience of affect) are strongly linked to problematic substance use and substance use disorders. In this review, we provide a critical overview of the literature on affective vulnerabilities in substance use disorders. We discuss how both the experience of affect (e.g. negative affectivity, stress reactivity) and the interpretation of affect (e.g. distress intolerance, anxiety sensitivity) are pertinent to the development, maintenance, and treatment of substance use disorders.

Are individuals diagnosed with social anxiety disorder successful in regulating their emotions? A mixed-method investigation using self-report, subjective, and event-related potentials measures

BACKGROUND

Models of social anxiety emphasize the role of emotion dysregulation, but the nature of these impairments needs clarification.

METHODS

We utilized a mixed-method approach to examine impairments in cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression in social anxiety disorder. Forty nine treatment-seeking individuals diagnosed with social anxiety disorder and 35 healthy controls completed self-reports and a lab-based task of suppression and reappraisal. Unpleasantness ratings and event-related potentials (ERPs) were collected while participants regulated their emotions in response to shame-arousing pictures. ERP analyses focused on the late positive potential, a measure of increased attention to emotional stimuli that is reduced during emotion regulation.

RESULTS

Participants with social anxiety reported less frequent and effective use of reappraisal and more frequent and effective use of suppression than controls. Counter to most models and our hypotheses, participants with social anxiety were more successful than controls in lab-based reappraisal as measured by unpleasantness ratings, but no differences emerged for ERPs. No differences were found in measures of lab-based suppression.

LIMITATIONS

Use of standardized, and not participant-generated, materials in the lab-based task of emotion regulation may limit the generalizability of the findings.

CONCLUSIONS

Subjective appraisals of self-efficacy and frequency suggest strong impairments in emotion-regulation in social anxiety that are not revealed in the laboratory. Models and treatment protocols should specify the exact nature of emotion dyregulation in social anxiety, highlighting difficulties in implementation of potentially intact emotion regulation abilities.

The Cognitive Distortions Questionnaire (CD-Quest): Validation in a Sample of Adults with Social Anxiety Disorder

Cognitive distortions are thought to be central to the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders and are a widely acknowledged treatment target in cognitive-behavioral interventions. However, little research has focused on the measurement of cognitive distortions. The Cognitive Distortions Questionnaire (CD-Quest; de Oliveira, 2015), a brief, 15-item questionnaire, assesses the frequency and intensity of cognitive distortions. The CD-Quest has been shown to have sound psychometric properties in American, Australian, and Brazilian undergraduate samples and one Turkish-speaking outpatient clinical sample. The current study aimed to provide the first evaluation of the psychometric properties of the English version of the CD-Quest in a clinical sample and the first evaluation of any version of the CD-Quest in a sample of adults diagnosed with social anxiety disorder (SAD). In a sample of treatment-seeking adults with SAD, the CD-Quest demonstrated good convergent validity, discriminant validity, known-groups validity, and treatment sensitivity. It also showed good internal consistency, and both confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses supported the previously reported unitary factor structure. Findings extend prior research indicating the reliability and validity of the CD-Quest.

What Brings You Here? Exploring Why Young Adults Seek Help for Social Anxiety

Social anxiety disorder typically manifests in young adulthood, but there is an absence of qualitative research on the actual experiences of young adults suffering with this disorder. The aim of the present study was to investigate the lived experiences of 29 Norwegian university students who were seeking professional help for symptoms of social anxiety. We conducted in-depth interviews prior to a clinical trial. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a team-based thematic analysis method based on a hermeneutic-phenomenological epistemology. We identified five themes: (a) from being shy to interpreting anxiety as a mental health problem, (b) experiencing emotions as threatening and uncontrollable, (c) encountering loneliness as relationships fall away, (d) hiding the vulnerable self from others, and (e) deciding to face social fears in the future. We relate our findings to existing theory and research, discuss our process of reflexivity, highlight study limitations, and suggest implications for future research.

Evaluating the Domain Specificity of Mental Health–Related Mind-Sets

Mind-sets are beliefs regarding the malleability of self-attributes. Research suggests they are domain-specific, meaning that individuals can hold a fixed (immutability) mind-set about one attribute and a growth (malleability) mind-set about another. Although mind-set specificity has been investigated for broad attributes such as personality and intelligence, less is known about mental health mind-sets (e.g., beliefs about anxiety) that have greater relevance to clinical science. In two studies, we took a latent variable approach to examine how different mind-sets (anxiety, social anxiety, depression, drinking tendencies, emotions, intelligence, and personality mind-sets) were related to one another and to psychological symptoms. Results provide evidence for both domain specificity (e.g., depression mind-set predicted depression symptoms) and generality (i.e., the anxiety mind-set and the general mind-set factor predicted most symptoms). These findings may help refine measurement of mental health mind-sets and suggest that beliefs about anxiety and beliefs about changeability in general are related to clinically relevant variables.