Thesis advisor: Karen Rosen / Thesis advisor: Nancy Lau / Prior research has demonstrated that parental control, parental criticism, and parental acceptance are associated with social anxiety in youth (Wood, McLeod, Sigman, Hwang, & Chu 2003). However, researchers have not examined how these parenting behaviors might impact youth treatment responses. Research in this area has also relied almost exclusively on self and child- report measures. The current study used a newly developed behavioral observation coding system to observe: (1) parental control; (2) parental criticism; (3) quality of parent-child interaction (parental acceptance); (4) parental monitoring of youth anxiety; and (5) discussion of emotion in the context of a public speaking exposure therapy for socially anxious youth (n=39) ages 8-16 years (M = 10.82, SD = 1.94). It was hypothesized that (1) parents of socially anxious youth would exhibit higher levels of parental control, parental negativity, and parental monitoring of youth anxiety, (2) that the quality of interaction would be lower in socially anxious parent-child dyads, and (3) that parents of socially anxious youth would be less likely to discuss emotions with their children. Results demonstrated that parents of socially anxious youth offered significantly more praise than parents of non-socially anxious youth, (F(1, 33) = 5.662, p = 0.023). Parents of socially anxious youth also offered higher levels of directive help (F(1, 33) = 3.713, p = 0.063), although this finding was only trending towards significance. Potential explanations for these findings are discussed and directions for future research are offered. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Psychology Honors Program. / Discipline: Psychology.

Background: Adults with autism experience high rates of social anxiety disorder (SAD). Cognitive models of suggest that anticipatory (AP) and post-event processing (PEP) develop and maintain SAD symptoms. These models underpin gold standard treatment. It is unclear if the cognitive model for SAD applies to an autism population. In addition, there is little understanding of how these symptoms are experienced by adults with autism. Aims: To examine whether the cognitive model of SAD is relevant for adults with autism, as indicated by correlations between SAD and cognitive maintenance factors. The second aim was to explore how adults with autism describe their experience of anxiety in social situations. Design: A mixed method approach was used. Participants (n = 30) completed questionnaires about characteristics of autism, SAD, AP and PEP. Bivariate correlations were used to investigate the relationship between cognitive processes and SAD. Partial correlations were used to explore relationships between SAD and cognitive processes while controlling for autism-specific language difficulties. Participants (n = 8) also completed a semi-structured interview about their social experience, associated anxiety and how any anxiety was managed. Thematic analysis was used to analyse responses. Results: Participants reported high levels of SAD, AP and PEP. There was no significant relationship between SAD and autism symptoms. While AP and autism were significantly positively correlated, exploratory analysis did not indicate a clear relationship between AP, PEP, SAD and autism. Results of thematic analysis indicate anxiety in social situations causes significant impairment, with distressing thoughts before and after social interaction. Conclusions: Results provide qualitative evidence that the Clark and Wells (1995) model of SAD is relevant for adults with autism. Further research is necessary to investigate the relationship between cognitive styles, such as intolerance of uncertainty, with SAD and autism. Adults with autism may benefit from CBT for SAD alongside strategies to structure interactions and the environment.

Previous research on social anxiety disorder has suggested fear of negative evaluation is the key construct underlying the maintenance of the disorder. Recent studies have provided evidence that socially anxious individuals also experience anxiety in response to positive social events. Many past investigations have failed to control for the effects of depression so it is unknown whether the interpretation biases present in past investigations were due to social anxiety or comorbid depressive symptomatology. The current study sought to replicate and extend previous findings related to social anxiety and interpretation of positive social events. Consistent with previous studies social anxiety predicted negative interpretations of ambiguous social events after controlling for depression. In contrast to hypotheses, social anxiety was not associated with profoundly negative interpretations of positive social events. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Past studies have suggested that individuals who adopt a psychologically immersed, as opposed to a psychologically distanced perspective when reflecting on negative emotional experiences, tend to experience greater negative affect and have more difficulty reappraising their experiences in an objective manner. Psychological distancing and immersion have not been studied systematically in socially anxious (SA) individuals, despite previous research showing that trait social anxiety is strongly associated with negatively biased appraisals of social experiences during self-reflection and post-event processing. The current study investigated the relationship between trait social anxiety, psychological immersion, and the cognitive and affective experiences of 76 participants while they engaged in a laboratory-based social task. Participants wrote about and reflected on a recent negative experience in which something they did or said in a social situation did not turn out the way they thought it should have. Thereafter, participants imagined an upcoming social interaction in which they believed they would be judged on their ability to impress a social partner. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions in which they were instructed to self-reflect on these experiences in a distanced or immersed manner. Participants completed self-report measures of affect (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule), subjective distress (SUDS), cognitions (Negative Self Portrayal Scale), and psychological immersion (Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire) at several time points during the study. Although there were no significant effects of condition in the primary analyses, secondary analyses demonstrated that psychological immersion was significantly correlated with higher negative and lower positive affect, and with greater self portrayal concerns (but only for the social anticipation task), accounting for unique and significant variance in these outcomes, over and above the variance accounted for by trait SA. Moreover, there was a significant interaction between psychological distancing and SA status during the social anticipation self-reflection task, such that high SA participants experienced significantly greater negative affect than their low SA counterparts, but only at high levels of self-immersion. At low levels of self-immersion, both high and low SA participants reported comparatively low levels of negative affect. These results suggest that individual differences in psychological immersion and distancing may help to explain the circumstances under which self-reflection could have detrimental affective and cognitive consequences. In particular, high levels of self-immersion during self-reflection appear to interact with high levels of trait SA to drive negative emotional responses and beliefs within social contexts. Implications of these preliminary findings, their limitations, and ideas for future research are discussed within the context of cognitive behavioural models of SA.

Video feedback (VF) has been widely integrated into cognitive behavioural treatment protocols for socially anxious individuals due to its presumed efficacy in improving negative self-perception and reducing underestimations of performance. However, studies examining VF in social anxiety reveal, surprisingly, that correction of overly negative self-perception does not unequivocally facilitate anxiety reduction during subsequent social interactions. In the current study, we examined whether VF could be optimized to facilitate social anxiety reduction through the inclusion of a post-VF encoding manipulation. The manipulation was designed to enable individuals to internalize the positive information received from VF by enhancing the depth at which they processed the self-exposure information. Forty-three individuals high in social anxiety and verbal communication anxiety were randomly assigned to one of the following three conditions: A) VF + Manipulation; B) VF + No Manipulation; and C) No VF. Results revealed that VF + Manipulation led to significant cognitive changes pertaining to self-efficacy and internal attributions of performance relative to the other two conditions. Unexpectedly, both VF conditions were equally efficacious in the facilitation of anxiety reduction relative to the No VF condition. Results are discussed in the context of cognitive behavioural models of anxiety and the mechanisms of exposure-based learning.

Video feedback (VF) has been widely integrated into cognitive behavioural treatment protocols for socially anxious individuals due to its presumed efficacy in improving negative self-perception and reducing underestimations of performance. However, studies examining VF in social anxiety reveal, surprisingly, that correction of overly negative self-perception does not unequivocally facilitate anxiety reduction during subsequent social interactions. In the current study, we examined whether VF could be optimized to facilitate social anxiety reduction through the inclusion of a post-VF encoding manipulation. The manipulation was designed to enable individuals to internalize the positive information received from VF by enhancing the depth at which they processed the self-exposure information. Forty-three individuals high in social anxiety and verbal communication anxiety were randomly assigned to one of the following three conditions: A) VF + Manipulation; B) VF + No Manipulation; and C) No VF. Results revealed that VF + Manipulation led to significant cognitive changes pertaining to self-efficacy and internal attributions of performance relative to the other two conditions. Unexpectedly, both VF conditions were equally efficacious in the facilitation of anxiety reduction relative to the No VF condition. Results are discussed in the context of cognitive behavioural models of anxiety and the mechanisms of exposure-based learning.

Video feedback (VF) has been widely integrated into cognitive behavioural treatment protocols for socially anxious individuals due to its presumed efficacy in improving negative self-perception and reducing underestimations of performance. However, studies examining VF in social anxiety reveal, surprisingly, that correction of overly negative self-perception does not unequivocally facilitate anxiety reduction during subsequent social interactions. In the current study, we examined whether VF could be optimized to facilitate social anxiety reduction through the inclusion of a post-VF encoding manipulation. The manipulation was designed to enable individuals to internalize the positive information received from VF by enhancing the depth at which they processed the self-exposure information. Forty-three individuals high in social anxiety and verbal communication anxiety were randomly assigned to one of the following three conditions: A) VF + Manipulation; B) VF + No Manipulation; and C) No VF. Results revealed that VF + Manipulation led to significant cognitive changes pertaining to self-efficacy and internal attributions of performance relative to the other two conditions. Unexpectedly, both VF conditions were equally efficacious in the facilitation of anxiety reduction relative to the No VF condition. Results are discussed in the context of cognitive behavioural models of anxiety and the mechanisms of exposure-based learning.

Video feedback (VF) has been widely integrated into cognitive behavioural treatment protocols for socially anxious individuals due to its presumed efficacy in improving negative self-perception and reducing underestimations of performance. However, studies examining VF in social anxiety reveal, surprisingly, that correction of overly negative self-perception does not unequivocally facilitate anxiety reduction during subsequent social interactions. In the current study, we examined whether VF could be optimized to facilitate social anxiety reduction through the inclusion of a post-VF encoding manipulation. The manipulation was designed to enable individuals to internalize the positive information received from VF by enhancing the depth at which they processed the self-exposure information. Forty-three individuals high in social anxiety and verbal communication anxiety were randomly assigned to one of the following three conditions: A) VF + Manipulation; B) VF + No Manipulation; and C) No VF. Results revealed that VF + Manipulation led to significant cognitive changes pertaining to self-efficacy and internal attributions of performance relative to the other two conditions. Unexpectedly, both VF conditions were equally efficacious in the facilitation of anxiety reduction relative to the No VF condition. Results are discussed in the context of cognitive behavioural models of anxiety and the mechanisms of exposure-based learning.

Past studies have suggested that individuals who adopt a psychologically immersed, as opposed to a psychologically distanced perspective when reflecting on negative emotional experiences, tend to experience greater negative affect and have more difficulty reappraising their experiences in an objective manner. Psychological distancing and immersion have not been studied systematically in socially anxious (SA) individuals, despite previous research showing that trait social anxiety is strongly associated with negatively biased appraisals of social experiences during self-reflection and post-event processing. The current study investigated the relationship between trait social anxiety, psychological immersion, and the cognitive and affective experiences of 76 participants while they engaged in a laboratory-based social task. Participants wrote about and reflected on a recent negative experience in which something they did or said in a social situation did not turn out the way they thought it should have. Thereafter, participants imagined an upcoming social interaction in which they believed they would be judged on their ability to impress a social partner. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions in which they were instructed to self-reflect on these experiences in a distanced or immersed manner. Participants completed self-report measures of affect (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule), subjective distress (SUDS), cognitions (Negative Self Portrayal Scale), and psychological immersion (Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire) at several time points during the study. Although there were no significant effects of condition in the primary analyses, secondary analyses demonstrated that psychological immersion was significantly correlated with higher negative and lower positive affect, and with greater self portrayal concerns (but only for the social anticipation task), accounting for unique and significant variance in these outcomes, over and above the variance accounted for by trait SA. Moreover, there was a significant interaction between psychological distancing and SA status during the social anticipation self-reflection task, such that high SA participants experienced significantly greater negative affect than their low SA counterparts, but only at high levels of self-immersion. At low levels of self-immersion, both high and low SA participants reported comparatively low levels of negative affect. These results suggest that individual differences in psychological immersion and distancing may help to explain the circumstances under which self-reflection could have detrimental affective and cognitive consequences. In particular, high levels of self-immersion during self-reflection appear to interact with high levels of trait SA to drive negative emotional responses and beliefs within social contexts. Implications of these preliminary findings, their limitations, and ideas for future research are discussed within the context of cognitive behavioural models of SA.

The present study evaluated the cortisol stress response and its relationship to several behavioural measures in SAD participants. It is hypothesized that SAD participants will show an exaggerated cortisol response to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and differing positive and negative affects compared to controls, as well as correlations between the two measures. SAD (n=12) and controls (n=12) underwent the TSST. Serial plasma cortisol samples were taken and self-report measures were completed. The plasma cortisol levels were numerically higher in SAD at all time points compared to controls but the difference was not statistically significant. Cortisol response correlated inversely with childhood emotional abuse (p=0.01) and directly with positive affect (p=0.02) in SAD participants. Furthermore, SAD participants reported greater negative affect (prior to and after TSST) and more frequent emotional abuse than controls. SAD is associated with changes in HPA axis activity and affective states that differ from controls.