There is a long-standing debate on whether high-achieving students experience a better or worse psychological well-being than their peers. This retrospective cohort study adds to the current literature by examining the differences in rates of psychological disorders, social anxiety, and perfectionism between high-achieving and typical undergraduate students. A convenience sample of 357 students was gathered from the University of Central Florida (UCF). Participants were asked to fill out a brief survey which included questions about demographics, grade point average (GPA), social anxiety, perfectionism, enrollment in The Burnett Honors College, inclusion in any childhood gifted programs, and diagnosis of psychological disorders. Two groups (a High-Achieving group and a Comparison group) were formed based on GPA scores and enrollment in The Burnett Honors College at UCF. Relative risk and chi-squared analyses were conducted to see if there was a significant relationship between group classification and the incidence of psychological disorders, self-injury, and social anxiety. T-tests were used to compare group means of social anxiety and perfectionism. A statistically significant relationship was found between group classification and the incidence of psychological disorders, self-injury, and social anxiety (p = .033, p = .028, and p < .001). The High-Achieving group scored significantly higher on the SPAI-23 SP Subscale (p = .032), the SPAI-23 Difference Score (p < .001), and the APS-R Standards Subscale (p < 0.001). Altogether, the findings of this study indicate that High-Achieving undergraduate students experience a worse psychological well-being than their typical undergraduate student peers.

This study investigated the possible relationship between bilingualism and social anxiety disorder. Past research has indicated developmental delays in language as increasing risk for other psychological difficulties. With the pressure to learn two languages, possibly in the drastically different environments of home, school, and/or work, individuals may be vulnerable to becoming socially anxious in conjunction with language use. This study examined a series of factors surrounding linguistic development and reports of social anxiety. Participants were divided into 4 groups: Socially Anxious (SA; n = 43) monolinguals, Non-Socially Anxious (Non-SA; n = 81) monolinguals, SA bilinguals (n = 30), and Non-SA bilinguals (n = 43). Measures of social anxiety, linguistic ability, and demographic information were collected and compared. The results of this study showed no direct link between bilingualism and SAD. However results raised other questions as there was an overrepresentation of SA bilinguals having accents when compared with Non-SA bilingual individuals.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

<p>Research utilizing the dot probe task to examine attentional bias to threat in social anxiety has yielded inconsistent findings. Many manipulations have been included across dot probe studies, perhaps contributing to the discrepant results. Alternatively, the psychometrics of the dot probe may play a role. Two studies that have examined the psychometric properties of the task found the task to be unreliable (Schmuckle, 2005; Staugaard, 2009).</p> <p>Prompted by the mixed findings, the present study had two overarching goals. The first was to replicate and extend the extant literature by incorporating a number of manipulations into the dot probe task and examining individual differences in social anxiety, and personality types associated with social avoidance and social approach, or shyness and sociability, respectively. The second goal was to investigate the psychometrics of the dot probe task by assessing its test-retest reliability and internal consistency. To address these goals, participants completed a dot probe task that involved manipulations of emotional valence (happy, angry), intensity (moderate, strong), and exposure time (100ms, 500ms) of facial stimuli on two occasions, separated approximately by a month. Additionally, participants were parsed into high and low groups of social anxiety, shyness, and sociability by way of median splits on two personality measures.</p> <p>Using attentional bias scores, a group difference was observed only in the sociability grouping at Time 1. In the low sociability group, a marginal (<em>p</em>=0.049) interaction between valence and intensity was found. This interaction, however, was not observed at Time 2. Additionally, poor test-retest reliability and internal consistency of the task were observed.</p> <p>These findings bring into question the nature of attentional bias in social anxiety, shyness, and sociability, and the psychometric soundness of the dot probe task. Conceptual and psychometric issues are discussed pertaining to the present study’s results and the extant dot probe literature.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)