Despite evidence supporting a robust relation between common factors- aspects of the therapeutic setting that are common across all types of treatment- and treatment response, little is known about the mechanisms by which these common factors effect change. Two of the most well-researched common factors include the client’s expectations about the effectiveness of treatment (termed outcome expectancy), and the quality of the therapeutic relationship (termed working alliance). Using archival data, the present study tests the hypothesis that the relation between outcome expectancy and symptom reduction is mediated by the alliance following treatment for social anxiety disorder. Data were collected in a sample of 65 individuals who received cognitive behavioral therapy for social phobia with public speaking fears. Mediation analyses were conducted using Andrew Hayes’ Process Macro (Hayes, 2013). None of the mediation analyses were significant. These findings suggest that the mechanisms of common factor variables may vary by disorder.

Abstract The primary aim of the current study was to examine social anxiety symptoms in high-functioning children and adolescents, ages eight to 17 years old with autism (HFA) or Asperger syndrome (AS). The second aim was to study emotion recognition skills in children and adolescents with HFA/AS. In addition, two internationally used social anxiety questionnaires (The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children and; The Social Anxiety Scale for Children -revised) were translated into Finnish, and psychometric analyses were performed in order assess the research and clinical utility of these measures as novel tools for the study of child social anxiety in Finland. Results suggest that adolescents, in particular, with HFA/AS experience a greater number of social anxiety symptoms and have increased rates of clinically relevant social anxiety disorder (SAD) than do their control counterparts. Parents reported higher levels of anxiety symptoms in their children with HFA/AS regardless of the child’s age; however, individuals with HFA/AS self-reported anxiety symptoms increased later in their development (i.e., adolescence). In addition, overall facial emotion recognition increased with age in the HFA/AS group. Despite this, the HFA/AS group did not reach the higher ability level attained by the typically developing adolescents regardless of age. Specifically, when the facial emotion expressed a combination of both surprise and fear, participants with HFA/AS labelled the facial expression as “fear” statistically significantly more often than did controls. Moreover, control participants interpreted faces which blended sadness and neutral emotions as neutral more often than HFA/AS participants. Results suggest that social anxiety is clinically important to assess in children and adolescents with HFA/AS. Clinical interventions which enhance emotion recognition skills and reduce social anxiety symptoms in individuals with HFA/AS may be warranted. / Tiivistelmä Tutkimuksen päätarkoituksena oli selvittää sosiaalista ahdistuneisuutta 8–17-vuotiailla hyvätasoisilla lapsilla ja nuorilla, joilla on autismi (HFA) tai Aspergerin oireyhtymä (AS). Tutkimuksen toinen tarkoitus oli selvittää, miten HFA- ja AS-lapset ja nuoret kykenevät tunnistamaan tunteita kasvonilmeistä. Tutkimus arvioi myös kahden kansainvälisesti tunnetun, sosiaalista ahdistuneisuutta mittaavan kyselylomakkeen (The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children ja The Social Anxiety Scale for Children -revised) toimivuutta suomalaisessa väestössä. Tavoitteena oli antaa uusia työvälineitä suomalaiselle lastenpsykiatrialle tutkimus- ja kliiniseen työhön. Tutkimustulokset osoittivat HFA- ja AS-nuorten kokevan muita nuoria useammin sosiaalista ahdistuneisuutta. Vanhemmat havaitsevat HFA- ja AS-lastensa sosiaalisen ahdistuneisuuden oireet lapsen iästä riippumatta, kun lapset itse kertoivat oireistaan vasta nuoruusiässä. Tutkimus osoitti myös, että HFA:ta tai AS:ää sairastavien kyky tunnistaa tunteita paranee iän myötä. Se ei kuitenkaan saavuta tavalliseen tapaan kehittyvien lasten taitotasoa nuoruusikään mennessä. HFA- ja AS-lapset ja nuoret tulkitsevat ikätovereitaan useammin kasvojen ilmeen peloksi silloin, kun kasvojenilme on sekoitus pelko-yllättyneisyyttä. Tavalliseen tapaan kehittyneet lapset ja nuoret tulkitsevat kasvojenilmeen useammin neutraaliksi kuin HFA tai AS diagnoosin saaneet, jos kasvojenilme on sekoitus surullinen-neutraalia. Tutkimustulosten perusteella tulee HFA:ta tai AS:ää sairastavia lapsia ja nuoria hoidettaessa ottaa huomioon sosiaalinen ahdistuneisuus. Heille tulisi nykyistä useammin tarjota tilaisuus myös kuntouttaa kykyä tunnistaa toisten ihmisten tunteita.

Social anxiety disorder has several impairments (including attention bias in ratings of facial expressions). Character strengths has been seen to increase well-being and functioning among healthy individuals. With this in mind, three aims were stated; Is there a relation between SAD and VIA, can this relation be explained by confounding’s and does ratings of faces tell anything about the relation? Data were collected through a survey from 41 participants (13 men) with a mean age of 30 years. Correlation and regression models were performed to see if these constructs were related. The findings showed that character strengths and social anxiety were correlated, and that the regression model did not predict SAD. The regression model for Via were significant with all confounding variables. Ratings of facial expression were not related to any variables. Further studies need to look more into this correlation to see the underpinnings of these constructs.

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / Increased rates of alcohol abuse and childhood trauma have been reported in previous studies of anxiety disorders, and social anxiety disorder (SAD) in particular. Yet the exact nature of this relationship remains unclear. This study aimed to assess whether SAD is a risk factor for later development of alcohol use disorders (AUD) and to investigate the association of childhood trauma with the prospective SAD-AUD comorbidity in adults with SAD. Data from fifty seven adult participants (N=57) with a primary diagnosis of SAD (mean age 36.7; 60% male) completed the self-rated Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) as well as the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), a measure of SAD symptom severity. Alcohol abuse and dependence information were assessed with the Structured Clinical Interview for Axis I Disorders-Patient Version (SCID-I/P). Data from sixty two adult age and gender match controls were used as a comparison group. A Cognitive Behavioural Model and the Social Learning Model are the theoretical frameworks utilised in the conceptualisation of this research. The data is quantitative in nature and will be statistically analysed using descriptive statistics, logistic regression and ANOVA using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17.0. Informed consent was obtained in writing from all participants. The findings of the study were that 73.7% of the SAD sample met severity criteria for at least one type of childhood abuse or neglect as measured by the CTQ subscales using previously established thresholds. Physical neglect was found to be significantly associated with increased SAD symptom severity.17.5% of the SAD sample had a comorbid lifetime alcohol use disorder (AUD) and of those 80% reported experiencing childhood trauma. In conclusion there was a high rate of childhood trauma in individuals with SAD and there is a strong association between childhood trauma and comorbid AUDs in those with SAD.Thus screening for childhood trauma in SAD individuals is clinically prudent.

No description available.

Human beings are social creatures. Accordingly, fear of social situations can be severely disabling. Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by excessive fear of negative evaluation in social or performance situations. SAD has an early onset and often goes undetected an untreated. Descriptive studies on non‐clinical samples are required in order to find ways to prevent SAD and associated consequences. This thesis aimed at examining epidemiological variables of SAD in adolescence which is the critical period for onset of SAD. More exactly, issues of detection and prevalence, victimization and developmental course were addressed. Data was collected in four different community samples, using cross‐sectional and longitudinal designs. In the first study (n=169), psychometric evaluation of a screening questionnaire for use with adolescents was conducted. The second study (n=2128) investigated prevalence of SAD in students in grade 6‐8 (age 12‐14 years). In the third study (n=3211), the association between SAD and victimization in high‐school students (aged 17) was investigated. Finally, in the fourth study (n=350), longitudinal associations between social anxiety and depressive symptoms were investigated, with 4 waves of data from grade 7 to grade 11. Self‐reported SAD was found among 4.4% of students in grade 6‐8 and among 10.6% of high‐school students. Females reported SAD to a significantly higher degree than males in all age groups. Experiences of peer victimization, maltreatment and sexual victimization were significantly more common in those reporting SAD than in non‐cases. Social anxiety was stable over adolescence. Further, peer victimization in grade 7 predicted social anxiety that mediated subsequent depressive symptoms. In conclusion, self‐reported SAD is common in Swedish adolescents and especially in girls and older adolescents. Social anxiety is stable over adolescence and correlated with depressive symptoms over course. The high prevalence rates, stable course and mediation of depressive symptoms call for early detection and prevention of social anxiety. The relationship between victimization and SAD needs to be investigated further in controlled prospective studies on children and adolescents.

The present dissertation consists of three empirical studies on social anxiety disorder (SAD) in a sample of Swedish children and adolescents. Based on findings made in a large behavior treatment study, the thesis contributes to the field of research on childhood SAD by investigating a factor that maintains the disorder, ways to measure and screen for diagnosis, and the treatment of the disorder. Study I investigated whether giving an educational course to the parents of socially anxious children would lead to a better outcome of a behavior-treatment study consisting of individual and group treatment components such as exposure in-vivo and social skills training, compared to a condition where only children were treated and the parents received no educational course.  Another purpose of Study I was to investigate what influence, if any, co-morbidity has on treatment outcome. The results showed that there was no significant difference between the two treatment groups on any of the primary or secondary outcome measures. Further, the comorbid disorders did not impair the SAD treatment but was rather associated with further improvement, and despite the sole focus on SAD, there was significant improvement in the comorbid disorders. Study II tested the psychometric properties of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children in a sample of children with SAD. The results indicated that the instrument is a both valid and reliable measure. Further, a three-factor solution represented the three areas of SAD commonly found in adult studies, i.e. fear of performance, observation, and interaction situations. Study III explored threat perception and interpretation bias by means of an ambiguous stories task. The results showed that children with SAD deviated significantly from a non-anxious control peer group with regard to their interpretations. Post treatment the threat perception bias was altered in a normal direction, and one year after treatment termination, the SAD sample ratings were comparable to those of the non-anxious children. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Manuscript.</p>

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative neurological condition which affects motor control, in almost all cases involving speech, and is frequently of many years duration. Much is known about speech production but less of the psychosocial consequences of the speech impairment (dysarthria). Accounts of people with dysarthria have shown that its impact on quality of social participation can be varied and profound. However, level of participation has not been investigated. Reduction in social activity and social networks has been found following onset of other neurogenic communication disorders. In Parkinson's disease there is some evidence of social activity reduction but this has not been studied in relation to severity of dysarthria. Social anxiety has been found to be raised in speakers with other speech production impairments and this may be a contributor to reduction in social engagement. Investigation of social variables is of importance in understanding relationships within a biopsychosocial model of health which underpins intervention for therapies for communication disorders. Aims The study aimed to investigate the impact of dysarthria on social participation and whether presence of dysarthria in Parkinson's disease (PD) resulted in changes to social anxiety, social networks and social activity. It further sought to investigate whether severity of dysarthria resulted in changes to the same variables. Method A group of 43 mild-moderately dysarthric speakers with PD were recruited. Exclusion criteria were applied to control for cognitive impairment, depression, apathy, movement disability and co-occurring neurological and communication impairment. A group of 30 non-neurologically impaired participants were recruited matched for age, sex, socioeconomic status and educational attainment. Participants with PD were further grouped using measures of sentence intelligibility and motor speech impairment into higher and lower functioning groups. All participants completed a social anxiety questionnaire, a social activity checklist and detailed their social network. Group data were compared to address the research questions. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with all participants to explore change to social life and perceptions of causes of change. Results Participants reported a range of changes to interaction and social engagement arising from speech and other impairments and also from intra and interpersonal contextual factors. Quantitative data showed that presence of dysarthria was associated with social anxiety and avoidance but not changes to social activity level or social network size. Greater severity of dysarthria was associated with deterioration in social activities and social network. There was wide individual variation on these variables. Outcomes Impact of dysarthria may be significant and unrelated to severity of impairment and satisfaction with level of activity is low in dysarthric speakers. Mild - moderately dysarthric speakers with PD may experience social anxiety in particular types of social situation. Moderately dysarthric speakers may experience loss of social capital in terms of quantitative changes in social networks and social activities. Motor speech impairment was a better predictor of social functioning than intelligibility in this sample. It is possible that a threshold for change lies at a more severe level of speech involvement. How speakers with PD perceive and experience their social interactions is discussed and limitations to the research are considered. The implications of the findings are discussed in relation to the ICF framework and the concept of social capital.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-01-07T12:29:41Z No. of bitstreams: 1 auxiliatricecaneschibadaro.pdf: 1174342 bytes, checksum: 90ffe1861f7fbe186c32125c93aa2c1a (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-01-25T16:42:54Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 auxiliatricecaneschibadaro.pdf: 1174342 bytes, checksum: 90ffe1861f7fbe186c32125c93aa2c1a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-01-25T16:42:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 auxiliatricecaneschibadaro.pdf: 1174342 bytes, checksum: 90ffe1861f7fbe186c32125c93aa2c1a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-09 / A Ansiedade Social tem sido subdiagnosticada na clínica de psicologia devido às comorbidades que apresenta. A depressão tem sido a comorbidade mais frequente relacionada à ansiedade social, e uma das mais graves também, podendo levar à morte do paciente. Nesses casos, os diagnósticos podem se confundir, comprometendo o tratamento. Objetivo: Esse estudo buscou entender melhor, a partir das crenças cognitivas, as semelhanças e diferenças desses transtornos e da influência de um sobre o outro, auxiliando na sua identificação e possibilitando melhores intervenções a partir de uma percepção mais direcionada. Teve como objetivo principal correlacionar os grupos de ansiosos sociais e deprimidos, e entender quais crenças eles compartilham e suas intensidades. Métodos: A população alvo se constituiu de maiores de 18 anos, atendidos pelo Centro de Psicologia Aplicada (CPA) – UFJF e pela Clínica Psicológica do CES, JF. Em acordo com a instituição e os terapeutas que iriam atender esses pacientes, foram selecionadas pessoas que iniciaram o atendimento no CPA e no CES com queixas que tendem a um diagnóstico de depressão ou ansiedade social. Posteriormente foram aplicados os seguintes instrumentos de pesquisa: Inventário de Ansiedade Social Liebowitz, Escala de Depressão Baptista para Adultos – EBADEP-A e Inventário da Tríade Cognitiva - ITC. Os dois primeiros rastrearam a possibilidade de um diagnóstico em ansiedade social e depressão, e o último avaliou as crenças cognitivas desses grupos. Resultados: Os resultados indicaram que deprimidos vivenciam crenças mais disfuncionais sobre si, o mundo e o futuro quando comparados com os ansiosos sociais, de forma que esses grupos se diferenciaram significativamente a partir desse critério. O grupo de comorbidade entre ansiedade social e depressão se mostrou mais comprometido que os outros em relação a essas crenças, se diferenciando do grupo de depressão apenas na crença de “futuro negativo”. Aqueles que apresentaram apenas alto escore em ansiedade social não se mostraram significativamente diferentes dos participantes que não obtiveram pontuações importantes no EBADEP-A e Liebowitz. / Social Anxiety has been underdiagnosed at psychology clinics due the comorbidities it shows. Depression appears frequently between those psychologycal disorders related to social anxiety, figuring as one of the most severe, capable of causing the patient's death. In these cases, diagnoses may be confusing, affecting treatment. Objective: this study sought to better understand, through cognitive beliefs, the similarities and differences between these disorders and its mutual influences, helping to identify them and to improve interventions through more focused perceptions. The main objective was to correlate the groups of social anxious and depressed, and understand which beliefs they share and its intensity. Methods: subjects of the study were people older than 18 years under treatment at the Applied Center of Psychology (CPA) - UFJF and at the Psychologycal Clinic of CES, JF. It was agreed with these institutions and the therapeuts to select those who started their treatment at CPA and CES, and whose complaints leans to a diagnosis of depression or social anxiety. Afterwards, it was applied the following instruments of research: Liebowitz Social Anxiety Inventory, Baptista Depression Scale for Adults - EBADEP-A and Cognitive Triad Inventory - ITC. The first two screened the possibility of social anxiety and depression diagnosis, and the last assessed cognitive beliefs in these groups. Results: the results indicate that depressed individuals experience more dysfunctional beliefs about themselves, the world and the future when compared with socially anxious individuals. Hence, both groups are significantly different concerning this criterion. The group of comorbidity between social anxiety and depression appeared much more affected than the others concerning these beliefs, differing from the depression group only in the "negative future" belief. Those who exhibited high scores only for social anxiety didn't differed significantly from subjects who didn't achieved substantial scores at EBADEP-A and Liebowitz.

Syftet med den här undersökningen är att ta reda om det finns ett samband i relationen mellan social ångest och publik självmedvetenhet och hur denna relation skiljer sig mellan ålder samt kön. Med hjälp av vår enkät som innehöll två mätinstrument som dels mäter social ångest; Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (Mattick &amp; Clarke, 1998), och som mäter självmedvetenhet; Self-Consciousness Scale (Scheier &amp; Carver, 2013), fick vi 319 deltagare där 232 var kvinnor, 94 var män och 2 var icke-binära. Det vi kunde se var att det fanns en relation mellan social ångest och publik självmedvetenhet, och även att yngre åldrar (18–30) kan förutse publik självmedvetenhet tillsammans med social ångest. Det är även tydligt att kvinnor rapporterar mer social ångest än män, men enligt analyserna finns det ingen skillnad mellan kvinnor och män i rapporterad publik självmedvetenhet. Med hjälp av våra analyser hoppas vi väcka större intresse för sambandet mellan publik självmedvetenhet och social ångest, och hur det skiljer sig mellan olika åldrar och kön. / The purpose of this study is to find out whether there is a connection between public self-consciousness and social anxiety, and how this connection differs in different ages and between the sexes. By our questionnaire using two measures that 1; measures social anxiety; Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (Mattick &amp; Clarke, 1998) and 2; measures self-consciousness; Self-Consciousness Scale (Scheier &amp; Carver, 2013), we got 319 participants of which 232 were women, 94 were men and 2 were non-binary. What we could see from the research was that there is a relationship between social anxiety and public self-consciousness, and that younger adults (18-30) can predict public self-consciousness along with social anxiety. It is also clear that women report higher levels of social anxiety, but according to the research there is no difference between women and men in reported public self-consciousness. With the help of our research, we hopefully contribute to answering the question of why these feelings arise in people, or arouse interest in the relationship between social anxiety and public self- consciousness and how it differs between different ages and sexes.