Autism spectrum disorders are developmental disorders characterized by the presence of three core features: impairments in communication and social interaction, the presence of repetitive behaviors and restricted interests. Estimates from the Center for Disease Control indicate that 1 in 88 individuals in the United States will be diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Siblings are especially affected by the birth of an autistic sibling because of increased stress related to living with an autistic sibling. Increased environmental stress and the genetic component of autism has led to the hypothesis that typically developing siblings may be at a risk for behavioral, emotional and social maladjustments, even in the absence of an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis. The current study sought to compare social skills and levels of social anxiety, as measured by self-report scales, of siblings of individuals with ASD to siblings of typically developing individuals across two age ranges. Results indicate that social skills and levels of social anxiety did not differ between individuals with siblings on the autism spectrum and those with typically developing siblings, for both individuals under the age of 18 and over the age of 18. The current results indicate that unaffected siblings of individuals with autism do not differ from their peers with typically developing siblings in measures of social skills, social anxiety and qualitative autistic traits. Environmental factors associated with living with an autistic sibling and the genetic component of autism does not appear to negatively affect the development of neurotypical siblings at any age.

Contemporary cognitive theories argue that socially anxious individuals adopt self-protective behavioural strategies under conditions of perceived social threat in order to prevent or diminish the likelihood of negative social outcomes. When performed in an anxiety-provoking but otherwise innocuous situation, however, safety behaviours are posited to facilitate biased processing of threat-relevant information, disrupt behavioural performance, elicit negative social responses, and ultimately prevent disconfirmation of fear-relevant beliefs. This dissertation project was designed to evaluate the effects of safety behaviour reduction strategies on a number of the core processes relevant to the persistence of pathological social fear. Two studies were conducted to address the following issues: Do safety behaviour reduction strategies influence socially anxious individuals’ (1) self- and social-judgments, (2) social performance, (3) the interpersonal reactions of oneself and others, and (4) appraisals of future social events. In study 1, in vivo safety behaviours were manipulated in a sample of 50 socially anxious students during a laboratory social interaction. Participants were randomly assigned to either a safety behaviour reduction (SB, n = 25) or exposure alone (control, n = 25) condition, and subsequently took part in two conversations with a trained experimental assistant. Results revealed that participants in the SB group displayed more accurate self-judgments of anxiety-related behaviour, improved social performance, and evoked more positive partner reactions. Study 2 was designed to replicate and extend the findings of study 1 in a sample of 80 patients seeking treatment for social anxiety disorder (SAD). Following a baseline conversation, participants were randomly assigned to the graduated exposure (GE, n = 40) or safety behaviour reduction condition (SB, n = 40). Consistent with the findings of study 1, the SB group displayed more accurate self-judgments about visible displays of anxiety, more effective social behaviour, and were better liked by their interaction partner relative to GE participants. Moreover, relative to controls, participants in the SB group made less negative judgments about the likelihood of previously identified feared outcomes pertaining to future social events. Implications of the present findings for elucidating the role of safety behaviours in the maintenance of SAD, and its treatment outcome will be considered.

Social anxiety is associated with an unusually high level of negative affect, yet little is known about the strategies used by socially anxious individuals to manage and regulate their emotions. The present research examined differences in trait and state levels of expressive emotion suppression in high- and low- socially anxious participants, and explored possible causes and consequences of such suppression across two studies. Using self-reports of trait-like characteristics, Study 1 examined a theoretical model positing that individuals high in social anxiety would report greater emotion suppression than those low in social anxiety; and that authenticity, in turn, would predict diminished well-being. Study 2 used self-report measures administered following a brief social interaction in the laboratory to examine group differences in state-like emotion suppression and the effects of such differences on situational authenticity. Additionally, Study 2 investigated the contributions of state negative affect and acceptance of mood to help explain possible increases in emotion suppression in socially anxious participants. The results of Study 1 supported the hypothesis that diminished well-being in individuals with social anxiety is partially accounted for by low authenticity, which, in turn, is partially accounted for by high emotion suppression. Study 2 revealed that socially anxious participants suppressed their emotions more, and felt less authentic than, controls during the social interaction. However, state negative affect and acceptance of mood did not significantly mediate the relationship between group status and state-like emotion suppression. Implications of the present findings are discussed in terms of contemporary cognitive-behavioural theory and treatment, with indications for future directions for research.

The purpose of the current study was to evaluate changes in attentional biases following CBT for Social Phobia. It was found that 1.) consistent with previous investigations, the overall sample displayed vigilance toward threatening facial stimuli prior to receiving treatment, and 2.) participants’ pattern of responding to threatening facial stimuli changed following treat-ment, but only when the sample was divided into those who were vigilant and those who were avoidant prior to treatment. Findings provide support for the presence of two distinct sub-groups with differing attentional styles, one with a tendency for vigilance toward social threats, and a second with a tendency to avoid threat cues. These findings have important implications for how individuals may differentially respond to treatment and may help explain some of the mixed findings in the extant literature on Social Phobia and attention bias.

Recent literature has emphasized the possible benefits to mindfulness practice. Evidence for a negative relation between mindfulness and pathology has come from validity studies of several newly developed, self-report mindfulness questionnaires. Results illustrate a consistent negative relation between levels of self-report mindfulness and symptoms of depression, negative affect, and anxiety among college-student samples, however this relation has been previously untested within a clinical sample. The first aim of the present study was to explore the relation between mindfulness levels and social anxiety symptoms in a clinical sample diagnosed with social phobia. Because past research has found mindfulness interventions to be successful in reducing ruminative tendencies, and because recent literature suggests that post-event rumination is an important process in the maintenance of social anxiety, post-event rumination was explored as a mediator of the relation between mindfulness and social anxiety. Participants (N = 98) completed the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), the Rumination Questionnaire (RQ), the Fear of Negative Evaluations Brief Form (FNE-B), the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), and the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA) as part of their participation in a larger, randomly controlled treatment outcome study comparing Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy, a form of Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy for Social Phobia, and a wait-list control group. Results illustrated a strong negative relation between mindfulness scores (MAAS) and social anxiety symptoms as measured by the FNE-B and the LSAS (ps < .001). However, post-event rumination levels (RQ) were not related to either mindfulness or social anxiety indicating that in the present sample post-event rumination did not act as a mediator for the relation between mindfulness and levels of social anxiety.

Social anxiety is associated with an unusually high level of negative affect, yet little is known about the strategies used by socially anxious individuals to manage and regulate their emotions. The present research examined differences in trait and state levels of expressive emotion suppression in high- and low- socially anxious participants, and explored possible causes and consequences of such suppression across two studies. Using self-reports of trait-like characteristics, Study 1 examined a theoretical model positing that individuals high in social anxiety would report greater emotion suppression than those low in social anxiety; and that authenticity, in turn, would predict diminished well-being. Study 2 used self-report measures administered following a brief social interaction in the laboratory to examine group differences in state-like emotion suppression and the effects of such differences on situational authenticity. Additionally, Study 2 investigated the contributions of state negative affect and acceptance of mood to help explain possible increases in emotion suppression in socially anxious participants. The results of Study 1 supported the hypothesis that diminished well-being in individuals with social anxiety is partially accounted for by low authenticity, which, in turn, is partially accounted for by high emotion suppression. Study 2 revealed that socially anxious participants suppressed their emotions more, and felt less authentic than, controls during the social interaction. However, state negative affect and acceptance of mood did not significantly mediate the relationship between group status and state-like emotion suppression. Implications of the present findings are discussed in terms of contemporary cognitive-behavioural theory and treatment, with indications for future directions for research.

Negotiation poses a unique challenge in the modern workplace which is likely to be especially difficult for socially anxious individuals. Previous research has shown that externally focused attention strategies are useful at alleviating social anxiety symptoms and in helping improve negotiation outcomes; however this intervention has never been examined amongst socially anxious negotiators. This study examined the effect of external- and self-focused attention manipulations on anxiety, perspective (observer-field), and monetary negotiation outcomes. Thirty-eight high social anxiety (HSA) and 52 low social anxiety (LSA) female participants completed a dyadic negotiation simulation with a partner. The external-focus manipulation was successful at increasing attention focus in the desired direction, while the self-focus manipulation was not and, thus, was discarded from subsequent analyses. Results demonstrated that externally focused attention resulted in significant decreases in state anxiety during the negotiation and a significant shift in perspective from observer to field, for participants in both the HSA and LSA groups. However, these changes did not translate into better objective negotiation performance, as measured by the total commission (i.e., money) earned. The implications of the results for social anxiety and the development of workplace intervention programs are discussed.

Verbal irony, a form of figurative language, uses the discrepancy between a speaker’s intended meaning and the literal word meanings to achieve social goals. Yet, little research exists on individual differences that may disrupt irony understanding. Verbal irony may challenge shy children, who tend to interpret ambiguous stimuli as being threatening, and who have difficulties with mentalizing in social contexts. This study assessed whether shy children interpret ironic statements differently than do non-shy children. Children (8- to11-year-olds) listened to stories wherein one character made a statement to another character that was a literal or ironic criticism or a literal or ironic compliment. Children appraised the speaker’s belief and communicative intention. Shyness was assessed using self report measures of social anxiety symptoms and shy negative affect. Shy children did not differ from non-shy peers in comprehending speakers’ beliefs. However, shy children rated speakers who made ironic criticisms as being more mean than did children low in shyness. Thus, while understanding that speakers intended to communicate their true beliefs, shy children construed the social meaning of irony differently, indicating difficulties with pragmatics. Such subtle differences in pragmatic understanding may underlie some of the social difficulties facing shy children.

Recent literature has emphasized the possible benefits to mindfulness practice. Evidence for a negative relation between mindfulness and pathology has come from validity studies of several newly developed, self-report mindfulness questionnaires. Results illustrate a consistent negative relation between levels of self-report mindfulness and symptoms of depression, negative affect, and anxiety among college-student samples, however this relation has been previously untested within a clinical sample. The first aim of the present study was to explore the relation between mindfulness levels and social anxiety symptoms in a clinical sample diagnosed with social phobia. Because past research has found mindfulness interventions to be successful in reducing ruminative tendencies, and because recent literature suggests that post-event rumination is an important process in the maintenance of social anxiety, post-event rumination was explored as a mediator of the relation between mindfulness and social anxiety. Participants (N = 98) completed the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), the Rumination Questionnaire (RQ), the Fear of Negative Evaluations Brief Form (FNE-B), the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), and the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA) as part of their participation in a larger, randomly controlled treatment outcome study comparing Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy, a form of Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy for Social Phobia, and a wait-list control group. Results illustrated a strong negative relation between mindfulness scores (MAAS) and social anxiety symptoms as measured by the FNE-B and the LSAS (ps < .001). However, post-event rumination levels (RQ) were not related to either mindfulness or social anxiety indicating that in the present sample post-event rumination did not act as a mediator for the relation between mindfulness and levels of social anxiety.

Negotiation poses a unique challenge in the modern workplace which is likely to be especially difficult for socially anxious individuals. Previous research has shown that externally focused attention strategies are useful at alleviating social anxiety symptoms and in helping improve negotiation outcomes; however this intervention has never been examined amongst socially anxious negotiators. This study examined the effect of external- and self-focused attention manipulations on anxiety, perspective (observer-field), and monetary negotiation outcomes. Thirty-eight high social anxiety (HSA) and 52 low social anxiety (LSA) female participants completed a dyadic negotiation simulation with a partner. The external-focus manipulation was successful at increasing attention focus in the desired direction, while the self-focus manipulation was not and, thus, was discarded from subsequent analyses. Results demonstrated that externally focused attention resulted in significant decreases in state anxiety during the negotiation and a significant shift in perspective from observer to field, for participants in both the HSA and LSA groups. However, these changes did not translate into better objective negotiation performance, as measured by the total commission (i.e., money) earned. The implications of the results for social anxiety and the development of workplace intervention programs are discussed.