Cognitive models of social phobia (Clark & Wells, 1995; Rapee & Heimberg, 1997)
theorize that the dysfunctional cognitive processes maintain the fear people with
social anxiety have in social situations. Research has shown that there are three
stages of cognitive processes that contribute to social anxiety: anticipatory
processing, in-situation processing, and post-event processing. This study
investigated differences in these three cognitive processes between 252 individuals
with high and low social anxiety in Hong Kong. Study 1 developed
Chinese-language self-report measures of anticipatory processing by translating two
English measures. It also investigated anticipatory processing questionnaires in
terms of internal consistency, factor structure, and concurrent validity. It further
examined differences in anticipatory processing between the two groups. The
Chinese versions of the two measures of anticipatory processing—the Anticipatory
Processing Questionnaire (APQ) and the Measure of Mental Anticipation Processes
(MMAP)—showed good to excellent psychometric properties. The factor structure
of the Chinese APQ was consistent with the original version (Vassilopoulos, 2004).
The MMAP was best explained by two factors, as opposed to the original four.
Results from the surveys indicated that individuals with high social anxiety were
more likely to engage in maladaptive anticipatory processing.
Study 2 experimentally induced distraction, positive, and negative anticipatory
processing in sixty-three participants with high and low social anxiety who then
gave an impromptu speech. The effects of processing style on anxiety, confidence,
and cognitive processing during the speech (self-focused attention) were measured.
Positive anticipatory processing increased confidence before the speech for both
high and low socially anxious groups, whereas negative anticipatory processing
decreased confidence. There was no significant effect of processing manipulation
on anxiety. Negative anticipatory processing led to marginally higher scores on the
Self-focus Attention subscale of the Focus of Attention Questionnaire (FAQ).
Furthermore, people with high social anxiety were found to be more likely than their
low socially anxious counterparts to engage in self-focused attention and post-event
processing.
These findings give evidence that high and low socially anxious individuals differ in
anticipatory processing, self-focused attention, and post-event processing.
Furthermore, positive anticipatory processing increases confidence before social
situations, but fails to reduce anxiety. This contributes to the understanding of
differences in cognitive processing between individuals with high and low social
anxiety. / published_or_final_version / Clinical Psychology / Doctoral / Doctor of Psychology
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:HKU/oai:hub.hku.hk:10722/179881 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Chan, Cindy., 陳皓宜. |
| Publisher | The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) |
| Source Sets | Hong Kong University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | PG_Thesis |
| Source | http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B47656906 |
| Rights | The author retains all proprietary rights, (such as patent rights) and the right to use in future works., Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License |
| Relation | HKU Theses Online (HKUTO) |
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