Development of Social Anxiety: Social Interaction Predictors of Implicit and Explicit Fear of Negative Evaluation

Abstract

Little is known about how to predict which individuals with known temperament vulnerabilities will go on to develop social anxiety problems. Adolescents (N = 185) were followed from age 13 to 18 to evaluate psychosocial, prospective predictors of social anxiety symptoms and fears of negative evaluation (FNE), after accounting for pre-existing social withdrawal symptoms. Results from structural equation modeling suggest that lack of perceived social acceptance predicts subsequent explicit social anxiety and FNE, whereas the emotional intensity of close peer interactions predicts subsequent implicit FNE. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of peer interaction in the development of social anxiety, and the value of measuring both implicit and explicit FNE. KeywordsSocial anxiety; Fear of negative evaluation; Implicit; Peer interaction Social anxiety and fear of negative evaluation (FNE) are risk factors for numerous maladaptive outcomes, including depression (Stein, Tancer, Gelernter, Vittone, & Uhde, 1990), restricted development of interpersonal relationships (Schneier, Johnson, Hornig, Leibowitz, & Weissman, 1992), poor academic functioning (Turner, Beidel, Dancu, & Keys, 1986), and heightened risk for substance abuse (Page & Andrews, 1996). Given the serious consequences that can follow from social anxiety symptoms, it is essential to determine which individuals are most vulnerable. Although broad vulnerability factors have been known for some time, such as a withdrawn, behaviorally inhibited temperament (e.g., Biederman et al., 1993), little is known about how to predict which particular individuals will go on to develop social anxiety later in life, suggesting the importance of intervening life experiences in the manifestation of anxiety (Turner, Beidel, & Wolff, 1996). Specifically, " prospective studies of children characterized as shy or behaviorally inhibited suggest that a proportion of them will develop anxiety during adolescence. However, to date, it is unclear how to determine which children are likely to develop more severe disorders." (Beidel, Morris, & Turner, 2004, p. 147).In part, this difficulty has arisen because of the paucity of longitudinal, prospective data to shed light on the intervening psychosocial factors and life experiences that exacerbate a given predisposition to become socially anxious (though see exciting work byMorris, 2001;Warren, Huston, Egeland, & Sroufe, 1997, among others NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript sectional and retrospective studies have suggested the importance of the familial environment, peer relationships, information processing styles and conditioning experiences as critical to the etiology of social anxiety (see excellent reviews by Beidel & Turner, 1998;Hudson & Rapee, 2000;Vasey & Dadds, 2001), it has been difficult to account for the potential influence of biases in recall or the temporal ambiguity inherent in retrospective and cross-sectional studies. Thus, the current study followed a prospect...

Measuring implicit attitudes: A positive framing bias flaw in the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP).

“…The IAT has shown promise in predicting self-harm (Randall, Rowe, Dong, Nock, & Colman 2013), social anxiety disorders (Teachman & Allen, 2007) and suicidal ideation (Harrison, Stritzke, Fay, Ellison, & Hudaib, 2014). The current study questions the validity of a recently developed implicit measure, the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP; BarnesHolmes, Barnes-Holmes, Stewart, & Boles, 2010a), which has also been used with vulnerable populations.…”

“…One reason for measuring implicit attitudes is that participants may use self-presentation tactics or respond in a socially desirable manner on explicit self-reports to avoid being perceived as prejudiced. Implicit measures can also be useful in areas where participants might be unwilling to reveal personal psychological attributes or are unaware of these psychological attributes (for a review of implicit attitudes and the tools used to measure them see Gawronski & De Houwer, 2014).The current gold standard method for assessing implicit attitudes is the Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998) and this tool has been increasingly used in clinically relevant areas (see https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/pimh/).The IAT has shown promise in predicting self-harm (Randall, Rowe, Dong, Nock, & Colman 2013), social anxiety disorders (Teachman & Allen, 2007) and suicidal ideation (Harrison, Stritzke, Fay, Ellison, & Hudaib, 2014). The current study questions the validity of a recently developed implicit measure, the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP; BarnesHolmes, Barnes-Holmes, Stewart, & Boles, 2010a), which has also been used with vulnerable populations.…”

Association Between the Catechol-O-Methyltransferase Val158Met Polymorphism and Self-Perceived Social Acceptance in Adolescent Girls

“…A large body of research has established that low perceived social acceptance is a risk factor for emotional difficulties in adolescents (Cole et al 1996;Kistner et al 1999;Brendgen et al 2002;Teachman and Allen 2007). The current study is the first, however, to demonstrate a genetic association with this risk factor.…”

“…Indeed, low perceived social acceptance in youth is associated with increased depressive symptoms and diagnosed depression (Cole et al 1996;Kistner et al 1999;Brendgen et al 2002), as well as with social anxiety (Teachman and Allen 2007). Despite the wealth of evidence linking children's perception of their social status with emotional well-being, we know much less about the role that genes play in the origins of perceived social acceptance.…”

Çalışanların Olumsuz Değerlendirilme Korkusunun Örgütsel Sessizlik Üzerine Etkisi - Effect of Fear of Negative Evaluation of Employees on Organizational Silence

“…Dolayısıyla sosyal kaygı, utangaçlık, şüphe duyma, endişelenme, korku gibi bireyin performansını kısıtlayan, iletişim becerisini engelleyen, beslenme alışkanlıklarını düşüren ve öz güvenini azaltan nedenlerin temelinde olumsuz değerlendirilme korkusu yer almaktadır (Amico ve diğ., 2003;Beidel, Morris ve Turner, 2004;Carleton, Collimore ve Asmundson, 2007;Durmuş, 2008; Hamarta, 2009;Ünal, Arık ve Uzun, 2016). Sosyal kaygı ve olumsuz değerlendirilme korkusu, kişilerarası ilişkilerin bozulması, güvensizlik ve depresyon da dâhil olmak üzere birçok istenmeyen ve kritik sonuçlar için önemli risk faktörleridir (Teachman ve Allen, 2007).…”