Attention allocation and social worries predict interpretations of peer-related social cues in adolescents

Simone P.W Haller,Brianna R Doherty,Mihaela Duta,Kathrin Cohen Kadosh,Jennifer Y.F Lau,Gaia Scerif

doi:10.1016/j.dcn.2017.03.004

Simone P.W Haller, Brianna R Doherty + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2017.03.004

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Abstract

Adolescence is a sensitive period for increases in normative but also debilitating social fears and worries. As the interpretation of interpersonal cues is pertinent to social anxiety, investigating mechanisms that may underlie biases in social cue appraisal is important.Fifty-one adolescents from the community aged 14–19 were presented with self- and other-relevant naturalistic social scenes for 5s and then required to rate either a negative or a positive interpretation of the scene. Eye-tracking data were collected during the free viewing period to index attentional deployment. Individual differences in social worries were measured via self-report.Social anxiety levels significantly predicted biases in interpretation ratings across scenes. Additionally, cumulative attentional deployment to peer cues also predicted these interpretation biases: participants who spent more time on facial displays perceived more threat, i.e. endorsed more negative and less positive interpretations. Self-relevant scenes yielded greater tendencies to draw negative interpretations. Finally, older adolescents also selected more benign interpretations.Social anxiety is associated with a bias in interpreting social cues; a cognitive bias that is also influenced by attentional deployment. This study contributes to our understanding of the possible attention mechanisms that shape cognitions relevant to social anxiety in this at-risk age group.

Highlights

IntroductionSocial interactions are central to well-being across the life span, with different relationships (e.g., caregivers, peers, romantic relations) taking center stage at different developmental periods (Nelson, Jarcho & Guyer, 2016)
Social interactions are central to well-being across the life span, with different relationships taking center stage at different developmental periods (Nelson, Jarcho & Guyer, 2016)
As previous research has shown that negative interpretations are pronounced when situations are processed in a self-related manner (Amin, Foa & Coles, 1998; Vassilopolous et al, 2012), we further explored the effect of a selfrelated visual cue on viewing patterns and interpretations

Summary

Introduction

Social interactions are central to well-being across the life span, with different relationships (e.g., caregivers, peers, romantic relations) taking center stage at different developmental periods (Nelson, Jarcho & Guyer, 2016). Age-of-onset data further suggests that adolescence is a developmentally sensitive juncture for the emergence of more impairing, clinical levels of social fears and worries. These tend to persist and account for a significant proportion of adult Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD; e.g., Kessler et al, 2005). Preferential allocation of attention to socially threatening cues (e.g, faces or words) and negative interpretations of ambiguous social cues (e.g., a frown, a pause in a conversation, a smile) have been linked to social fears and worries in youths (e.g., Muris & Field, 2008) These biases are thought to shape experiences of the social world and maintain fears by increasing perceived negative social feedback (Clark & Wells, 1995; Rapee & Heimberg, 1997).

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