Discerning the Role of Executive Function on Repetitive Negative Thinking in Social Anxiety: Investigation Using Attentional Control Theory

Abstract

Cognitive models of social anxiety disorder (SAD) emphasize repetitive negative thinking as a prominent maintaining factor that occurs both before (anticipatory processing) and after (post-event processing) social-evaluative events. While evidence suggests that repetitive negative thinking is a maladaptive process that has damaging cognitive, behavioural, and affective consequences for those with SAD, the cognitive mechanisms thought to underlie ineffective control of attention on these modes of thought was unclear. Cognitive interference theories, such as attentional control theory, propose that high levels of anxiety negatively impact the processing efficiency on tasks that require high cognitive resources. Accordingly, this thesis aimed to elucidate the role of executive functions on repetitive negative thinking in social anxiety by employing a combination of self-report and experimental methodologies with social anxiety analogue samples. Studies 1A and 1B explored the correlational relationships between social anxiety, anticipatory processing and post-event processing, and attentional control, as an initial step prior to conducting experimental studies. Poorer total attentional control was associated with social anxiety in both studies and diminished attentional shifting was associated with increased levels of PEP, but not AP. Mediation modelling suggested that trait anxiety mediated the relationship between attentional shifting and PEP, and positive affect mediated the relationship between total attentional control and PEP. Drawing from attentional control theory, studies 2 and 3, manipulated both anticipatory processing (study 2) and post-event processing (study 3), to examine the underlying executive functions responsible for ineffective control of attention in anxiety (i.e., inhibition and shifting) using the mixed emotional saccade task. Both studies 2 and 3 did not demonstrate an anxiety-related effect on attentional control and were comparable in showing that both AP and PEP appear to have an adaptive component on attentional control for low socially anxious individuals as indicated by improved task performance. Taken together, these findings highlight that other potential factors may underlie anticipatory and post-event processing in social anxiety, which appear to be complex and interacting. For example, other potential contributing factors that underlie AP and PEP may include the role of motivation, manipulating the cognitive load of the task, self-control strength, and valence of AP and PEP thoughts. However, an examination of these factors was beyond the aim and scope of the current PhD research program and needs to be investigated in future research.