Does cognitive reappraisal reduce anxiety? A daily diary study of a micro-intervention with individuals with high social anxiety.

Abstract

To examine emotion regulation (ER) among individuals with high (HSA) and low social anxiety (LSA) and the effects of 1 week of practiced cognitive reappraisal using self-report, daily diary measures and lab tasks. HSAs received reappraisal (HSA-R; n = 43) or monitoring (HSA-M; n = 40) instructions. LSAs received monitoring instructions (LSA-M; n = 41). Self-report measures of social anxiety and ER, and a lab task of reappraisal were administered at baseline and after 1 week. Daily diaries of anxiety and ER were also collected. At baseline, HSAs compared with LSAs reported lower self-efficacy of reappraisal and higher frequency and self-efficacy of suppression, but no differences emerged in the reappraisal task. Following the intervention, the HSA-R compared with the HSA-M reported lower symptom severity, greater self-efficacy of reappraisal but equal daily anxiety. HSA-R used reappraisal mostly combined with suppression (74.76% of situations). Post hoc analyses demonstrated that clinical diagnosis, but not severity, moderated the intervention effect. The results demonstrate the efficacy of a short intervention in social anxiety, and provide additional areas of research for improving its treatment.