Social Anxiety Is Related to Deficits in Social Reward Processing: The Role of Controllability.

Social reward processing in individuals with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review of the social motivation hypothesis

BackgroundSocial motivation theory suggests that deficits in social reward processing underlie social impairments in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, the extent to which abnormalities in reward processing generalize to other classes of stimuli remains unresolved. The aim of the current study was to examine if reward processing abnormalities in ASD are specific to social stimuli or can be generalized to other classes of reward. Additionally, we sought to examine the results in the light of behavioral impairments in ASD.MethodsParticipants performed adapted versions of the social and monetary incentive delay tasks. Data from 21 unmedicated right-handed male participants with ASD and 21 age- and IQ-matched controls were analyzed using a factorial design to examine the blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) response during the anticipation and receipt of both reward types.ResultsBehaviorally, the ASD group showed less of a reduction in reaction time (RT) for rewarded compared to unrewarded trials than the control group. In terms of the fMRI results, there were no significant group differences in reward circuitry during reward anticipation. During the receipt of rewards, there was a significant interaction between group and reward type in the left dorsal striatum (DS). The ASD group showed reduced activity in the DS compared to controls for social rewards but not monetary rewards and decreased activation for social rewards compared to monetary rewards. Controls showed no significant difference between the two reward types. Increased activation in the DS during social reward processing was associated with faster response times for rewarded trials, compared to unrewarded trials, in both groups. This is in line with behavioral results indicating that the ASD group showed less of a reduction in RT for rewarded compared to unrewarded trials. Additionally, de-activation to social rewards was associated with increased repetitive behavior in ASD.ConclusionsIn line with social motivation theory, the ASD group showed reduced activation, compared to controls, during the receipt of social rewards in the DS. Groups did not differ significantly during the processing of monetary rewards. BOLD activation in the DS, during social reward processing, was associated with behavioral impairments in ASD.

Physical inactivity is a significant public health issue among female college students. This study aimed to explore the complex relationship between self-rated health (SRH), social anxiety (SA), and physical activity (PA) in a sample of female Chinese university students, employing both variable-centered and person-centered approaches. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a sample of 1,452 female Chinese university students who completed the Self-Perceived Health Scale (to measure SRH), the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale-6 and the Social Phobia Scale-6 (to measure SA), and a validated single-item measure of PA (to measure PA). First, a mediation model was used to test the indirect effect of SRH on PA through SA. Second, Latent Profile Analysis was conducted to identify distinct subgroups based on individuals' SRH and SA levels. Finally, ANOVA was used to examine PA differences across the identified profiles. The mediation analysis revealed that SA partially mediated the relationship between SRH and PA, accounting for 12% of the total effect (CI [0.011, 0.090]). The Latent Profile Analysis identified three distinct profiles: "Healthy-Resilient" (21.62%), characterized by high SRH and low SA; "Moderate-Adapting" (70.39%), with average SRH and SA; and "Unhealthy-Anxious" (7.99%), with low SRH and high SA. The "Unhealthy-Anxious" group reported significantly lower levels of PA than the other two groups. Our findings suggest that SA is a significant psychological mechanism linking SRH to PA among female Chinese university students. From a public health perspective, these findings highlight the importance of addressing mental health factors, such as SA, in interventions designed to promote PA in this population. The identification of distinct subgroups underscores the need for tailored interventions over one-size-fits-all approaches.

Event Abstract Back to Event Post-event processing and physiological arousal in social anxiety Kiho Kim1* 1 Chung-Ang University, Seoul, South Korea Individuals with social anxiety ruminate for hours or even day over their perceived social failures, a process known in the cognitive model of social phobia as post-event processing (PEP) (Clark & Wells, 1995). PEP is unproductive and theoretically maintains anxiety, possibly through the rehearsal and elaboration of negative social memories. Despite this theoretical emphasis, to date, PEP has not been studied extensively in the context of social anxiety. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between social anxiety and PEP. To examine this relationship, changes in skin conductance level of 19 individuals with high social anxiety (HSA) and 21 individuals with low social anxiety (LSA) were measured during a social anxiety-inducing task. The task consisted of a 4-min social interaction with two unknown confederates: ‘1-min self-introduction’, and ‘3-min conversation about ideal type’. Prior to the task, a baseline skin conductance level was assessed, and after the task, participants were given a five minutes recovery period. Also, PEP was measured using post-event rumination scales and memory bias tests after a recovery period. Results indicated that HSA shows significantly higher skin conductance level than LSA during the task and a recovery period. These findings suggest that compared to LSA, HSA may show not only increased physiological arousal levels during social anxiety-inducing period but also delayed recovery from it. Also, HSA shows a higher probability to PEP than LSA. These results provide an empirical support for the idea that PEP would play a crucial role in the development or maintenance of social anxiety. These findings may provide valuable information regarding the treatment of individuals with social anxiety. Keywords: Neuropsychiatry, social anxiety Conference: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI), Palma, Mallorca, Spain, 25 Sep - 29 Sep, 2011. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Poster Sessions: Neuropsychiatric Applications Citation: Kim K (2011). Post-event processing and physiological arousal in social anxiety. Conference Abstract: XI International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON XI). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2011.207.00119 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 17 Nov 2011; Published Online: 25 Nov 2011. * Correspondence: Dr. Kiho Kim, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Seoul, South Korea, kihohere@gmail.com Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Kiho Kim Google Kiho Kim Google Scholar Kiho Kim PubMed Kiho Kim Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Social anxiety, acute social stress, and reward parameters interact to predict risky decision-making among adolescents

Numerous studies have established a correlation between social anxiety and poor cognitive control. However, little is known about the cognitive control pattern of individuals with high social anxiety (HSAs) and the underlying mechanisms. Based on the Dual Mechanisms of Control framework and the Expected Value of Control theory, this study explored whether HSAs have an impaired cognitive control pattern (Experiment 1) and whether motivational deficiencies underlie the impaired control pattern (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, 21 individuals with low social anxiety (LSAs) and 21 HSAs completed an AX-Continuous Performance Task. Results showed that HSAs had a smaller P3b amplitude than LSAs, indicating their weakened proactive control in the cue processing stage, but a larger contingent negative variation (CNV) on cue B as compensation for the negative effects of anxiety in the response preparation stage. No group difference was found in N2 and P3a amplitude on probes, suggesting that reactive control in HSAs was not affected compared to LSAs. In Experiment 2, 21 LSAs and 21 HSAs completed a cued-flanker task, where the likelihood of proactive control engagement was manipulated. The results revealed that HSAs exhibited motivation deficiencies in engaging in proactive control, as evidenced by P3b, CNV amplitude, and response times. These findings shed light on the impaired cognitive control pattern of HSAs and suggest that motivational deficiencies may be the crucial underlying factor.

The recognition of dynamic-emotional faces in individuals with high and low social anxiety: An ERP study

The research examined whether clusters of loneliness and social anxiety could be identified through latent profile analysis in a longitudinal study of 892 Chinese adolescents (47.8% male), on average 12.96 (SD = 0.62) years old. Six clusters were identified: (a) low loneliness and social anxiety, (b) average loneliness and social anxiety, (c) high social anxiety and low loneliness, (d) high loneliness and low social anxiety, (e) moderate loneliness and social anxiety, and (f) high loneliness and social anxiety. Findings indicated that baseline family dysfunction and school-related stress served as risk factors for membership in the clusters representing higher levels of loneliness and social anxiety compared to the low cluster. Controlling for the baseline levels of respective outcomes, 6 clusters were differentially related to subsequent comprehensive mental health outcomes, underscoring the importance of the roles of both the loneliness and social anxiety processes in adolescents' mental health. Furthermore, these findings indicated that the interactions between social anxiety and loneliness within individuals were differentially related to levels of comprehensive mental health outcomes, implying the need for intervention programs to be tailored to the members of the specific clusters. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

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.

Earlier research has revealed implicit avoidance of social stimuli in social anxiety (SA). This study investigated such reactions in anticipation of social interaction. High (n = 24) and low (n = 22) SA females were assessed in anticipation of a getting-acquainted conversation (anticipation) and in a no-conversation-expected (neutral) condition. The Face-Turn Approach Avoidance Task was used in which participants responded to profiles of human faces or control stimuli by either pulling (approach) or pushing (avoidance) a joystick. Upon pulling, the stimuli turned toward the participant, while they turned away upon pushing. The results demonstrated the expected decreased approach response to faces in the neutral condition for the high SAs compared to the low SAs group. Unexpectedly, in the anticipation condition the high SAs showed increased approach tendencies to faces whereas, the low SAs demonstrated a decreased approach response. The implicit social approach response of the high SAs in the anticipation condition is discussed.

Apprehension about the future: Investigating the phenomenological characteristics of episodic future thinking in socially anxious adolescents

Self-compassion constitutes a positive way of relating towards the self that enables emotional regulation and reduces emotional distress. This research first explored differences among a sample of persons with social anxiety disorder (SAD) and groups of high socially anxious (HSA) and low socially anxious (LSA) students on self-compassion, emotion regulation, and social anxiety. We then investigated emotional regulation as a mediator of the prediction of social anxiety by self-compassion and the influence of depressed mood on those relationships. Study 1 compared a SAD group to matched groups of HSA and LSA students. Study 2 utilized the total sample (n=330 students and n=33 SAD) to test mediation. Self-compassion and emotion regulation were predictors of social anxiety and depression a covariate. In Study 1, the SAD group did not differ from the HSA group on most aspects of self-compassion and emotional regulation but was higher on depression. Both were lower on most measures and higher on depression than the LSA group. In Study 2, higher self-compassion predicted lower social interaction anxiety, and emotional regulation strategies mediated this effect, regardless of depression. However, for social performance anxiety, controlling for depression removed mediation. Refraining from uncompassionate responses was directly connected to social anxiety, whereas compassionate responses influenced social anxiety via emotional regulation. Results affirm the ameliorative role of self-compassion on social anxiety and emotion regulation strategies as mechanisms of that influence. However, self-compassion's influence was affected by depression and type of social anxiety. Also, refraining from uncompassionate self-responding appears to be of prime importance in predicting social anxiety, whereas compassionate self-responding influences social anxiety via emotion regulation.

Self-disclosure taking place in computer-mediated communication (CMC) is generally associated with enhanced well-being because it evokes a greater sense of connectedness. It has been established that the magnitude of the benefits reaped from online self-disclosure is conditional on social anxiety (under the lens of the poor-get-richer vs. rich-get-richer hypotheses) or audience size. What remains to be understood is whether those with low (compared to high) social anxiety experience greater social connectedness and subjective well-being in dyadic and/or masspersonal CMC. A sample of 411 Canadian undergraduate students (aged 17–21 years old) self-reported their anxiety in social situations, online self-disclosure in dyadic and masspersonal communication, current feelings of social connectedness, and subjective well-being. Model 7 of the PROCESS macro for SPSS was used to test the indirect effect of online self-disclosure on subjective well-being through feelings of social connectedness, conditioned on values of social anxiety. The model was run separately for dyadic and masspersonal CMC. Online self-disclosure was associated with positive outcomes only for those with high social anxiety. In both contexts, online self-disclosure was associated with enhanced social connectedness and in turn more positive subjective well-being. In contrast, for those with low social anxiety, increases in self-disclosure in masspersonal CMC was associated with decreases in social connectedness and poorer well-being. The indirect effect was not significant for dyadic CMC. Overall, the findings contribute to a more informed understanding of online self-disclosure as a double-edged sword. Theoretical implications for the poor-get-richer and rich-get-richer perspectives are discussed.

Objective: Social anxiety may maintain alcohol dependence through increased reactivity to stressful events, a propensity to drink to cope with stressful events, or both. The current study is a secondary analysis of an existing data set that examined differences between individuals with alcohol dependence and concurrent high and low social anxiety in objective and subjective stress reactivity to a laboratory stressor (Trier Social Stress Test [TSST]), as well as consumption of alcohol following the stressor. Methods: Forty participants with alcohol dependence (20 women) were randomly assigned to the TSST condition as part of the parent study. Post hoc analysis of social anxiety measures yielded high (n = 19) and low (n = 21) social anxiety groups. Participants completed the TSST, followed by a small dose of their favorite alcoholic beverage (target blood alcohol concentration 0.03 g/dL) to prime subsequent laboratory drinking. Participants received a sham beer taste test of 2 glasses (710 mL total) of beer. Differences between high and low social anxiety groups were assessed via subjective and objective (mean arterial pressure, serum cortisol) reactivity to the TSST and consumption of alcohol during the taste test (total mLs consumed, mLs/kg of body weight, and likelihood of consuming all the beer available). Results: No differences emerged in either objective or subjective measures of stress reactivity between high and low social anxiety groups. There were also no differences between social anxiety groups in amount of alcohol consumed during the taste test. Conclusions: No differences were observed between high and low social anxiety participants with concurrent alcohol dependence on stress reactivity or alcohol consumption following a stressor. Given that all participants in this study had alcohol dependence, negative results may suggest that heightened stress reactivity and drinking to cope are more relevant to the development of alcohol dependence and that other factors may maintain alcohol use once dependence has developed.

ABSTRACTPrevious research on physiological indices of social anxiety has offered unclear results. In this study, participants with low and high social anxiety performed five social interaction tasks while being recorded with a thermal camera. Each task was associated with a dimension assessed by the Social Anxiety Questionnaire for Adults (1 = Interactions with strangers. 2 = Speaking in public/Talking with people in authority, 3 = Criticism and embarrassment, 4 = Assertive expression of annoyance, disgust or displeasure, 5 = Interactions with the opposite sex). Mixed-effects models revealed that the temperature of the tip of the nose decreased significantly in participants with low (vs. high) social anxiety (p < 0.001), while no significant differences were found in other facial regions of interest: forehead (p = 0.999) and cheeks (p = 0.999). Furthermore, task 1 was the most effective at discriminating between the thermal change of the nose tip and social anxiety, with a trend for a higher nose temperature in participants with high social anxiety and a lower nose temperature for the low social anxiety group. We emphasize the importance of corroborating thermography with specific tasks as an ecological method, and tip of the nose thermal change as a psychophysiological index associated with social anxiety.