Anxious Persons Research Articles

Personality traits of patients suffering extreme dental anxiety

In order to investigate the relationship between dental anxiety and some personality traits, a group of 103 patients suffering extreme dental anxiety and therefore enrolled in a special treatment program were compared with controls sampled at random. The mean scores of the controls on dental anxiety measurements and on questionnaires dealing with personality traits were transformed into 50 with standard deviation equal to 10 to make them mutually comparable, and these subsequently were used as reference points, from which the likewise transformed mean scores of the anxiety group have to differ substantially if both groups stem from different populations. The mean scores were tested for difference with ANOVA. It appears that the anxious patients are more neurotic, i.e. more unstable, than the controls. Moreover, the patients feel themselves more uncertain with regard to having control, are less decisive, have a lower self-esteem, are less inclined to act and are, in general, anxious persons. These findings may have implications for selecting the most appropriate approach for amelioration of their anxiety or support of their coping capacity.

Saint Margaret Clitherow and Alexander Pope: An Unexpected Link

FATHER JOHN MUSH, biographer of Saint Margaret Clitherow, the quater-centenary of whose martyrdom has been commemorated this year, recorded within three months of her death that after her condemnation her kinsfolk and friends ‘laboured much’ to persuade her to claim a respite on account of a pregnancy of which she was uncertain. He had no need to identify these anxious and distressed persons, for his earliest readers in York and its neighbourhood would be aware of their identity. When, however, his True Report began to spread secretly in manuscript to other parts of the country where its subject was unknown, the circumstances of the saint's life and the almost unique nature of her constancy were less well understood and appreciated. Fr. Mush tells us that Margaret, whose mother was ‘a rich widow’, had ‘many worldly friends’; her maternal kinsfolk, it has now been discovered, were among the élite of York at a time when the Queen's Council in the North Parts, which had its headquarters in that city, was one of the most active instruments in the country for the suppression of the ‘old religion’.

Production Principles for Turn-Taking Rules in Social Interaction: Socially Anxious vs. Socially Secure Persons

Turn-taking rules are one of the social abilities that are widely shared among social actors. Mutual adherence to these rules allows social interactions to proceed smoothly as the back and forth flow of speaking and listening roles are regulated. Evidence reviewed here suggests that certain behaviours involved in turn-taking rules, in particular eye gaze aversion, body-focused gesture, and pausing, are employed differently by socially anxious and socially secure persons. Possible reasons for such differences in the production of these behaviours by these two groups are discussed. The cognitive load experienced by socially anxious persons may explain why high anxious persons would exhibit more of these behaviours than low socially anxious persons. A secondary data analysis is reported testing this hypothesis on high and low socially anxious persons under conditions of greater and lesser cognitive load. Results supportive of the hypothesis were obtained for gesture and for pausing (but only for males) indicating that high socially anxious persons exhibit more of these behaviours under high load than do the less socially anxious. The data for gaze aversion did not support the hypothesis, exhibiting a trend in the opposite direction for males. Implications for training are discussed.

On the self-serving function of social anxiety: Shyness as a self-handicapping strategy.

We tested the hypothesis that socially anxious or shy individuals use their anxiety symptoms as a strategy to control attributions made about their performances in social-evaluative settings (i.e., self-handicapping strategies). Specifically, we predicted that trait-socially anxious or shy persons would report more symptoms of social anxiety in an evaluative setting in which anxiety or shyness could serve as an excuse for poor performance than would individuals in (a) an evaluative setting in which shyness was precluded as an excuse or (b) a nonevaluative setting. Furthermore, we predicted that this self-protective pattern of symptom reporting would not occur for individuals who were not trait-socially anxious because these persons would not commonly use such symptoms as a self-handicapping strategy. Results supported these predictions for male subjects, but not for female subjects. Sex differences in the strategic use of shyness are discussed in relation to other research on sex differences in the etiology and correlates of social anxiety.

On the self-serving function of social anxiety: shyness as a self-handicapping strategy.

We tested the hypothesis that socially anxious or shy individuals use their anxiety symptoms as a strategy to control attributions made about their performances in social-evaluative settings (i.e., self-handicapping strategies). Specifically, we predicted that trait-socially anxious or shy persons would report more symptoms of social anxiety in an evaluative setting in which anxiety or shyness could serve as an excuse for poor performance than would individuals in (a) an evaluative setting in which shyness was precluded as an excuse or (b) a nonevaluative setting. Furthermore, we predicted that this self-protective pattern of symptom reporting would not occur for individuals who were not trait-socially anxious because these persons would not commonly use such symptoms as a self-handicapping strategy. Results supported these predictions for male subjects, but not for female subjects. Sex differences in the strategic use of shyness are discussed in relation to other research on sex differences in the etiology and correlates of social anxiety.

Family Cohesion and Adaptability as Factors in the Aetiology of Social Anxiety

SynopsisFamily adaptability concerns the extent to which a family system is flexible and able to change, and family cohesion refers to the degree to which family members are connected to the family system. Excessive rigidity and enmeshment have been shown to be detrimental to family functioning and are hypothesised to be factors contributing to the development of social anxiety. Self-report data from a sample of socially anxious Australian university students confirm this hypothesis. The findings indicate that counselling with socially anxious persons could usefully involve work with attitudes associated with sex-role stereotyping, emotional bonding and independence. These areas for work could complement the more general treatment programs which focus upon skills training and anxiety reduction in social situations.

Depression occurring in chronically anxious persons

Chronic lifelong nervousness preceding the onset of depression was reported in 62 of 288 women hospitalized for depression. The depressive syndrome of these patients was characterized by increased incidences of panic attacks, projecting blame, hypochondriasis, fearfulness, and insomnia and by a decreased incidence of psychomotor retardation. The previous personalities of these patients were more likely to be described as worrisome, phobic, demanding, excessively ill, shy, requiring constant reassurance, irritable, complaining, sensitive, and rigid. They were less likely to be described as sociable. They were more likely to have a family history of alcoholism. Their constellation of symptoms closely resembled that of hostile depression.

Medical News

<h3>New studies confirm MAO inhibitors' efficacy in treating severe anxiety</h3> Benzodiazepine derivatives may no longer be the treatment of choice for the most extreme and intractable anxiety. In fact, those most in need of calmative therapy—patients with severe chronic phobias and panic disorders—are least likely to respond to these drugs. Diazepam and its cousins, however, remain useful agents for treating more mundane anxieties. For the treatment of extreme<i>angst</i>, antidepressants are finding growing favor. A few years ago, the news broke that tricyclics often benefit profoundly anxious persons such as those with agoraphobia. Now, a large, controlled double-blind study nearing completion confirms the lesser-known finding that monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs)—which retard amine metabolism in the brain—probably provide even more efficacious and specific therapy for the anxieties that besiege these patients. The MAOIs still are used principally by specialists with considerable expertise in psychopharmacology because of their severe potential toxicity.

INTERPERSONAL IMPRESSION AND VERBAL ACTIVITY IN A TRIADIC COMMUNICATION

The purpose of the present report is to study the relationhip between the impressions of persons and verbal activity measured in a nonface-to-face triadic communication.Female students were divided into H (high anxious) -M (middle anxious) -M, L (low anxious) - M-M, and M-M-M groups. Each group had five triads. The triadic communications were repeated twice at twoday intervals. In each session, subjects made impression ratings of two persons in triads by means of 30 paired-adjective list. The verbal activity indices employed in this study were 4 indices as a zero-state sequence (Common Silence, Only One Talking, Double Talking, and Common Talking) and 8 indices as a one-or two-state sequence. Principle factor analysis was applied to the impression rating data. Then, six factors were obtained as follows : Cheerfulness, Social Activity, Attractiveness, Tolerance, Affability, and Dependability. The impression of L subject was affected Cheerfulness factor.The verbal activity structure had nine factors. The main factors were three persons' cooperative activity, two persons' cooperative activity and individual activity. Concerning the activity as group, the tendency of general activity was H-M-M≥L-M-M>M-M-M and the verbal activity increased with the sessions of triadic communication. It was shown that the interrelation of verbal activity in general was H≅L>M.Extreme high (or low) anxious person-middle anxious person interaction seems more active than two middle anxious persons interaction.There were significant correlations between the impression rating and the verbal activity in triadic communication. In particular, the individual activity factor had strong correlation with some impression factors.Furthermore, the fact that these impression factors differed from those in other studies suggests that the impression forming situation be analyzed in more detail.The hypothesis of a U-shaped function between anxiety and verbal activity and the hypothesis of anxiety discrepancy-verbal activation were confirmed.

Test anxiety and the passage of time.

Abstract : Three experiments were performed dealing with the relationship of test anxiety and achievement-oriented instructions to time perception. After being given either achievement-orienting or neutral instructions, subjects waited for an undesignated period of time, after which they performed on an intellective task. The dependent measures were subjects' estimates of the duration of the waiting and performance periods and their scores on the assigned task. High test anxious subjects' time estimates were significantly greater than the estimates of the other subjects and their performance was at a relatively low level. Evidence is presented supporting the hypothesis that highly anxious persons under stress experience cognitive interference and preoccupation which makes time pass slowly and results in poor performance. The implications of the findings are discussed, particularly in terms of the need for training programs capable of fostering improved cognitive skills requiring self-control.

Test anxiety and the passage of time.

Abstract : Three experiments were performed dealing with the relationship of test anxiety and achievement-oriented instructions to time perception. After being given either achievement-orienting or neutral instructions, subjects waited for an undesignated period of time, after which they performed on an intellective task. The dependent measures were subjects' estimates of the duration of the waiting and performance periods and their scores on the assigned task. High test anxious subjects' time estimates were significantly greater than the estimates of the other subjects and their performance was at a relatively low level. Evidence is presented supporting the hypothesis that highly anxious persons under stress experience cognitive interference and preoccupation which makes time pass slowly and results in poor performance. The implications of the findings are discussed, particularly in terms of the need for training programs capable of fostering improved cognitive skills requiring self-control.

Social anxiety, emotion, and helping behavior

The present study tested the hypothesis that while moderately socially anxious persons would demonstrate enhanced helping activity following the perpetration or observation of harm, low socially anxious individuals would not. This hypothesis was supported, suggesting that harm-produced helping is emotionally mediated. A self-report MACL measure of mood states, however, failed to reveal consistent mood differences among conditions, leading to speculation concerning a possible confounding factor in the use of self-report measures of unpleasant moods. Finally, many of the data corroborated Lykken's description of social anxiety, which seems an important trait in the prediction of altruism.

Who Should Bear Children?

Who Should Bear Children?

The ‘Lovelorn’ Columnist and Her Social Role

Critics of advice columns see risks in non-professional counsel to unseen readers. However, content analysis of one columnist's incoming mail, and of her replies, suggests that she helps “group-less” readers “make contact with a wider world in which there are other anxious persons … and friendly authority.”

Permanent relief of tic douloureux by Gasserian injection of hot water.

A safe, effective method for injecting the Gasserian ganglion to stop permanently the atrocious face pain of tic douloureux and cancer has long seemed desirable to replace the time-tested but generally considered hazardous technique employing alcohol or other destructive chemical agents. Numerous attempts to control the sharp, stabbing, recurring agonizing pain so characteristic of tic douloureux have been made by using various drugs through their systemic effect; but those that have given some promise of producing permanent relief are not without the danger of causing serious permanent damage to the brain (stilbamidine 1,2 [4,4′-stilbenedicarboxamidine] and trichlorethylene 3-5 [CHCl-CCl 2 ]). Because of the spontaneous remissive nature of tic douloureux, it has been extremely difficult to evaluate accurately the relief, if any, produced by the many empirical treatments that have been tried. Those patients treated by nonspecific medical methods too frequently become discouraged, despondent, anxious persons who lose confidence in their attending