Fear Of Social Evaluation Research Articles

A developmental analysis of self-reported fears in late childhood through mid-adolescence: social-evaluative fears on the rise?

The frequently reported decline in the overall frequency and intensity of fears during late childhood and adolescence may mask different developmental patterns for two broad subclasses of fears: fears concerning physical danger and fears concerning social evaluation. It was investigated if physical fears decrease between late childhood and mid-adolescence, while social-evaluative fears increase during this period. It was also studied if changes in both sets of fears are more strongly related to socio-cognitive maturity than to age, which itself is only a proxy measure of maturity. A non-clinical sample of 882 children and adolescents (ages 8-18) was recruited for study. Fears were assessed using the Ollendick Fear Survey Schedule for Children-Revised (FSSC-R). A Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was conducted to study the factor structure of the Failure and Criticism subscale of the FSSC-R. Level of development was assessed using the Sentence Completion Test for Youth (SCT-Y), a measure of socio-cognitive maturity that is based on Loevinger's model, and measure, of ego development. The PCA of the Failure and Criticism subscale revealed three factors: Social Evaluation, Achievement Evaluation, and Punishment. As predicted, the significant decrease of overall fearfulness obscured two contradictory developmental patterns: (a) fears of physical danger and punishment decreased with age, whereas (b) fears of social and achievement evaluation increased with age. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that the age effect for social-evaluative fears was explained entirely on the basis of developmental differences in socio-cognitive maturity (controlling for verbal ability). In contrast, age was a better predictor of the decrease of physical and punishment fears (although socio-cognitive maturity still added to the predictive value of age). The expression of social evaluation fears during adolescence appears not atypical and might be a corollary of socio-cognitive maturation. At the same time, the natural presence of those fears during adolescence appears to constitute a vulnerability for developing a social anxiety disorder.

Trends in the prevalence of social phobia in the United States: a synthetic cohort analysis of changes over four decades

Previous analysis of data from the U.S. National Comorbidity Survey (NCS) [24] suggested that the lifetime prevalence of social phobia in the community has increased significantly in recent cohorts. Furthermore, a latent class analysis of NCS data [21] revealed two primary classes of persons with social phobia: those with exclusive speaking fears and those with one or more other social-evaluative fears. Social phobia in the other social fear group is more persistent, more impairing, and more highly co-morbid with other DSM-III-R disorders. The current report presents data on whether the cohort effect is a general aspect of social phobia or is specific to one of the NCS social phobia subtypes, and whether the cohort effect varies as a function of socio-demographic characteristics. Data were drawn from the NCS. Social phobia was assessed with a revised version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Retrospective age of onset reports were used to estimate Kaplan-Meier survival curves for first onset of social phobia in each cohort represented in the survey. Comparison of these curves allowed us to make synthetic estimates based on retrospective reports of intercohort trends in lifetime prevalence. The lifetime prevalence of social phobia appears to have increased in recent cohorts. However, this increase does not exist among social phobics with exclusive fears of speaking. The increase is most pronounced among white, educated, and married persons, and it is not explained by increased co-morbidity with other mental disorders. The fact that the cohort effect is more pronounced for social phobia with one or more non-speaking fears is important in that this is generally a more severe form of the disorder with an earlier age of onset than social phobia with pure speaking fears. The fact that the cohort effect is most pronounced among people with social and economic advantage (i.e., white, married, well-educated) is intriguing and raises questions about the etiologic process that warrant further study in future research.

Generalization of social anxiety to sporting and athletic situations: gender, sports involvement, and parental pressure.

Although researchers have documented that social anxiety may occur in a wide range of interpersonal and performance situations, little attention has been paid to the potential influence of social anxiety on participation in athletics or physical activity. The performance demands of sport and potential social evaluative nature of exercise make it likely that social anxiety would generalize to these situations. Given the physical and psychological benefits of engaging in regular physical activity, avoidance of such activities by socially anxious individuals may have profound health consequences. One-hundred and eighty undergraduate university students completed a battery of standardized social anxiety measures, and a series of 5-point Likert-type questions examining fear and avoidance of sporting and athletic situations. Results indicated that social anxiety and fear of negative evaluation were generally related to social-evaluative fears in sporting or athletic situations, particularly for women. Furthermore, social anxiety was positively correlated with avoidance of individual sporting activities, but not with avoidance of team activities. Further analyses revealed social anxiety did not differ by competition level. However, for men, familial pressure to play sports during high school was associated with higher fear of negative evaluation. Implications for the assessment and treatment of social anxiety disorder are discussed.

Cognitive Specificity in Panic and Depression: Implications for Comorbidity

Previous studies of cognitive specificity indepression and anxiety disorders have establishedreliable profiles of depressive cognitions, and to asomewhat lesser extent, panic-related cognitions. The present study examines cognitive specificity inpure diagnostic groups of patients with panic disorderor major depression and compares cognitive profiles inthese single diagnosis groups to those observed in a group of individuals with comorbid panicand depression. In addition to Beck's CognitionChecklist, we introduce a cognition inventory thatincludes subscales for panic and depression along withsomatic preoccupation, social fears, and worry. Goodspecificity was found for panic and depressioncognitions in the pure diagnostic groups, and thecomorbid group was equivalent to the pure groups onthese measures. However, the comorbid group was alsosignificantly more troubled by less prototypicalcognitions concerning social-evaluative fears andsomatic preoccupation. These results suggest thatindividuals with comorbid depression and panic may holdadditional maladaptive beliefs beyond specificcognitions typically associated with each disorderalone.

Understanding shame in adults: retrospective perceptions of parental-bonding during childhood.

The association between perceptions of parental-bonding style during childhood and moral affect of shame at young adulthood were examined with 264 women and 140 men (mean age [+/- SD] = 20.4 +/- 1.6 years old). Shame affect was significantly positively related to fear of negative evaluation by others and social avoidance, and negatively related to recalled parental care in one's childhood. Multiple regression analyses indicated that maternal protectiveness, paternal care, fear of negative social evaluation, and social avoidance were significant predictors of shame, explaining 41% of the variance. Results support object relations theory, which states that shame is a moral affect associated with social evaluation apprehension and may have developmental implications for one's parental relations.

Cognitive behavior therapy.

Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapeutic interventions have been empirically validated as effective treatments for patients suffering from anxiety disorders.l Treatment protocols are available describing the details of the cognitive-behavioral treatment strategies applied to each anxiety disorder.2 However, as practicing clinicians have long realized, and what clinical researchers are more recently paying attention to, more often than not, patients with a principal diagnosis of an anxiety disorder suffer from additional comorbid psychiatric disorders as well, especially mood, personality, and other anxiety disorders.3-5 High rates of comorbidity are not limited to patients with anxiety disorders, and are frequently encountered among patients with a principal diagnosis of commonly occurring mood disorders as well.6 Based upon the studies mentioned above, approximately two-thirds of patients are diagnosed with at least one additional disorder. In light of these data, it appears as though protocols describing the treatment of a single disorder are typically not sufficient to address the patient's entire psychopathology. While to date, there are very few studies examining the impact of comorbidity on treatment outcome (traditionally, most studies have focused only on the principal disorder), the available data suggest that anxiety-disorder patients with comorbid Axis I and Axis II psychiatric disorders display more severe symptoms,78 are less responsive to treatment,9-l3 and are more likely to require additional treatment.I4 These findings are certainly corroborated by clinicians. Nevertheless, much of the conceptualization of treatment strategies for patients with anxiety disorders, including both psychological and pharmacological interventions, follows a single-disorder-based model. To a large degree, this way of thinking is influenced by our current classification system. Although the DSM-IViS allows for the assignment of multiple diagnoses, the use of this categorical diagnostic system often provides the clinician with a false sense of patient homogeneity (i.e., all patients with a particular diagnosis are the same). In addition, by focusing on the diagnosis of syndromes, the presence of comorbid symptoms that may not be severe enough to warrant a diagnosis for a syndrome may be missed or downplayed. While, as mentioned above, patients typically suffer from at least two disorders, it is even more common for patients to present with symptom comorbidity. In these instances, patients with a principal diagnosis of a specific disorder may manifest symptoms of one or more other disorders, yet not fulfill diagnostic criteria to warrant a comorbid diagnosis. Features, such as panic attacks, social evaluative fears, worry, phobias, obsessivecompulsive thoughts/behavior, and depression, which are the identifying characteristics of panic disorder, social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, specific phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and major depression/ dysthymia, respectively, are often present to some degree in patients suffering from any one specific anxiety disorder.16 For example, independent of whether diagnostic criteria for a mood disorder are satisfied, the majority of panic-disorder patients report a moderate level of depressive symptomatology.8 The presence of depression, even though not severe enough to warrant the diagnosis of a depressive disorder, is likely to have an impact upon treatment. Considering the emerging data on the extent and significance of syndrome and symptom comorbidity, to offer comprehensive treatment, one must implement an intervention that addresses the patient's full range of symptoms. Thus, it appears as though a more parsimonious approach to the assessment and psychotherapeutic treatment of anxiety-disorder patients is one which is symptom focused, rather than disorder based. Unlike the disorder-based approaches, symptom-focused treatment provides a framework that allows the clinician to tailor his/her treatment to address the specific symptom configuration of each patient, maximizing treatment efficiency. …

Shame-related social anxiety: Replicating a link with various social interaction measures

In the present study, 182 young adults (131 men, 51 men: M age=20.2) completed self-report measures of shame and social avoidance/distress, anxiety, desirability, and negative social evaluation. Results supported Lewis (1985) in that shame-proneness was related to social avoidance/distress, interaction anxiety, and fear of negative social evaluation (even when controlling for social desirability). Social distress/avoidance and interaction anxiety also were significant predictors of shame-proneness. Results suggeste that attention to social anxiety may be valuable in the treatment of shameprone individuals.

Fears in Chinese children and adolescents and their relations to anxiety and depression.

In the present study, we examined the pattern and intensity of fear in 825 Chinese children and adolescents. Although many of the fears paralleled those reported in Western samples (Australia, England and the United States), some differences were noted. In particular, Chinese children and adolescents reported heightened levels of social-evaluative fears. This pattern was especially evident for children between 11 and 13 years of age. A developmental-cultural hypothesis was put forth to account for these findings. In addition, modest relations were found between our measure of fear and measures of anxiety and depression. Results were explored in terms of the uniqueness of the constructs of fear, anxiety and depression and their contributions to a more global construct of negative distress, labeled 'negative affectivity'.

Depression in British and American children and its relation to anxiety and fear.

The relations between the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS), and the Fear Survey Schedule for Children-Revised (FSSC-R) were examined in 327 British and 336 American children. Relations were similar for both samples of children, with depression more closely related to anxiety than to fear. In addition, the utility of the Kovacs (1981) recommended cutoff score (CDI greater than or equal to 19) for identifying extreme groups of depressed children was evaluated. Children who reported high levels of depression also reported high levels of anxiety and social evaluative fears. The findings are discussed in light of Watson and Clark's (1984) notion of negative affectivity.

Depression in British and American children and its relation to anxiety and fear.

The relations between the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS), and the Fear Survey Schedule for Children-Revised (FSSC-R) were examined in 327 British and 336 American children. Relations were similar for both samples of children, with depression more closely related to anxiety than to fear. In addition, the utility of the Kovacs (1981) recommended cutoff score (CDI greater than or equal to 19) for identifying extreme groups of depressed children was evaluated. Children who reported high levels of depression also reported high levels of anxiety and social evaluative fears. The findings are discussed in light of Watson and Clark's (1984) notion of negative affectivity.

Shyness as a final common pathway for two different kinds of inhibition.

This study suggests that the presence of mangers and the anticipation of social evaluation induce state shyness independently of each other and do not interact with trait shyness. This independence was found for 3 different methods of assessing state shyness in real dyadic interaction. Behaviorally, shyness toward strangers, but not evaluative shyness, was indicated by a closed body posture; evaluative shyness, but not shyness toward strangers, was indicated by blushing. Ss' free verbal descriptions of their emotions and cognitions obtained during the videnreconstruction of the shyness-inducing situations revealed that they were less aware of fear of strangers than of fear of social evaluation. These results and developmental considerations suggest that state shyness can be reconstructed as a final common pathway for at least 2 different kinds of inhibitory processes and that trait shyness among adults involves a particular susceptibility to both kinds of inhibition. This view of shyness is related to Gray's (1982) concept of inhibition and to the self-presentational approach to social anxiety by Schlenker and Leafy (1982).

Social phobia and perceptions of early parental and personal characteristics

Abstract Research on the etiology of social phobia is virtually nonexistent in part because relevant theories about family and childhood antecedents have not been advanced. The present study was designed to assess the relevance of Buss' (1980) formulations regarding antecedents of social evaluative fears for understanding the development of social phobia. Social phobic patients' perceptions of early parental and childhood characteristics presumed to be associated with social evaluative concerns were compared to those of agoraphobic patients. Social phobics perceived their mothers as more avoidant of social phobic situations, their parents as seeking to isolate them, their parents as overemphasizing the opinions of others, and their parents as deemphasizing family sociability. Social phobics also reported greater self-consciousness and fewer dating partners during adolescence. A discriminant function analysis revealed that these criterion variables accurately classified 91% of social phobics and 77.3% of agoraphobics.

Videotape reconstruction of emotions and cognitions related to shyness.

This study tested predictions of the self-presentational approach to situational and dispositional shyness within a broader perspective. Forty subjects who were high in self-rated dispositional shyness and 30 subjects who were low in self-rated dispositional shyness watched videotapes of their interaction with a confederate of the experimenter in various situations, including apprehension of evaluation and positive feedback provided by the confederate. The subjects' free verbal responses to particular events during these situations were content-analyzed. Compared with the group lower in shyness, the shy subjects (a) recalled more fear of social evaluation (including fear of positive evaluation) but did not more often report other kinds of fear, (b) had more negatively biased thoughts about the impression made on their partner but not more impression-related thoughts in general, and (c) showed more negatively biased reactions to the positive feedback of their partner. These results support the self-presentational view that fear of being socially evaluated is pivotal to dispositional shyness. However, some unexpected findings suggest that social evaluative situations also arouse fears of having to evaluate others; this would limit self-presentational explanations of situational shyness in these situations.

Videotape reconstruction of emotions and cognitions related to shyness.

This study tested predictions of the self-presentational approach to situational and dispositional shyness within a broader perspective. Forty subjects who were high in self-rated dispositional shyness and 30 subjects who were low in self-rated dispositional shyness watched videotapes of their interaction with a confederate of the experimenter in various situations, including apprehension of evaluation and positive feedback provided by the confederate. The subjects' free verbal responses to particular events during these situations were content-analyzed. Compared with the group lower in shyness, the shy subjects (a) recalled more fear of social evaluation (including fear of positive evaluation) but did not more often report other kinds of fear, (b) had more negatively biased thoughts about the impression made on their partner but not more impression-related thoughts in general, and (c) showed more negatively biased reactions to the positive feedback of their partner. These results support the self-presentational view that fear of being socially evaluated is pivotal to dispositional shyness. However, some unexpected findings suggest that social evaluative situations also arouse fears of having to evaluate others; this would limit self-presentational explanations of situational shyness in these situations.

Irrational beliefs and anxiety

Samples of 451 (205 male and 246 female) and 189 (78 male and 111 female) introductory psychology students completed measures of irrational beliefs, trait anxiety, test anxiety, speech anxiety, fear of negative social evaluation, and social avoidance and distress. Simultaneous regressions on full and extreme group distributions showed no sex and sex ×belief interaction effects in the prediction of anxieties, suggesting that results were applicable to both sexes. Stepwise regressions of irrational beliefs on both full and extreme group distributions showed that (a) regression equations in the two samples were substantially replicated, (b) beliefs predictive of the full distribution were generally the same as those for the extreme groups, (c) the amount of variance accounted for in the extreme groups was greater than in the full distributions, (d) the amount of variance accounted for by irrational beliefs varied from one type of anxiety to another type of anxiety, and (e) different beliefs tended to be predictive of the different anxieties. Implications for the understanding and treatment of anxities were discussed.