Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale Research Articles

Work-Related Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for racially and economically diverse unemployed persons with social anxiety: A randomized clinical trial

Individuals with Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) are at risk for employment problems. This multi-site trial examined the efficacy of Work-Related Cognitive Behavioral Therapy provided alongside vocational services as usual (WCBT+VSAU), a group-based treatment designed to improve mental health and employment outcomes for individuals with SAD. Vocational service-seeking participants with SAD (N=250) were randomized to either WCBT+VSAU or VSAU-alone. Hypotheses were that participants randomized to WCBT+VSAU would report less social anxiety, less depression, and more hours worked than participants randomized to VSAU-alone. WCBT+VSAU participants had significantly greater improvements on the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS; d=-.25, CI=-0.49 to -0.02, p=.03) at post-assessment compared to VSAU-alone. The conditions did not differ on any variable at later time points or on secondary outcomes. Unexpectedly, participants randomized to VSAU-alone experienced LSAS improvements, similar to WCBT+VASU at later timepoints. Baseline psychological flexibility (beta=-.098 [-0.19-0.008]) and depression (beta=-0.18 [-0.34-0.009]) moderated change in social anxiety. Participants with lower psychological flexibility and higher depression responded more strongly to WCBT+VSAU than VSAU-alone over the duration of the study, suggesting that WCBT+VSAU may particularly benefit those with greater psychopathology. Results indicate that vocational centers are promising settings for treating SAD and employment-focused refinements are likely needed to improve work outcomes.

Guided and unguided internet-delivered psychodynamic therapy for social anxiety disorder: A randomized controlled trial

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is highly prevalent and debilitating disorder. Treatments exist but are not accessible and/or helpful for all patients, indicating a need for accessible treatment alternatives. The aim of the present trial was to evaluate internet-delivered psychodynamic therapy (IPDT) with and without therapist guidance, compared to a waitlist control condition, in the treatment of adults with SAD. In this randomized, clinical trial, we tested whether IPDT was superior to a waitlist control, and whether IPDT with therapeutic guidance was superior to unguided IPDT. Participants were recruited nationwide in Sweden. Eligible participants were ≥ 18 years old and scoring ≥ 60 on the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale self-report (LSAS-SR) whilst not fulfilling any of the exclusion criteria. Included participants were randomly assigned to IPDT with guidance (n = 60), IPDT without guidance (n = 61), or waitlist (n = 60). The IPDT intervention comprised eight self-help modules based on affect-focused dynamic therapy, delivered over 8 weeks on a secure online platform. The primary outcome was SAD symptoms severity measured weekly by the LSAS-SR. Primary analyses were calculated on an intention-to-treat sample including all participants randomly assigned. Secondary outcomes were depressive symptoms, generalized anxiety, quality of life, emotion regulation and defensive functioning. At post-treatment, both active treatments were superior to the waitlist condition with guided treatment exhibiting larger between group effects than unguided treatment (d = 1.07 95% CI [0.72, 1.43], p < .001 and d = 0.61, 95% CI [0.25, 0.98], p = .0018) on the LSAS-SR respectively. Guided IPDT lead to larger improvements than unguided IPDT (d = 0.46, 95% CI [0.11, 0.80], p < .01). At post-treatment, guided IPDT was superior to waitlist on all secondary outcome measures. Unguided IPDT was superior to waitlist on depressive symptoms and general anxiety, but not on emotion regulation, self-compassion or quality of life. Guided IPDT was superior to unguided PDT on depressive symptoms, with a trend towards superiority on a measure of generalized anxiety. At six and twelve month follow-up there were no significant differences between guided and unguided IPDT. In conclusion, IPDT shows promising effects in the treatment of SAD, with larger benefits from guided IPDT compared to non-guided, at least at post-treatment. This finding increases the range of accessible and effective treatment alternatives for adults suffering from SAD. The study was prospectively registered at ClinicalTrials (NCT05015166).

Construct and Criterion Validation of Social Phobia Inventory Indonesian Version

Social anxiety disorder or SAD is a condition of abnormal anxiety experienced by individuals when they are facing a social situation. People with SAD usually tend to avoid social situations because they are afraid or anxious of getting a negative evaluation from other people. The negative impact for people with SAD is important for the need for measuring instruments that can detect the symptoms. The lack of SAD measurement tools in Indonesia is the reason why this validation study (SPIN) is important. The Social Phobia Inventory or SPIN is a self-report measurement tool for SAD symptoms and has good both in reliability and validity in several countries. This study aims to prove the validity and reliability of SPIN in Indonesia with 118 participants. The participants include people with SAD and healthy people. The result of this study that they are a convergent validity between SPIN and Social Cognition Questionnaire (SCQ), discriminant validity between SPIN and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) that evaluate eating disorder and alcohol abuse symptoms, and also SPIN have 66% of sensitivity and 100% of specificity using Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS). This study can be used by professionals to assist in determining an objective diagnosis in individuals with symptoms of SAD using SPIN since SPIN is one of the gold standard to measure social anxiety symptoms.

Does social media use help individuals with social anxiety form romantic relationships?

AbstractThe goal of this study was to examine how social anxiety contributes to romantic relationship formation and whether technology may be used to assist this process. Participants completed an online survey (N = 242); individuals who scored moderate or higher in social anxiety on the Liebowitz social anxiety scale were invited to participate in an anonymous online chat (N = 41). Quantitative and qualitative data revealed that socially anxious individuals reported more confidence speaking to romantic interests virtually than in person. Social media appears to be a tool for socially anxious individuals to ease stress associated with romantic relationship formation.

The relationship between adverse childhood experiences and social anxiety disorder symptoms: the mediating role of rumination

AbstractThis study aimed to examine the mediating role of rumination in the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and social anxiety disorder symptoms. In this study, which was conducted with correlational design, one of the quantitative research methods, 878 participants were reached. 78.2% of the participants are women and 21.8% are men. In the study, self-report scales consisting of a personal information form, adverse childhood experiences scale, rumination scale, and Liebowitz social anxiety scale were administered to the participants. The analysis of the data regarding the research findings was carried out using the SPSS 25 package program. First of all, the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and social anxiety and rumination was examined; Then, parallel multi-agent analysis and serial intermediary analyses were performed using the Process V4.2 extension (Model 4). According to the findings, it was found that there was a significant positive relationship between adverse childhood experiences, social anxiety disorder symptoms, and rumination variables. It has also been observed that rumination has a mediating role in the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and social anxiety disorder symptoms. Examining the role of rumination in the relationship between childhood adverse events and social anxiety symptoms may help develop new interventions targeting SAD and expand the literature on the cognitive, behavioral, and affective vulnerabilities that early adverse events bring with them.

The predictive value of cortisol in psychodynamic psychotherapy for social anxiety disorder: Extended results of the SOPHONET-Study

Psychotherapy is an effective treatment for anxiety disorders (AD), yet a vast majority of patients do not respond to therapy, necessitating the identification of predictors to enhance outcomes. Several studies have explored the relationship between stress response and treatment outcome, as a potential treatment mechanism. However, the latter remains under-researched in patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD). We studied N = 29 patients undergoing psychodynamic psychotherapy (PDT) within the SOPHONET-Study. Stress reactivity (i.e., area under the curve with respect to the increase; AUCi) was induced by a standardized psychosocial stressor (Trier Social Stress Test; TSST) and assessed by means of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), blood and salivary cortisol samples before (t1) treatment. Samples of these biomarkers were taken −1 min prior stress exposure and six more blood samples were collected post-TSST ( + 1, + 10, + 20, + 30, + 45, + 60 min.). The participants were diagnosed with SAD based on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) and completed the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale as well as the Beck Depression Inventory before (t1) and after psychotherapy (t2). Pre-treatment stress reactivity significantly predicted changes in depression (salivary p < 0.001 and blood cortisol p = 0.001), as well as in avoidance behavior (blood cortisol p = 0.001). None of the biomarkers revealed significant results in fear or in the total LSAS-scores, except for ACTH with a trend finding (p = 0.06). Regarding therapy success, symptoms of social anxiety (p = 0.005) and depression (p < 0.001) were significantly reduced from pre (t1) to post-treatment (t2). Our study showed that stress reactivity pre-treatment may serve as a predictor of psychotherapy outcome. In this regard, alterations in stress response relate to changes in symptoms of social anxiety and depression after PDT. This implies that patients with chronic stress might benefit from a targeted interventions during psychotherapy, especially to manage fear in social contexts.

Social media addiction and academic engagement as serial mediators between social anxiety and academic performance among college students

BackgroundSocial anxiety has been shown to affect college students’ academic performance. However, the role of social media addiction and academic engagement in this association is unclear.MethodsA total 2661 college students completed a self-report questionnaire including Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, the Utrecht Student Work Engagement Scale for Students, and the grade point average. Hayes’ PROCESS macro for SPSS was employed to test the serial mediation effect.ResultsResults indicated that social anxiety was negatively related to academic performance, only academic engagement played a single mediating role in the relationship between social anxiety and academic performance, meanwhile social media addiction and academic engagement acted as serial mediators between social anxiety on academic performance.ConclusionsSocial media addiction and academic engagement can explain the potential mechanisms of the association between social anxiety and academic performance, which have implications for devising intervention strategies to enhance the mental health and academic outcomes of college students.

Group schema therapy versus group cognitive behavioral therapy for patients with social anxiety disorder and comorbid avoidant personality disorder: A randomized controlled trial

BackgroundPatients with social anxiety (SAD) and comorbid avoidant personality disorder (AVPD) are severely impaired. Group cognitive behavioral therapy (GCBT) is considered an effective treatment for SAD. More knowledge on treatment of SAD with comorbid AVPD is needed. Schema therapy, developed for personality and chronic mental disorders, may be a promising treatment. MethodsWe conducted a randomized controlled trial in an outpatient population (n = 154) with both SAD and AVPD. Group Schema Therapy (GST) and GCBT were compared on SAD symptoms (Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale) and manifestations of AVPD (Avoidant Personality Disorder Severity Index). ResultsIntention-to-treat analysis showed no significant differences between treatments at 3 months post-treatment and one-year follow-up. Both modalities led to significant and substantial improvements. No significant between-differences were found in depressive symptoms (Inventory of Depressive Symptoms) and quality of life (World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF). Per-protocol analysis showed similar outcomes and no significant differences in recovery from SAD and AVPD. Significantly more patients completed GST. ConclusionGST and GCBT are valuable treatments for SAD with comorbid AVPD. The higher treatment retention in ST indicates ST is more acceptable than GCBT. Future studies should focus on enhancing treatment effects and improving retention to GCBT.

Delusional ideation is associated with social imagery: Felt presence, social anxiety, empathy and loneliness

Recent research suggests that delusional ideation (DI) may have social component to its phenomenology and underlying mechanisms. This study investigated associations between delusional ideation and factors of social imagery in healthy adults using the COVID-19 pandemic as a context of increased social threat perception. 1,854 participants completed an online survey. DI was assessed using the Peters Delusional Ideation (PDI) scale, and social imagery was investigated using the Other Experiences Questionnaire (OEQ, felt presence), the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI, empathy), and the UCLA Loneliness Scale. All aspects of social imagery were positively associated with DI. The strongest predictor of PDI score was felt presence, followed by loneliness, LSAS social fear dimension, IRI (empathic concern and empathy for fictional characters) scales. We propose that delusions and social imagery may share common mechanisms and increased propensity for imagining others may contribute to development of delusions.

SADXAI: Predicting social anxiety disorder using multiple interpretable artificial intelligence techniques

Social anxiety disorder (SAD), also known as social phobia, is a psychological condition in which a person has a persistent and overwhelming fear of being negatively judged or observed by other individuals. This fear can affect them at work, in relationships and other social activities. The intricate combination of several environmental and biological factors is the reason for the onset of this mental condition. SAD is diagnosed using a test called the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders (DSM-5), which is based on several physical, emotional and demographic symptoms. Artificial Intelligence has been a boon for medicine and is regularly used to diagnose various health conditions and diseases. Hence, this study used demographic, emotional, and physical symptoms and multiple machine learning (ML) techniques to diagnose SAD. A thorough descriptive and statistical analysis has been conducted before using the classifiers. Among all the models, the AdaBoost and logistic regression obtained the highest accuracy of 88 % each. Four eXplainable artificial techniques (XAI) techniques are utilized to make the predictions interpretable, transparent and understandable. According to XAI, the “Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale questionnaire” and “The fear of speaking in public” are the most critical attributes in the diagnosis of SAD. This clinical decision support system framework could be utilized in various suitable locations such as schools, hospitals and workplaces to identify SAD in people.

The relationship between social phobia and cognitive impairment in idiopathic generalized epilepsy patients: a cross-sectional study

Objectives: Epilepsy, a neurological disorder affecting approximately 65 million people worldwide, frequently presents with various comorbidities, including cognitive impairment. The factors contributing to cognitive impairment are complex and multifaceted. This study aimed to investigate the influence of social phobia on cognitive function in patients with idiopathic generalized tonic-clonic epilepsy. Methods: This prospective study recruited 87 adult idiopathic generalized tonic-clonic epilepsy patients diagnosed according to the International League Against Epilepsy 2017 classification. Differential diagnosis involved electroencephalography, magnetic resonance imaging, and neurological examinations. All participants were assessed for cognitive impairment, social phobia, depression, and anxiety using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, and Beck Anxiety Inventory, respectively. Results: A significant majority (73.6%) of participants reported social phobia. Compared to those without social phobia, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment total score was significantly lower in the social phobia group (P=0.002). Additionally, epilepsy duration was significantly longer in the social phobia group (P=0.03). Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores showed a negative correlation with Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale-avoidance, Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale-total, and age (P=0.003, P=0.005, and P&amp;lt;0.001, respectively). Conclusions: This study suggests that individuals with idiopathic generalized tonic-clonic epilepsy experiencing social phobia may exhibit lower cognitive function compared to those without. This indicates that comorbid social phobia might negatively impact cognitive abilities in idiopathic generalized tonic-clonic epilepsy patients.

Feasibility of Guided Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Panic Disorder and Social Anxiety Disorder in Japan: Pilot Single-Arm Trial.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is effective in treating anxiety disorders. Accessibility to CBT has been limited in Japan due to the shortage of therapists. While an open-source e-learning system can be used to create a simple internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT) program, the safety and outpatient acceptance of this treatment approach have not been explored in Japan. The aim of this study was to investigate whether outpatients with anxiety disorders could accept and successfully complete the ICBT program with guidance by CBT therapists when implementing therapeutic modules and CBT tasks. Due to being in the initial phase of a novel treatment in Japan, this study was intended for verification with a small sample size. In total, 6 adults, including 4 male participants and 2 female participants, were enrolled in a single-arm trial. The intervention involved guided ICBT comprising 12 sessions, including CBT text, comprehension confirmation tests, and explanatory videos about cognitive behavioral models, accessible through a website. The therapist guided the participants in accessing the ICBT program and answering their questions using a chat tool. The primary outcome was anxiety severity assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait. Secondary outcomes included the Panic Disorder Severity Scale, Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, and Working Alliance Inventory-Short Form (WAI-SF). Statistical analyses were performed using paired 2-tailed t tests to assess the changes in clinical symptoms. The total WAI-SF score at the final session was used to evaluate the therapeutic alliance. For statistical analyses, mean changes for total State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait, BAI, Panic Disorder Severity Scale, LSAS, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scores were analyzed using the paired 2-tailed t test. The 2-sided significance level for hypothesis testing was set at 5%, and 2-sided 95% CIs were calculated. Most participants diligently engaged with the ICBT program. No adverse events were reported. The mean total scores for the primary outcome decreased by 11.0 (SD 9.6) points (95% CI -22.2 to 0.20; Hedges g=0.95), but it was not statistically significant. The mean total scores for the secondary outcomes that assess clinical symptoms decreased, with a significant reduction observed in the BAI of 15.7 (SD 12.1) points (95% CI -28.4 to -3.0; P=.03; Hedges g=1.24). The mean total scores for PDSS and LSAS decreased significantly, by 12.0 (SD 4.24) points (95% CI -50.1 to 26.1; P=.16; Hedges g=1.79) and 32.4 (SD 11.1) points (95% CI -59.7 to -4.3; P=.04; Hedges g=1.38), respectively. Of the participants, 67% (n=4) showed treatment response, and 50% (n=3) achieved remission after the intervention. The therapeutic alliance, measured using the WAI-SF, was moderate. Guided ICBT may be feasible for the treatment of outpatients with panic disorder and social anxiety disorder in Japan. University Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trials Registry UMIN0000038118; https://center6.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000043439.

Impact of Social Anxiety on Assertiveness: Role of Gender

The study was conducted to investigate the impact of social anxiety on assertiveness a role of gender. Social anxiety is a persistent fear of social interactions due to severe evaluation apprehension. Assertiveness is an important social skill which promotes personal well-being. Correlational research design was used. Survey was conducted as a method of data collection. Students were selected through convenient sampling technique. Sample size was 200 (n=100 male, n=100 female) college students. The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) by Prendergast (2021) and the Rathus Assertiveness Scale (RAS) by Spencer Rathus (1973) were used to measure social anxiety and assertiveness. Findings of the study reveal that there was significant negative correlation between social anxiety and assertiveness. Moreover, results suggest that social anxiety is a negative predictor of assertiveness among college students. Female college students report higher level of social anxiety as compared to male. In addition, male are more assertive in their college life than females. To overcome the social anxiety education department gave the exposure of coping strategies.

Self-compassion, Positive and Negative Affect and Social Avoidance among Adolescence: Mediating Role of Mindfulness.

Mindfulness is an attribute of consciousness to manage social fear avoidance and promote well-being. Social anxiety is a common psychological experience noted among the general population. Social anxiety develops during adolescence and is prevalent among college students. This study investigates the factors contributing to social anxiety - fear and avoidance of social situations of female first-year undergraduates. The study used a survey research design. A sample of 821 first-year female undergraduate students aged between 17 and 19. Data were collected using the Liebowitz Social anxiety scale, the Five-Facet mindfulness questionnaire, A short form of the Self-compassion scale, and the Positive and Negative affect scale. Mindfulness weakens social fear and reduces the tendency to avoid social situations. Mindfulness effectively mediates the impact of self-compassion's positive affect and negative effects on social fear. Mindfulness and social fear jointly mediate the impact of self-compassion, positive affect, and negative affect on social avoidance. Mindfulness is the awareness and acceptance of the feelings, thoughts and sensations attached to self and its possible reciprocity with social surroundings to mitigate fear-self-compassion and positive emotional affect augment, and negative emotional affect attenuate mindfulness. Results analysis highlights the mediation of mindfulness on social anxiety, self-compassion, positive affect, and negative affect.

Individual cognitive therapy reduces frontal-thalamic resting-state functional connectivity in social anxiety disorder.

Previous neuroimaging studies in social anxiety disorders (SAD) have reported potential neural predictors of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)-related brain changes. However, several meta-analyses have demonstrated that cognitive therapy (CT) was superior to traditional exposure-based CBT for SAD. To explore resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) to evaluate the response to individual CT for SAD patients. Twenty SAD patients who attended 16-week individual CT were scanned pre- and post-therapy along with twenty healthy controls (HCs). The severity of social anxiety was assessed with the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS). Multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) was performed on the pre-CT data to extract regions associated with a change in LSAS (∆LSAS). Group comparisons of the seed-based rsFC analysis were performed between the HCs and pre-CT patients and between the pre-and post-CT patients. MVPA-based regression analysis revealed that rsFC between the left thalamus and the frontal pole/inferior frontal gyrus was significantly correlated with ∆LSAS (adjusted R2 = 0.65; p = 0.00002). Compared with HCs, the pre-CT patients had higher rsFCs between the thalamus and temporal pole and between the thalamus and superior/middle temporal gyrus/planum temporale (p < 0.05). The rsFC between the thalamus and the frontal pole decreased post-CT (p < 0.05). SAD patients had significant rsFC between the thalamus and temporal pole, superior/middle temporal gyrus, and planum temporale, which may be indicators of extreme anxiety in social situations. In addition, rsFC between the thalamus and the frontal pole may be a neuromarker for the effectiveness of individual CT.

Students Well-Being and Internet Use During the Pandemic

The study Internet Use and Students Well-being aimed to investigate the relationship between Internet addiction (generated by excessive Internet use = more than 6 hours/day outside of compulsory activities, more than 3 consecutive months) (Tao R. and all, 2010) and student well-being, depression, and social anxiety in pandemic times when digital consumer behavior has changed due to the specific context. The correlational design was applied in the research carried out on a group of 35 students from years 2 and 3 of the Faculty of Political, Administrative, and Communication Sciences, Babeș Bolyai University, Cluj through a series of scientifically validated tests: Psychological Scale Well, Berlin Social Support Scales, Internet Addiction Test, Self-Reported Stress Questionnaire (PSS), Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, DASS21. The results obtained showed positive correlations between the consumption of digital products and well-being (.494), with a statistical significance of 0.003, (≤0.05), and digital consumption and social anxiety (.319) with a statistical significance of 0.002. (≤0.05). In the case of the correlation between digital product consumption and depression, the correlation was negative (-0.228), with no statistical significance188 (≥0.05). Social support / positive relationships with others have proven to be a mediator between well-being and internet consumption. The overall effect of well-being on Internet addiction was positive (0.296), but statistically insignificant (0.708, not ≤0.05). Internet consumption for students who have pursued their academic pursuit digitally is a challenge to maintain the mental or physical well-being of the moment or perspective.

Thematic Analysis to Measure Social Anxiety among Students

The occurrence of social anxiety among students in higher education has become a growing concern, necessitating a comprehensive understanding of effective assessment methods. To address this, a study was conducted utilizing thematic analysis to explain prevailing trends in the measurement of social anxiety. By analyzing ten scholarly articles sourced from the Web of Sciences (WOS) database, the research sought to identify common patterns and themes in the approaches employed to assess social anxiety. The findings of the thematic analysis highlighted several prevalent tools frequently utilized in assessing social anxiety, including the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale, the Social Anxiety Scale, the Social and Emotional Competencies Evaluation Questionnaire, and the Social Anxiety Scale. These established measurements signify essential resources for researchers and practitioners aiming to comprehensively evaluate social anxiety in university students. This comprehensive review of existing literature not only contributes to a deeper understanding of the methodologies employed in studying social anxiety but also emphasizes the importance of employing a variety of measurement techniques in future research endeavors. By incorporating these findings, scholars and mental health professionals can devise more tailored interventions and support mechanisms to address the growing concerns surrounding social anxiety within higher education settings.

What good are positive emotions for treatment? A replication test of whether trait positive emotionality predicts response to exposure therapy for social anxiety disorder

BackgroundPositive valence emotions serve functions that may facilitate response to exposure therapy – they encourage approach behavior, diminish perceived threat reactivity, and enhance assimilation of new information in memory. Few studies have examined whether positive emotions predict exposure therapy success and extant findings are mixed. Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of an exposure therapy trial for social anxiety disorder to test the hypothesis that patients endorsing higher trait positive emotions at baseline would display the greatest treatment response. N = 152 participants enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of d-cycloserine augmentation completed five sessions of group exposure therapy. Pre-treatment positive emotionality was assessed using the NEO Five-Factor Inventory. Social anxiety symptoms were assessed throughout treatment by blinded evaluators using the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale. Results: Accounting for baseline symptom severity, multilevel growth curve models revealed that patients with higher pre-treatment positive emotionality displayed faster social anxiety symptom reductions and lower scores at 3-month follow-up. This predictive effect remained significant after controlling for baseline depression and extraversion (without the positive emotionality facet). Conclusions: These findings add to emerging evidence suggesting that explicitly targeting and enhancing positive emotions during exposure to perceived threat may improve treatment outcomes for anxiety and fear-based disorders. Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02066792https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02066792

Virtual reality exposure aided-diagnosis system for anxiety disorders: Long short-term memory architecture for three levels of anxiety recognition.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in increased psychological pressure on mental health since 2019. The resulting anxiety and stress have permeated every aspect of life during confinement. To provide psychologists with an unbiased measure that can aid in the preliminary diagnosis of anxiety disorders and be used as an initial treatment in cognitive-behavioral therapy, this article introduces automated recognition of three levels of anxiety. Anxiety was elicited by exposing participants to virtual environments inspired by social situations in reference to the Liebowitz social anxiety scale. Relevant parameters, such as heart rate variability and vasoconstriction were derived from the measurement of the blood volume pulse (BVP) signal. A long short-term memory architecture achieved an accuracy of approximately 98% on the training and test set. The generated model allowed for careful study of the state of seven phobic participants during virtual reality exposure (VRE).

The Role of Basic Personality Traits, Cognitive Coping Strategies in Social Anxiety Symptoms.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine the role of personality traits and coping mechanisms in social anxiety symptoms within the scope of predisposing and sustaining risk factors.Methods: The study group consists of 505 participants (female are 52.3%) between the ages of 18-42 studying at different private universities in Istanbul. Data collection tools are Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, Basic Personality Traits Scale, Ways of Coping with Stress Scale, Cognitive Emotion Regulation Scale. Results: Within the scope of the study, Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and Hierarchical Regression Analysis are used. It is observed that participants with low and high social anxiety symptom level differed in terms of extraversion, agreeableness, openness and negative valence among personality traits; self-confident approach, helpless approach and submissive approach among stress coping styles; and refocusing on the plan, positive reappraisal and catastrophizing among cognitive emotion regulation styles. In addition, as a result of the hierarchical regression analysis, it is found that extraversion, openness and negative valence from personality traits; helpless approach and submissive approach from stress coping styles; and only positive refocusing sub-dimension from cognitive emotion regulation styles predicted social anxiety.&#x0D; Conclusion: Results of this study supported the role of personality traits, ways of coping with stress and cognitive emotion regulation strategies in social anxiety symptoms. These data provide evidence that extraversion, openness to experience, negative valence personality traits; helpless and submissive stress coping styles might be both sustaining and predisposing risk factors in the conceptualization of social anxiety symptoms.