Measures Of Social Anxiety Research Articles

The role of interpretation biases and safety behaviours in social anxiety: an intensive longitudinal study.

Interpretation bias and safety behaviours (Safe-B) have been proposed as factors perpetuating social anxiety (SA). However, longitudinal research on how they contribute to SA in everyday life is scarce. The aim was to examine whether interpretation bias predicts daily Safe-B and SA. A mediated moderation was hypothesized, where the relationship between daily social stressors and Safe-B would be moderated by interpretation bias, and Safe-B, in turn, would mediate the association between stressors and SA levels. In addition, it was hypothesized that prior levels of SA would predict higher Safe-B use, especially in co-occurrence with stressors. An intensive longitudinal design was employed, with 138 vocational training students (51% men, mean age 20.15 years). They completed initial measures of SA and interpretation bias and 7-day diaries with measures of social stressors, Safe-B, and SA. They reported SA levels two months later. Both stressors and interpretation bias in ambiguous situations predicted Safe-B, which in turn predicted daily SA levels. However, neither interpretation bias nor Safe-B predicted SA levels at the follow-up, and interpretation bias did not moderate the association between stressors and daily SA. In addition, the relationship between stressors and Safe-B was stronger in people with higher initial SA levels. The results suggest that Safe-B are a mechanism through which earlier SA levels and interpretation bias contribute to higher SA levels in daily life.

Comorbidity of loneliness and social anxiety in adolescents: Bridge symptoms and peer relationships

RationalePrevious research investigating the comorbidity of loneliness and social anxiety symptoms in population samples has relied on latent variable modeling in which averaged scores representing dimensions were derived from observed symptoms. Studies have not examined how loneliness and social anxiety co-occur at the symptom level or their relations with peer relationships. ObjectiveThis study examined the comorbidity of loneliness and social anxiety and the role of peer relationships (i.e., the number of reciprocated friends, friendship quality, and bullying victimization) in adolescents’ co-occurring network using a large sample of Chinese adolescents. MethodsWe performed a network analysis in a sample of Chinese adolescents (N = 2601, 51.6% male, M age = 13.9 years, SD = 0.60). Participants completed self-report measures of loneliness, social anxiety, bullying victimization, and friendship quality as well as peer nomination measures of the number of reciprocated friends. ResultsNetwork analysis revealed that feeling ridiculed, fear of being rejected, having difficulty asking others to do things together, and feeling left out at school were essential bridge symptoms in the co-occurrence of loneliness and social anxiety. Bullying victimization had more positive associations with symptoms of social anxiety, and friendship quality had more negative associations with symptoms of loneliness. ConclusionsThe findings provide preliminary evidence for the comorbidity of loneliness and social anxiety symptoms in adolescents. The results also highlight the potential importance of targeting peer relationships in the prevention and intervention of loneliness and social anxiety symptoms. The combination of longitudinal networks and interventions on bridge symptoms may provide further insight into the development of the links between peer relationships, loneliness, and social anxiety symptoms.

Social anxiety and interpersonal risk for suicidal ideation: A longitudinal daily diary analysis.

Social anxiety is associated with elevated suicidal ideation (SI). One potential explanation is that socially anxious persons experience frequent interpersonal stressors that elicit SI. Longitudinal designs with temporal ordering are needed to adequately test this hypothesis. Therefore, this study leveraged a longitudinal design combining trait and daily reports. Two hundred eleven community adult participants with elevated levels of depression and/or social anxiety completed social anxiety and SI measures at baseline and again at a 1.5-month follow-up. Between these assessments, participants completed a 14-day diary study that assessed three forms of interpersonal distress: unfavorable social comparisons, perceived barriers to seeking social support, and loneliness. As predicted, simple mediation models revealed that baseline social anxiety had a significant indirect effect on SI severity at 1.5 months postbaseline via unfavorable social comparisons (indirect effect: β = 0.07, p < 0.05) and barriers to seeking support (indirect effect: β = 0.08, p < 0.05); however, social anxiety did not have a significant indirect effect on SI severity through loneliness. Study results are consistent with the proposition that increases in interpersonal distress may explain socially anxious persons' vulnerability to SI. Implications of these findings for the research, assessment, and treatment of suicidality in social anxiety are discussed.

The effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for social anxiety symptoms in people living with alopecia areata: a single-group case-series design.

Alopecia areata (AA) is an immunological disorder characterised by hair loss. Individuals with AA report high levels of social anxiety. One intervention that holds potential for reducing social anxiety in individuals with AA is mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). Our key aim was to investigate whether MBCT reduces social anxiety in individuals with AA. The study also investigated whether MBCT reduces depression, general anxiety, and increases quality of life and increases trait mindfulness in individuals with AA. Five participants with AA took part in an 8-session in-person MBCT intervention. A multiple-baseline single-group case series design was adopted. Idiographic measures of social anxiety were measured each day from baseline, through intervention, to follow-up. Standardised questionnaires of trait mindfulness, social anxiety, depression, anxiety, and quality of life were completed at baseline, post-intervention, and at 4-week follow-up. All participants completed the MBCT course, but one participant was excluded from the idiographic analysis due to a high amount of missing data. The remaining four participants demonstrated reductions in idiographic measures of social anxiety from baseline to follow-up. These effects were larger between baseline and follow-up, than between baseline and post-intervention. Two participants demonstrated significant improvement in standardised measures of wellbeing from baseline to follow-up - they also practised mindfulness most regularly at home between sessions. MBCT may be effective in reducing social anxiety and improving wellbeing in individuals with AA, although this might be dependent on the extent to which participants regularly practise mindfulness exercises.

Effects of Social Anxiety and Subjective Well-Being on Problematic Mobile Social Media Use in First-Year University Students: The Mediating Role of Self-Esteem.

Background: Problematic mobile social media use may impact college students' physical and mental health. This study aimed to elucidate the impact of social anxiety and subjective well-being on problematic mobile social media use and the mediating role of self-esteem in this relationship. Methods: A total of 387 first-year university students (39.8% females, 60.2% males; mean age = 18.74years) were enrolled in this study and completed self-report measures of social anxiety, subjective well-being, self-esteem and problematic mobile social media use. A structural equation model was constructed and tested by AMOS 23.0 software. Results: (1) Social anxiety not only had a direct effect on problematic mobile social media use, but also had an indirect effect on problematic mobile social media use via self-esteem. (2) Subjective well-being was positively and significantly associated with self-esteem, as well as problematic mobile social media use. (3) Self-esteem played a suppressing role between subjective well-being and problematic mobile social media use. Conclusions: It is necessary to help college students reduce their social anxiety and increase their subjective happiness through appropriate ways, as this plays an important role in increasing self-esteem and reducing their problematic mobile social media use.

Assessment of an Epidemic Urgency: Psychometric Evidence for the UCLA Loneliness Scale.

In modern industrialized countries, loneliness has been declared an epidemic. The present paper aimed to replicate previous findings about the dimensionality of the UCLA Loneliness Scale-3 version (LS-3) in a sample of Italian adults using Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM). In Study 1, 1676 participants (Mage= 31.15; SD = 11.89) completed the LS-3. The three-factor ESEM model was performed to replicate the previous Italian version, and a Confirmatory Factor Analysis compared the three- and ten-item short versions. In Studies 2, 3, and 4, we administered measures of anxiety, depression, stress, internet addiction, self-esteem, and social interaction anxiety to 3513 participants (Mage= 30.81; SD = 11.77) to assess the convergent and discriminant validity of LS-3. The ESEM 3-factor model was replicated using a Target rotation (X2 = 847.597; df = 133; CFI = 0.942; TLI = 0.917; RMSEA = 0.062), whereas the already-known LS-3 short version raised psychometric concerns. Positive relationships with anxiety, depression, stress, internet addiction, and social interaction anxiety, as well as negative association with self-esteem were found. In conclusion, our findings support the use of the LS-3 in the Italian sample and discourage the administration of the current short forms. The implications for research and clinical practice have been discussed.

Problem Solving and Emotion Coping Styles for Social Anxiety: A Meta-analysis of Chinese Mainland Students.

Studies of how positive and negative coping styles affect social anxiety show mixed results. Hence, our two meta-analyses determined the overall effect sizes of problem solving-focused coping (PSC) styles and emotion-focused coping (EFC) styles on social anxiety in mainland China (PSC: k = 49 studies, N = 34,669; EFC: k = 52, N = 36,531). PSC was negatively linked to social anxiety (-.198), and EFC was positively linked to social anxiety (.223). In years with more national income, PSC's and EFC's effect sizes were larger. PSC's effect sizes were smaller among rural students (vs. urban students), larger among older students (university, high school, middle school), and larger in cross-sectional (vs. longitudinal) studies. When using SAD (vs. others) social anxiety measures, PSC effect sizes were larger, but EFC effect sizes were smaller. EFC effect sizes were larger in studies with convenience (vs. representative) samples. Gender, single child status, and coping style measurement showed no moderation effects. These findings suggest that using problem solving-focused coping styles rather than emotion-focused may reduce social anxiety, so future experimental studies can test this idea more rigorously.

Binocular rivalry in autistic and socially anxious adults.

Social anxiousness is a pervasive symptom in both social anxiety disorder and autism spectrum conditions. Binocular rivalry, which occurs when different images are presented to each eye, has been used to explore how visual and cognitive processing differs across various clinical diagnoses. Previous studies have separately explored whether individuals with autism or anxiety experience binocular rivalry in ways that are different from neurotypical individuals. We applied rivalry paradigms that are similar to those used in previous studies of autism and general anxiety to individuals experiencing symptoms of social anxiousness at clinical or subclinical levels. We also incorporated rivalrous stimuli featuring neutral and emotional facial valances to explore potential overlap of social processing components in social anxiety and autism. We hypothesized that higher levels of social anxiousness would increase binocular rivalry switch rates and that higher levels of autistic traits would decrease switch rates. However, stimulus condition did not affect switch rates in either diagnostic group, and switch rate was not significantly predictive of dimensional measures of either autism or social anxiety. This may suggest a common mechanism for atypical visual cognition styles previously associated with social anxiety and autism. Alternatively, differences in switch rates may only emerge at higher trait levels than reported by the participants in our studies. Furthermore, these findings may be influenced by sex differences in our unique sample.

Area under the Curve as an Alternative to Latent Growth Curve Modeling When Assessing the Effects of Predictor Variables on Repeated Measures of a Continuous Dependent Variable

Researchers conducting longitudinal data analysis in psychology and the behavioral sciences have several statistical methods to choose from, most of which either require specialized software to conduct or advanced knowledge of statistical methods to inform the selection of the correct model options (e.g., correlation structure). One simple alternative to conventional longitudinal data analysis methods is to calculate the area under the curve (AUC) from repeated measures and then use this new variable in one’s model. The present study assessed the relative efficacy of two AUC measures: the AUC with respect to the ground (AUC-g) and the AUC with respect to the increase (AUC-i) in comparison to latent growth curve modeling (LGCM), a popular repeated measures data analysis method. Using data from the ongoing Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), we assessed the effects of four predictor variables on repeated measures of social anxiety, using both the AUC and LGCM. We used the full information maximum likelihood (FIML) method to account for missing data in LGCM and multiple imputation to account for missing data in the calculation of both AUC measures. Extracting parameter estimates from these models, we next conducted Monte Carlo simulations to assess the parameter bias and power (two estimates of performance) of both methods in the same models, with sample sizes ranging from 741 to 50. The results using both AUC measures in the initial models paralleled those of LGCM, particularly with respect to the LGCM baseline. With respect to the simulations, both AUC measures preformed as well or even better than LGCM in all sample sizes assessed. These results suggest that the AUC may be a viable alternative to LGCM, especially for researchers with less access to the specialized software necessary to conduct LGCM.

Emotion regulation mediates the relationship between social frailty and stress, anxiety, and depression

Social frailty refers to an inability to meet basic social needs and has been identified as a threat to physical and mental health. Although social frailty has been linked with many adverse health and well-being outcomes, potential mediators of the relationship between social frailty and well-being remain poorly understood. Emotion regulation refers to the capacity to alter the experience of emotions to behave in accordance with a desired goal. The present study was designed to provide the first direct test of whether emotion regulation mediates the relationships between social frailty and important well-being outcomes (stress, anxiety, and depression). A total of 790 participants completed validated measures of social frailty, stress, anxiety, depression, and emotion regulation. In line with our preregistered hypotheses, higher social frailty predicted increased stress, anxiety, and depression, and each of these relationships were partially mediated by emotion regulation capacity. These data provide novel evidence that emotion regulation abilities may serve as a protective factor against the negative consequences of social frailty.

Phobia-specific patterns of cognitive emotion regulation strategies

Although fear plays a vital role in survival, an overly active threat detection system could be maladaptive due to its negative health consequences. Putatively maladaptive emotion regulation (ER) strategies are a core problem in phobias. In contrast, adaptive ER strategies could help downregulate the emotion elicited by a threatening stimulus and decrease anxiety. Yet, the number of studies directly examining the pattern of ER strategies linked to various phobias is still scarce. Thus, this study sought to map the patterns of adaptive and maladaptive ER strategies linked to the three most common phobias (social, animal, and blood-injection-injury [BII]). A total of 856 healthy participants filled out our survey including self-reported measures of social anxiety, snake-, spider-, BII phobia, and cognitive ER strategies. Structural equation modeling was used to test the effects between the variables. The results show that social anxiety and animal phobia were linked to both adaptive and maladaptive ER strategies, while BII was only associated with maladaptive ones. Further analyses showed that the most prominent ER strategies differed by subtype. This is in line with previous neuroimaging studies claiming that the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying phobias are also different. Theoretical as well as practical implications are discussed.

Virtual reality acceptance and commitment therapy intervention for social and public speaking anxiety: A randomized controlled trial

Virtual reality (VR) offers new and flexible ways to provide psychological interventions. The aim of this study was to develop and investigate the effectiveness of a VR intervention based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for social and public speaking anxiety. ACT is a process-based approach that aims to (a) increase individuals’ abilities to handle difficult emotional and cognitive experiences and (b) develop the motivation required for change to occur. In this study, a sample of university students with social interaction or communication anxiety (N = 76; age M = 24.95, SD = 6.50, 69.7% females) was blindly randomized into a total of 2 h of VR ACT training (VRACT; n = 37) or a waiting list control (WLC; n = 39) group. The VRACT group was gradually exposed to social situations using a VR head-mounted display (HMD) and received audio-recorded ACT-based instructions aimed at increasing psychological flexibility. The outcome measurements included self-reported social and communication anxiety, well-being, psychological processes, and behavioral measures. At the final feedback meeting held one week after attending three VR sessions, we observed a significant decrease in social and communication anxiety (d = 0.55–0.61) and a significant improvement in psychological flexibility (d = 0.61), with moderate effect sizes. These findings contribute to advancing knowledge of how ACT can be efficaciously delivered using VR to improve mental health outcomes for university students with social anxiety.

Alexinomia: The fear of using personal names.

Preliminary research based on everyday observations suggests that there are people, who experience severe fear when addressing others with their personal names. The aim of this study was to explore the extent to which this hitherto little-known psychological phenomenon really exists and to investigate its characteristic features, considering the everyday experience of not being able to use names and its impact on affected individuals and their social interactions and relationships. In this mixed-methods study based on semi-structured interviews and psychometric testing, 13 affected female participants were interviewed and evaluated using self-report measures of social anxiety, attachment-related vulnerability, and general personality traits. An inductive content analysis and inferential statistical methods were used to analyze qualitative and quantitative data, respectively. Our findings show that affected individuals experience psychological distress and a variety of negative emotions in situations in which addressing others with their name is intended, resulting in avoidance behavior, impaired social interactions, and a reduced quality of affected relationships. The behavior can affect all relationships and all forms of communication and is strongly linked to social anxiety and insecure attachment. We propose calling this phenomenon Alexinomia, meaning "no words for names".

Social Anxiety Across Sexual and Gender Identity Subpopulations

Recent research indicates that gay/lesbian identified sexual minority individuals report lower social anxiety than their counterparts who identify as bisexual or indicate an emerging identity label (e.g., queer, pansexual, or asexual). The current study advances the knowledge base by comparing levels of social anxiety across both sexualandgender identity subpopulations in a sexual minority sample residing in the Republic of Ireland. Six hundred two sexual minority adults participated in an online survey in which they completed measures of sociodemographic variables (including sexual and gender identity) and social anxiety. Across gender identity subpopulations, transgender/non-binary individuals were more likely to report elevated social anxiety symptoms than both cisgender men and cisgender women; further, cisgender women were more likely to report elevated social anxiety symptoms than cisgender men. Within each of these gender identity groups, there was no significant difference in odds of elevated social anxiety symptoms across sexual identity subgroups (gay/lesbian, bisexual, and emerging identity) when adjusted for sociodemographic variables. Results highlight the necessity to represent the mental health experiences of diverse sexual minority subpopulations, especially in population-based studies of sexual minority mental health. Additionally, future studies should aim to explore the potentially distinctive and complex social stressors encountered by the diverse groups within the sexual and gender minority population.

Shyness subtypes and associations with social anxiety: A comparison study of Canadian and Chinese children.

Previous research has shown that there are distinct types of children's shyness within eastern and western cultures, with different origins, developmental courses, and outcomes. However, the measures used to examine children's shyness in eastern contexts have been developed almost exclusively in the North American context. Whether shyness subtypes and their predictive associations are conserved between western and eastern cultures on a children's shyness measure developed in an eastern context is an empirical question. Here we examined (a) whether two subtypes from the Chinese Shyness Scale (i.e., anxious and regulated) were identified in a western context, and (b) whether cultural context moderated the relation between the two subtypes of shy behavior and a widely used western characterized social anxiety measure. The participants were children aged 3-5 years from China (Mage=4.46 years, SD=0.64, n=182, 53.8% boys) and Canada (Mage=3.99 years, SD=0.82, n=201, 42.3% boys). The results indicated that the two shyness subtypes and the one-factor social anxiety construct were identified in both cultures. Subsequently, latent moderation structural equation modelling revealed that anxious shyness was significantly and positively related to social anxiety in children from both countries, but more strongly in Canada. Conversely, regulated shyness was significantly and positively related to social anxiety in Canadian children, but not in Chinese children. Findings are discussed regarding possible cultural explanations for why the relations between two Chinese shyness subtypes and social anxiety are different in Chinese and Canadian contexts and their implications to understanding cross-cultural differences in developmental shyness. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Two subtypes of shyness (anxious and regulated shyness) reported in China were identified in both China and Canada Country/culture moderated the relation between shyness subtypes and social anxiety Anxious shyness was positively related to social anxiety in both countries Regulated shyness was positively related to social anxiety in Canadian children, but not in Chinese children.

A Longitudinal Study Exploring the Role of Mental Health Symptoms and Social Support Regarding Life Satisfaction 18 Months after Initiation of Gender-Affirming Hormone Treatment.

While positive changes in mental health have been found following gender-affirming hormone treatment (GAHT), it is unclear how pre-GAHT mental health and social support can influence treatment outcomes. To address this, a retrospective longitudinal design was used in which 137 participants completed measures of social support, anxiety, and depression prior to GAHT (T0) and a measure of life satisfaction 18 months after GAHT (T1). The data showed no significant differences in life satisfaction at T1 based on T0 caseness of anxiety or depression. It was also found that T1 life satisfaction was not predicted by levels of anxiety, depression, or social support at T0. The lack of significant differences in life satisfaction at 18 months post-GAHT based on pre-GAHT mental health, coupled with no evidence for the predictive role social support suggest that these factors are not central to long-term life satisfaction. For many, lower mental wellbeing may be part of the experience of awaiting GAHT and should not be regarded as indicative of longer-term issues. Instead, facilitation of social support connections and mental health support should be offered both concurrently with, and for those awaiting, GAHT.

Psychological needs satisfaction and smartphone addiction among Chinese adolescents: The mediating roles of social anxiety and loneliness.

Although previous studies have initially noted that psychological needs satisfaction (PNS) might be a significant risk factor for technology addiction (e.g. online gaming addiction and Internet addiction), specific mechanisms involved in the association between PNS and adolescent smartphone addiction are largely unknown. Based on self-determination theory, this cross-sectional study constructed a multiple mediation model to examine whether PNS will influence adolescent smartphone addiction through the mediating roles of social anxiety and loneliness. Eight hundred and ninety-nine Chinese adolescents answered the questionnaire including measures of PNS, social anxiety, loneliness, and smartphone addiction. SPSS 24.0 was used for common method bias test, reliability test, and correlation analysis, and Mplus 7.4 was used to examine the mediating roles of social anxiety and loneliness in the multiple mediation model. This study found that (1) PNS was negatively associated with adolescent smartphone addiction; (2) loneliness significantly mediated the association between PNS and smartphone addiction while the mediating role of social anxiety in this association was nonsignificant; and (3) social anxiety and loneliness also sequentially mediated this association. This study further enriched potential mechanisms linking PNS and smartphone addiction among adolescents, which may contribute to intervention and prevention programs for adolescent smartphone addiction from the perspective of improving both PNS and negative emotions including social anxiety and loneliness.

Dimensional Assessment of Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors: Development and Preliminary Validation of a New Measure

This study aimed to provide initial validation of the Dimensional Assessment of Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors (DARB), a new parent-report measure designed to capture the full range of key restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRB) subdomains. Parents of 1,892 children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (mean [SD] age= 10.81 [4.14] years) recruited from the SPARK (Simons Foundation Powering Autism Research for Knowledge) research match completed the DARB, several existing RRB instruments, and measures of social and communication impairments and anxiety. A subsample of 450 parents completed the DARB after 2 weeks to evaluate the test-retest stability. Exploratory graph analysis conducted in the exploratory subsample identified 8 dimensions that were aligned with hypothesized RRB subdomains: repetitive sensory motor behaviors, insistence on sameness, restricted interests, unusual interests, sensory sensitivity, self-injurious behaviors, obsessions and compulsive behaviors, and repetitive language. The confirmatory application of the exploratory structural equation modeling conducted in the confirmatory subsample showed that the derived factor structure had a good fit to the data. Derived factors had excellent reliability, convergent and divergent validity, and very strong test-retest stability and showed a distinct pattern of associations with key demographic, cognitive and clinical correlates. The DARB will be useful in a variety of research and clinical contexts considering the prominence and clinical impact of RRB in autism spectrum disorder. Strong preliminary evidence indicates that the new scale is comprehensive and captures a wide range of distinct RRB subdomains not simultaneously captured by any of the existing instruments.

The effects of rational emotive behaviour therapy on performance under pressure in adolescent soccer athletes: a randomised control design

ABSTRACTAlthough several studies have reported the effects of rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT) with athletes, significant methodological limitations have been observed in the extant research. These include a lack of randomised control trials (RCT), a lack of objective performance measurement, and often poor internal and external validity. Accordingly, these limitations are addressed in the present study, and the effects of REBT on performance under pressure in adolescent soccer players are assessed using an RCT design. In this study, 24 adolescent soccer players were recruited. After completing pre-intervention measures of irrational beliefs, social anxiety, and performance under pressure, players were divided into two groups, an experimental (n = 12) and placebo control group (n = 12). The experimental group underwent ten REBT sessions and the placebo control group underwent ten sessions of video clips related to new soccer technologies. Indicators of irrational beliefs, social anxiety, and performance under pressure were collected at a post-intervention and at a four-month follow-up. Results demonstrated a significant decrease in irrational beliefs and social anxiety and an improvement in performance under pressure in the experimental group, compared to the placebo control group. These significant changes were maintained in the experimental group at follow-up. Results are discussed in relation to advancements to the extant research, and recommendations for future applied work are proffered.

Interpretation Biases in Social Scenarios and Social Anxiety: The Role of Safety Behaviors.

Interpretation bias (IB) and safety behaviors (SB) are maintenance mechanisms of social anxiety (SA). However, few studies have examined the role of IB and SB together in explaining SA. The objective of this study was to determine whether SB explains the association between IB and SA. To evaluate these variables, the Adolescents' Interpretation and Beliefs Questionnaire (AIBQ 2.0) and the Social Phobia Safety Behaviors Scale (SPSBS) needed to be adapted for Spanish adolescents and young people. 826 Spanish vocational training students (60% males, 14-28 years old) completed a measure of SA and the AIBQ 2.0 and SPSBS. Path analysis showed that IB in offline scenarios was associated with SA through SB. IB in offline situations, but not in online situations, was directly associated with SA. As expected, the AIBQ 2.0 showed a two-dimensional structure and good internal consistency. The SPSBS demonstrated a unidimensional structure and good internal consistency. In the absence of longitudinal studies, the data are compatible with the possible mediating role of SB in the association between IB and SA. Both instruments (AIBQ 2.0 and SPSBS) exhibited good psychometric properties for Spanish students.