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The present study investigated whether cultivating self-compassion facilitates disclosure of self-esteem threatening experiences to others, and whether it does so indirectly by reducing shame. Eighty-five female undergraduates recalled an event that threatened their self-esteem and were randomly assigned to write about it in a self-compassionate (n = 29), self-esteem enhancing (n = 30), or non-directive (free writing; n = 26) way. Participants then learned that self-disclosure can decrease distress and were invited to share their event in writing to a stranger. Contrary to the central hypothesis, there was no main effect of condition on self-disclosure; however, post hoc analyses demonstrated that condition interacted with self-esteem threat to predict length and depth of disclosure. For participants whose events were more self-esteem threatening, cultivating either self-compassion or self-esteem promoted deeper disclosures than free writing, and self-compassionate writing alone fostered longer disclosures. For less self-esteem threatening events, free writing promoted deeper and longer disclosures than cultivating self-compassion or self-esteem. Shame was not a significant mediator. Results highlight the potential utility of self-compassion or self-esteem enhancing interventions for facilitating the disclosure of distressing events that threaten self-worth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Online communication is essential to modern life, but its features may also afford socially anxious individuals the ability to conceal themselves, or parts of themselves, from evaluation by others. In this way, Internet-based social interaction may function as a form of safety behavior for socially anxious people seeking to avoid face-to-face encounters. To enhance our understanding of how social anxiety manifests online and examine the nature and impact of safety behaviors within online social contexts, we developed the Seeking Online Safety Questionnaire (SOSQ). The SOSQ measures the degree to which specific features of online communication contribute to the perception of interpersonal safety in online contexts. We explored the measure's factor structure and psychometric properties in a sample of 374 participants who completed the online survey through Mechanical Turk. Exploratory factor analysis suggested two correlated factors: control over self-presentation, and control over personal information. The SOSQ showed good convergent validity, such that as each of the SOSQ factors and total score increased, so too did participants' trait social anxiety, concerns about self-attribute flaws, fear of negative evaluation, and use of offline safety behaviors. Regression analyses demonstrated that control over online self-presentation explained unique variance in social anxiety symptoms and fear of negative evaluation over and above control over personal information. Results expand our understanding of social anxiety-driven safety behaviors in online contexts, which have important implications for conceptualizing the nature and treatment of social anxiety. Highlights • Socially anxious people are motivated to prevent others from evaluating them negatively. • Examined how social anxiety manifests within the context of Internet-based communication. • Developed a new questionnaire to assess safety seeking during online social interaction. • Examined the factor structure and psychometric properties of the new measure. • Socially anxious people are likely to select online communication tools that afford greater control over self-presentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Imagery rescripting (IR) is an effective intervention for social anxiety disorder (SAD) that targets autobiographical memories of painful past events. IR is thought to promote needs fulfillment and memory updating by guiding patients to change unhelpful schema through addressing the needs of the younger self within the memory. Methods: Qualitative coding was used to examine the features of clinically relevant strategies enacted during IR to fulfill needs and update memories in 14 individuals with SAD. Results: Participants typically enacted multiple strategies to address the needs of the younger self during rescripting, with compassionate and assertive strategies used more frequently than avoidance. Most strategies were practically feasible and enacted by the imagined self rather than imagined others, with the majority of patients achieving a strong degree of needs fulfillment, especially when strategies were consistent with identified needs. Participants' reflections on how their memories have changed are provided from follow-up data collected 6 months post-intervention. Themes of self-reappraisal, self-compassion, and self-distancing are highlighted as potentially important for facilitating needs fulfilment and memory updating. Conclusions: Findings illuminate the clinical processes through which socially traumatic memories in SAD may be updated in IR by guiding patients to fulfill their needs and promote improved emotional health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What are the major vulnerabilities in people with social anxiety? What are the most promising directions for translational research pertaining to this condition? The present paper provides an integrative summary of basic and applied translational research on social anxiety, emphasizing vulnerability factors. It is divided into two subsections: intrapersonal and interpersonal. The intrapersonal section synthesizes research relating to (a) self-representations and self-referential processes; (b) emotions and their regulation; and (c) cognitive biases: attention, interpretation and judgment, and memory. The interpersonal section summarizes findings regarding the systems of (a) approach and avoidance, (b) affiliation and social rank, and their implications for interpersonal impairments. Our review suggests that the science of social anxiety and, more generally, psychopathology may be advanced by examining processes and their underlying content within broad psychological systems. Increased interaction between basic and applied researchers to diversify and elaborate different perspectives on social anxiety is necessary for progress. • We review research on proposed basic processes in social anxiety. • Intrapersonal processes include self-referential, emotion, & information processing. • Interpersonal processes include approach, avoidance, social rank, & affiliation. • Future work should examine multiple processes and their interactions. • Collaboration between basic and applied researchers can advance the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-Event Processing (PEP) is prevalent and problematic in Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) but is typically not a direct target in evidence-based treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for SAD. The primary aim of the current study was to examine the impact of several theoretically and empirically derived interventions for PEP in SAD, including concrete thinking, abstract thinking, and distraction in comparison to a control (i.e., do nothing) condition. Based on prior research, we hypothesized that the concrete and distract conditions would be associated with positive benefits, including reductions in PEP and improvements in self-perception, whereas the abstract and control conditions would not. The second aim of the study was to identify baseline variables that predict the trajectory of change in PEP over time. Participants (N=92) with a principal diagnosis of SAD completed a social stress task and were randomly assigned to one of four conditions. Participants completed measures at baseline, post-intervention/control, and at 1-week, and 1-month follow-up. Contrary to hypotheses, all three active conditions were similarly effective at reducing PEP and improving self-perceptions relative to the control condition. In the absence of an intervention, engagement in PEP remained high up to a month following the social stress task. Higher levels of baseline state anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, and use of safety behaviours predicted greater PEP, even in the presence of an intervention. These results highlight the benefits of relatively brief interventions that disrupt the course of PEP for people with SAD. Such interventions can be easily incorporated into CBT protocols for SAD to enhance their effects. • Without intervention, PEP remains elevated over prolonged periods of time. • PEP can be reduced with a number of brief interventions. • State anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, and safety behaviour use predict PEP. • Positive metacognitive beliefs increase engagement in PEP over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving the delivery of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for social anxiety disorder (SAD) requires an in-depth understanding of which cognitive and behavioural mechanisms drive change in social anxiety symptoms (i.e., social interaction anxiety) during and after treatment. The current study explores the dynamic temporal associations between theory-driven cognitive and behavioural mechanisms of symptom change both during and following group CBT. A randomized controlled trial of imagery-enhanced CBT (n = 51) versus traditional verbal CBT (n = 54) for social anxiety was completed in a community mental health clinic setting. This study included data collected from 12-weekly sessions and a 1-month follow-up session. Mixed models were used to assess magnitude of change over the course of treatment. Cross-lagged panel models were fit to the data to examine temporal relationships between mechanisms (social-evaluative beliefs, safety behaviours) and social interaction anxiety symptoms. Participants in both CBT groups experienced significant improvements across all cognitive, behavioural, and symptom measures, with no significant differences in the magnitude of changes between treatments. During treatment, greater social-evaluative beliefs (fear of negative evaluation, negative self-portrayals) at one time point (T) were predictive of more severe SAD symptoms and safety behaviours at T+1. Social-evaluative beliefs (fear of negative evaluation, probability and cost of social failure) and safety behaviours measured at post-treatment were positively associated with SAD symptoms at the 1-month follow-up. The current study identifies social-evaluative beliefs that may be important targets for symptom and avoidance reduction during and following CBT. Assessment of these social-evaluative beliefs throughout treatment may be useful for predicting future SAD symptoms and avoidance, and for adapting treatment to promote optimal change for patients. • Examined relationships between cognitive-behavioural factors and social anxiety during CBGT for social anxiety disorder. • Fear of negative evaluation and negative self-portrayals predicted social anxiety and safety behaviours during treatment. • Safety behaviours, fear of negative evaluation, and perceived probability predicted social anxiety after treatment. • All factors were concurrently associated with social interaction anxiety during and after treatment. • Findings identify important treatment targets for social anxiety disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social anxiety disorder is associated with interpersonal dysfunction, but it is not clear why people with the disorder feel unsatisfied with their relationships. One possibility is that higher social anxiety could lead to changes in sensitivity to interpersonal traits. We examined whether social anxiety moderates the types of interpersonal evaluations people make regarding warmth and dominance. We developed vignettes in which central characters systematically varied in dominance and warmth and asked two samples of participants (undergraduate students, n = 176, and online workers, n = 403) to rate their willingness to interact with, and the social desirability of, these characters. Participants in general reported stronger desire to interact with warmer and less dominant characters, and rated warmer and more dominant characters as being more socially desirable. People with higher social anxiety exhibited greater tolerance for colder and more submissive characters on both rated dimensions. The perceived similarity of the characters accounted for the bulk of these effects. Participants indicated a higher desire to interact with characters more similar to themselves, and people with higher social anxiety were more likely to rate submissive and cold characters as being like themselves. The results have implications for clinical interventions for social anxiety disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is associated with marked physiological reactivity in social-evaluative situations. However, objective measurement of biomarkers is rarely evaluated in treatment trials, despite potential utility in clarifying disorder-specific physiological correlates. This randomized controlled trial sought to examine the differential impact of imagery-enhanced vs. verbal-based cognitive behavioral group therapy (IE-CBGT, n = 53; VB-CBGT, n = 54) on biomarkers of emotion regulation and arousal during social stress in people with SAD (pre- and post-treatment differences in heart rate variability (HRV) and skin conductance). We acquired psychophysiological data from randomized participants across four social stress test phases (baseline, speech preparation, speech, interaction) at pre-treatment, and 1- and 6-months post-treatment. Analyses revealed that IE-CBGT selectively attenuated heart rate as indexed by increases in median heart rate interval (median-RR) compared to VB-CBGT at post-treatment, whereas one HRV index showed a larger increase in the VB-CBGT condition before but not after controlling for median-RR. Other psychophysiological indices did not differ between conditions. Lower sympathetic arousal in the IE-CBGT condition may have obviated the need for parasympathetic downregulation, whereas the opposite was true for VB-CBGT. These findings provide preliminary insights into the impact of imagery-enhanced and verbally-based psychotherapy for SAD on emotion regulation biomarkers. • People with social anxiety report marked physiological arousal in social situations. • Physiological change is rarely reported in treatment studies. • RCT of imagery vs. verbal group CBT investigated physiological change. • Imagery-enhanced CBT led to lower sympathetic arousal under stress post-treatment. • Findings provide insight into biomarkers of emotion regulation in social anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current study, 55 participants with a diagnosis of generalized social anxiety disorder (SAD), 23 participants with a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder other than SAD with no comorbid SAD, and 50 healthy controls completed a speech task as well as self-reported measures of safety behavior use. Speeches were videotaped and coded for global and specific indicators of performance by two raters who were blind to participants’ diagnostic status. Results suggested that the objective performance of people with SAD was poorer than that of both control groups, who did not differ from each other. Moreover, self-reported use of safety behaviors during the speech strongly mediated the relationship between diagnostic group and observers’ performance ratings. These results are consistent with contemporary cognitive-behavioral and interpersonal models of SAD and suggest that socially anxious individuals’ performance skills may be undermined by the use of safety behaviors. These data provide further support for recommendations from previous studies that the elimination of safety behaviors ought to be a priority in cognitive behavioral therapy for SAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Safety behaviour use maintains and exacerbates social anxiety disorder (SAD). • Examined underlying fears that may predict safety behaviour (SB) use in SAD. • Fears of negative self-portrayal and of receiving compassion were both important. • Each type of fear uniquely predicted both avoidance and impression management SBs. • Significant interaction between the two fears for impression management SBs only. Why do people with social anxiety disorder (SAD) engage in the use of safety behaviours? While past research has established that fears of negative self-portrayal are strongly associated with safety behaviour use in SAD, no research to date has investigated the potential role of fears of receiving compassion. Both types of fears could motivate those with SAD to engage in safety behaviours in order to keep others at a distance. In the present study, 150 participants with a clinical diagnosis of SAD completed measures of fears of negative self-portrayal, fears of receiving compassion, and safety behaviour use. Multiple regression analyses revealed that when controlling for self-portrayal fears, fears of receiving compassion significantly predicted increased use of safety behaviours overall, as well as the use of avoidance and impression management subtypes. Furthermore, there was a significant interaction effect in which greater fears of receiving compassion predicted greater use of impression management at lower levels of self-portrayal fears. We discuss the implications of our findings for addressing safety behaviours in the treatment of SAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highly self-compassionate individuals are more resilient in the face of distress. Although research suggests this is due to intra personal coping, inter personal coping strategies, like openness to social support, may also contribute. Prior studies on the relationship between self-compassion and received social support have yielded mixed findings and neglected to examine the moderating role of distress, which may impact one's perceived need for support. In the present study, 96 female undergraduates reported on daily levels of self-compassion, distress, and received social support over eight consecutive days. A significant positive relationship between dispositional self-compassion and received social support was found, and this relationship was moderated by participants' average and daily levels of distress. Participants higher in dispositional self-compassion reported receiving especially high levels of support the higher their average level of distress over the week, and the higher their level of distress on a given day relative to their typical level. These results indicate that self-compassionate college-aged women may be more effective at utilizing interpersonal coping resources when distressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do people with social anxiety (SA) benefit from positive memory retrieval that heightens self-relevant meaning? In this preregistered study, an analog sample of 255 participants with self-reported clinically significant symptoms of SA were randomly assigned to retrieve and process a positive social-autobiographical memory by focusing on either its self-relevant meaning (deep processing) or its perceptual features (superficial processing). Participants were then socially excluded and instructed to reimagine their positive memory. Analyses revealed that participants assigned to the deep processing condition experienced significantly greater improvements than participants in the superficial processing condition in positive affect, social safeness, and positive beliefs about others during initial memory retrieval and in negative and positive beliefs about the self following memory reactivation during recovery from exclusion. These novel findings highlight the potential utility of memory-based interventions for SA that work by "hooking" self-meaning onto recollections of positive interpersonal experiences that elicit feelings of social acceptance., Competing Interests: The author(s) declared that there were no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship or the publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2023.)

Negative schemas lie at the core of many common and debilitating mental disorders. Thus, intervention scientists and clinicians have long recognized the importance of designing effective interventions that target schema change. Here, we suggest that the optimal development and administration of such interventions can benefit from a framework outlining how schema change occurs in the brain. Guided by basic neuroscientific findings, we provide a memory-based neurocognitive framework for conceptualizing how schemas emerge and change over time and how they can be modified during psychological treatment of clinical disorders. We highlight the critical roles of the hippocampus, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and posterior neocortex in directing schema-congruent and -incongruent learning (SCIL) in the interactive neural network that comprises the autobiographical memory system. We then use this framework, which we call the SCIL model, to derive new insights about the optimal design features of clinical interventions that aim to strengthen or weaken schema-based knowledge through the core processes of episodic mental simulation and prediction error. Finally, we examine clinical applications of the SCIL model to schema-change interventions in psychotherapy and provide cognitive-behavior therapy for social anxiety disorder as an illustrative example.

Prior research has shown that Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is associated with significantly diminished positive affect (PA). Few studies have examined PA reactivity to pleasant experimental stimuli in individuals with SAD and whether emotional responses might be moderated by social context. Here, we investigated repeated measures of PA reactivity among individuals with SAD ( n = 46) and healthy controls (HC; n = 39) in response to standardized neutral images, pleasant music, and social versus nonsocial guided imagery. Primary analyses revealed that SAD and HC participants did not differ in their PA reactivity when PA was conceptualized as a unitary construct. Exploratory analyses examining discrete subfacets of PA revealed potential deficits for SAD participants in relaxed and content PA, but not activated PA. Although participants with SAD reported relatively lower levels of relaxed and content PA overall compared with controls, they exhibited normal increases in all PA subfacets in response to pleasant music as well as pleasant social and nonsocial stimuli. These findings support a more nuanced conclusion about PA deficits in SAD than is described in the extant literature, suggesting that detecting PA deficits in SAD may depend upon how PA is conceptualized, evoked, and measured. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The pain of social exclusion can motivate people to capitalize on opportunities to reconnect with others and repair their self-esteem and feelings of belongingness. This effect is often diminished for those with high social anxiety (HSA). Prior research suggests this may be due to their diminished capacity for recognizing and emotionally responding to relational reward cues. We investigated whether non-relational success experiences in the aftermath of exclusion may be an alternative means of repairing threatened self-esteem and belongingness in HSA individuals. In a preregistered, online study, we threatened belongingness and self-esteem in 422 participants by excluding them in a Cyberball game and then assigned them to one of three conditions: Relational Repair, Non-Relational Repair, or a No-Repair control condition. Results showed that both repair contexts facilitated needs repair relative to the no-repair control condition, and mediation analyses suggested this effect was driven by increased positive affect (PA). HSA individuals were less likely to restore needs regardless of condition and this effect appeared to be driven by low PA. Findings emphasize the critical role of PA for restoring threatened needs in the aftermath of exclusion and suggest that HSA inhibits needs repair processes across both relational and non-relational reward contexts., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Previous research has shown that high levels of trait social anxiety (SA) disrupt the social repair processes following a painful social exclusion, but the cognitive mechanisms involved in these processes and how trait SA may disrupt them remain unknown., Methods: We conducted a preregistered study on Prolific participants ( N  = 452) who were assigned to experience either social exclusion or inclusion and were then exposed to follow-up opportunities for social reconnection., Results: Moderated mediation analyses revealed that irrespective of levels of SA, participants responded to social pain with heightened approach motivation and greater downstream positive affect. Exploratory analyses revealed that heightened desire to affiliate was driven by increased curiosity and attention to social rewards. Moreover, higher SA was associated with lower overall desire to affiliate and this relationship between SA and affiliation was mediated by diminished reward responsiveness., Conclusions: Findings highlight the roles of goal pursuit and social reward responsiveness in social repair and how high levels of trait SA may disrupt these processes., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10608-021-10263-z., Competing Interests: Conflict of InterestTaylor Hudd and David A. Moscovitch declare that they have no conflict of interest., (© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2021.)

Background and Objectives: Prior studies have shown that people display signs of increased social approach motivation and affiliative behaviour in response to social exclusion. This response is considered an adaptive strategy that serves to repair damage to social networks and increase access to mood-enhancing social rewards. However, heightened trait social anxiety (SA) has been linked to decreased approach motivation and responsiveness to social rewards. In the current preliminary experimental study, we tested whether trait SA inhibits the expected increase in social approach following the pain of exclusion. We then tested whether diminished social approach is associated with reduced positive affect., Methods: Participants played a game of Cyberball and were randomly assigned to receive significantly fewer passes (exclusion condition) or an equal number of passes (control condition) as other players. Subsequently, participants were given the opportunity to engage in an online social interaction activity with avatars they believed were other participants., Results: Analyses revealed that the exclusion condition led to greater social pain than the control condition. Across conditions, greater social pain was associated with higher levels of approach motivation in anticipation of the social interaction activity, but only for individuals with lower levels of trait SA. Finally, when controlling for levels of trait SA, social pain was associated with positive affect following the social interaction activity, but only for individuals with higher levels of approach motivation., Limitations: Participants consisted predominantly of female undergraduates, limiting generalizability of these data. As well, hypotheses were supported for the measure of approach motivation but not the measure of approach behaviour. Finally, this study was not powered to enable moderated mediation analyses, which would have provided the most direct test of the hypothesized model., Conclusions: Heightened approach motivation in the face of social pain may facilitate increased positive affect. However, higher levels of trait SA dampen approach motivation. Future well-powered studies should use moderated mediation analyses to test the hypothesized model more parsimoniously., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We have no conflicts of interest to disclose. This project was supported by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council scholarship funding., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Individuals with social anxiety disorder (SADs; n = 41) and healthy controls (HCs; n = 40) were administered the Waterloo Images and Memories Interview, in which they described mental images that they tend to experience in both anxiety-provoking and non-anxiety-provoking social situations. Participants then recalled, in as much detail as possible, specific autobiographical memories of salient aversive and non-aversive social experiences that they believed led to the formation of these images. Audio-recorded memory narratives were transcribed and coded based on the procedure of the Autobiographical Interview, which provides a precise measure of the degree of episodic detail contained within each memory. Participants also rated the subjective properties of their recalled memories. Results revealed that participants across the two groups retrieved equivalent rates of both aversive and non-aversive social memories. However, SAD participants' memories of aversive events contained significantly more episodic detail than those of HCs, suggesting that they may be more highly accessible. Moreover, participants with SAD appraised their memories of aversive experiences as more distressing and intrusive than HCs, and perceived them as having a significantly greater influence on their self-perception. In contrast, no group differences were observed for memories of non-aversive events. Findings have the potential to shed new light on autobiographical memory in SAD, with implications for psychotherapeutic intervention., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Forty participants with social anxiety disorder (SAD) and 42 healthy controls (HCs) were randomized to watch a confederate deliver a speech in either a visibly anxious or confident manner. Participants rated their perception of the presenter's desirability across five attributes and compared themselves to the presenter along these same dimensions. Participants then delivered their own speeches, and were rated in a similar manner by trained research assistants who were naïve to participants' group status and study objectives. Results demonstrated that all participants, irrespective of group status, judged the visibly anxious presenter as being less desirable and the confident presenter as more desirable. Socially anxious participants tended to view themselves as inferior to confident others. Coders also rated participants with SAD, based on their speeches, as being less interpersonally desirable than HCs. These results suggest that individuals who appear visibly anxious may be objectively disadvantaged in their ability to make a positive first impression on others. We discuss these findings in relation to theoretical models of social anxiety and explore how to address such interpersonal factors in psychological interventions for SAD., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Post-event processing (PEP) is defined as repetitive negative thinking following anxiety provoking social events. PEP is thought to maintain anxiety symptoms in Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) but little is known about the specific factors that contribute to the maintenance of PEP., Aims: The current study investigated how perceptions of performance and positive metacognitive beliefs might contribute to the persistence of PEP., Method: Participants with SAD (n = 24) as well as anxious (n = 24) and healthy (n = 25) control participants completed a standardized social performance task in the lab. Their engagement in PEP and perceptions of performance were assessed in the week that followed., Results: Immediately following the social task, individuals with SAD rated their performance more negatively and endorsed a greater number of positive metacognitive beliefs about PEP than did participants in both control groups. Importantly, both metacognitive beliefs and initial negative self-ratings of performance mediated the relationship between group status and PEP in the days following the event., Conclusions: These results are consistent with cognitive and metacognitive models of SAD and enhance our understanding of the cognitive processes which may function to initiate and maintain negative thinking patterns in SAD., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Many musicians experience debilitating music performance anxiety (MPA). Outside music performance, imagery-based interventions have been incorporated into treatment protocols to help individuals, including athletes and those with social anxiety, manage heightened levels of anxiety in order to excel in performance-based domains. Despite the frequent use of mental imagery in MPA interventions and its importance as a mental rehearsal technique for musicians, no existing reviews have examined the literature on imagery-based interventions for MPA. The primary aim of this review was to analyze the existing MPA literature in order to summarize what is known about the efficacy and mechanisms of pre-performance mental imagery exercises. A literature search yielded eight studies that used imagery-based interventions for MPA, in both student and professional musicians, which included three dissertations and five peer-reviewed journal articles. In extant MPA treatment research, pre-performance imagery is often used in conjunction with other techniques in order to alleviate anxiety. Arousal imagery refers to imagining one's state of arousal during performance and has been incorporated into MPA interventions in various ways that guide musicians to anticipate the heightened arousal that accompanies performance, predominantly through imagery-based relaxation techniques. However, methodological limitations make it impossible to determine whether imagery is itself an active ingredient of treatment that underlies symptom changes, or whether relaxation imagery is the most effective use of pre-performance imagery for all musicians. There is much need for future well-controlled studies to examine whether and how imagery affects MPA independent of the other therapy components and techniques with which it is commonly combined.

In this short paper in honour of my father's Festschrift, I describe a recent collaboration with him in which we joined forces to investigate the nature of autobiographical images and memories in social anxiety. I outline our work together and the unique insights that were gleaned from our interactive contributions. Then, I reflect on how this collaboration has helped to lay the foundation for subsequent work in my lab and illuminate new directions in my program of research, enhance my career as a scientist-practitioner, and ultimately, enrich both my personal and professional identities. In so doing, I aim to highlight one of the most important and enduring aspects of my father's legacy: the profound positive impact he has on the people with whom he has worked., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Negative mental images in social anxiety disorder (SAD) are often rooted in autobiographical memories of formative, distressing life events. In the present study, 25 participants with SAD retrieved an idiosyncratic negative mental image and associated autobiographical memory. Participants were then randomly assigned either to a single-session of imagery rescripting (IR) targeting the retrieved autobiographical memory or to a non-intervention control condition (no-IR). Outcomes were assessed one week later. Compared to control participants, those who received IR experienced substantial reduction in SAD symptoms accompanied by more positive and less negative appraisals of their autobiographical memories. Moreover, IR relative to no-IR participants reported marked shifts in the content, validity, and accuracy of their memory-derived negative core beliefs about self and others, but not about the world. Results support the promise of IR as a stand-alone intervention for SAD and suggest important directions for future research to enhance our understanding of the cognitive mechanisms that underlie its effects., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In a study designed to clarify and extend previous research on social blunders in social anxiety, 32 participants with social anxiety disorder (SAD), 25 anxious control (AC) participants with anxiety disorders other than SAD, and 25 healthy control (HC) participants with no history of anxiety problems estimated the costs of hypothetical blunders committed by either themselves or by others. Participants with SAD rated the costs of their own imagined blunders as highly inflated relative to both AC and HC participants. In contrast, for blunders participants imagined others committing, only SAD and healthy control participants' cost estimates differed from one another. Moreover, concerns about revealing self-flaws--and, in particular, about appearing socially incompetent--accounted for significant, unique variance in SAD participants' exaggerated cost estimates of self blunders, over and above symptoms of social anxiety and depression. These results enhance our understanding of how and why socially anxious individuals negatively appraise social blunders and help to clarify the potential function and role of social mishap exposures in the treatment of SAD., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)