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Alexandre Heeren,1,2 Grazia Ceschi,3 David P Valentiner,4 Vincent Dethier,1 Pierre Philippot11Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; 2National Fund for Scientific Research, Brussels, Belgium; 3Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; 4Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USABackground: The main aim of this study was to assess the reliability and structural validity of the French version of the 12-item version of the Personal Report of Confidence as Speaker (PRCS), one of the most promising measurements of public speaking fear.Methods: A total of 611 French-speaking volunteers were administered the French versions of the short PRCS, the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, the Fear of Negative Evaluation scale, as well as the Trait version of the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Beck Depression Inventory-II, which assess the level of anxious and depressive symptoms, respectively.Results: Regarding its structural validity, confirmatory factor analyses indicated a single-factor solution, as implied by the original version. Good scale reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.86) was observed. The item discrimination analysis suggested that all the items contribute to the overall scale score reliability. The French version of the short PRCS showed significant correlations with the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (r = 0.522), the Fear of Negative Evaluation scale (r = 0.414), the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (r = 0.516), and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (r = 0.361).Conclusion: The French version of the short PRCS is a reliable and valid measure for the evaluation of the fear of public speaking among a French-speaking sample. These findings have critical consequences for the measurement of psychological and pharmacological treatment effectiveness in public speaking fear among a French-speaking sample.Keywords: social phobia, public speaking, confirmatory factor analysis

Both cognitive and metacognitive theories implicate posttraumatic metacognition as an important factor in the maintenance of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) following stressful life events (SLEs). The Metacognitions Questionnaire-posttraumatic stress disorder (MCQ-PTSD; Wells, 2009) was previously developed to assess for metacognitions specific to SLEs and resulting PTSS. This study aimed to examine the construct validity of this measure in the context of childhood SLEs specifically. First, we confirmed the factor structure underlying the MCQ-PTSD in our sample. We then assessed whether the MCQ-PTSD would function as expected based on a theoretical model in which, controlling for posttraumatic cognitions, posttraumatic meta cognitions were expected to mediate the relationship between childhood SLEs and PTSS. Using data from a racially diverse sample of undergraduate psychology students ( N = 402; Age mean = 19.38 ± 1.81) at a large Midwestern university, the two-factor structure of the MCQ-PTSD was confirmed. Among participants who endorsed clinically significant experience of childhood SLEs ( n = 203; Age mean = 19.49 ± 1.94), negative metacognitions mediated the relationships of emotional and sexual abuse with PTSS, when controlling for other posttraumatic cognitions. These relationships were not observed for positive metacognitions. These results are consistent with a metacognitive model for PTSD and suggest that the MCQ-PTSD may be a valid measure of posttraumatic metacognitions following childhood SLEs., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

The ways in which Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms lead to impairments in functioning, including academic performance, are not well understood. The present study sought to examine the role of a common maladaptive coping strategy, experiential avoidance, as a moderator of the relationship between posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and academic achievement. Participants ( N = 326) were undergraduate students enrolled in introductory psychology courses at a large university in the Midwestern United States who reported at least one event potentially meeting Criterion A for PTSD. The prospective association of PTSS with current and subsequent semester GPAs, and with experiential avoidance as the moderator, were examined. The interaction between PTSS and experiential avoidance significantly predicted both current semester GPA and subsequent semester GPA, with stronger associations between PTSS and GPA being observed at higher levels of experiential avoidance. These results were not fully explained by control variables of high school performance, standardized test scores, and general negative affect. This study found that experiential avoidance significantly moderates the relationship between PTSS and academic performance. These results suggest that interventions that target PTSS and/or experiential avoidance may increase GPA. Limitations and future directions are discussed., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

This study examines select psychometric properties (i.e., internal reliability, and factorial, convergent, discriminant, and criterion validity) of three commonly-used measures of anxiety disorder symptoms in adolescents in the context of multi-trait, multi-method matrix analyses. A sample of 331 adolescents (age M = 17.1; 75.3% white; 71.0% female) completed three self-report scales that assess symptoms of separation anxiety, social anxiety, panic, and generalized anxiety, as well as measures of depression, experiential avoidance, and intolerance of uncertainty. Measures of panic disorder symptoms showed poor factorial, convergent, and discriminant validity. A multi-trait, multi-method matrix model to understand the relationships among the measures of separation anxiety, social anxiety, and generalized anxiety symptoms provided a reasonable fit to the data. Measures of separation anxiety showed poor discriminant and criterion validity, suggesting limited relevance of separation anxiety in this adolescent sample. Measures of social anxiety generally showed evidence of adequate-to-good factorial, convergent, and discriminant validity. Measures of generalized anxiety showed adequate -to-good factorial and convergent validity, and poor-to-adequate discriminant validity. The associations of measures of social and generalized anxiety with measures of depression, experiential avoidance, and intolerance of uncertainty were at least partially independent of method variance. The findings of this study add to the growing literature that evaluates the strengths and limitations of these scales for clinical practice and research., (© 2023. This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply.)

A sample of Ghanaian ( n  = 119) and United States (US; n  = 70) adolescents was used to examine parental management of peer relationships. Adolescents completed measures of consulting, guiding, parent-adolescent conflict about peers, and social behavior. Compared to US adolescents, Ghanaian adolescents reported higher levels of overt aggression and relational aggression. Ghanaian adolescents reported higher levels of conflict with parents about peers than US adolescents. Ghanaian boys reported the highest level of conflict with parents about peers, US boys reported the lowest level of conflict with parents about peers, and Ghanaian and US girls reported medium levels of conflict about peers. Girls reported higher levels of prosocial behavior than boys. Older adolescents reported higher levels of conflict with parents about peers, higher levels of overt aggression, and higher levels of relational aggression. Across nationality groups, higher levels of consulting were related to lower levels of overt aggression. Multiple regression analyses suggested that higher levels of conflict with parents about peer relationships was related to higher levels of overt aggression and relational aggression across nationality groups. A significant two-way interaction revealed that, for US adolescents, higher levels of consulting were related to higher levels of prosocial behavior. A significant three-way interaction suggested that guiding was not related to prosocial behavior regardless of level of conflict among Ghanaian adolescents. For US adolescents, higher levels of guiding at higher levels of conflict were associated with higher levels of prosocial behavior among US adolescents.

This investigation used sequential analysis to examine patterns of maternal solicitation and adolescent disclosure that occur in adolescents' and mothers' conversations about peer relationships. An ethnically diverse sample of 68 early adolescents (M age = 12.39; 51% girls) and their mothers from the United States participated in the investigation. Participants completed questionnaires and participated in video-recorded discussions of hypothetical situations related to peer relationships. Sequences of maternal solicitation followed by adolescent disclosure and sequences of adolescent disclosure followed by maternal solicitation occurred at higher than chance levels. Higher levels of conflict about peer relationships in conjunction with a lower likelihood of adolescent disclosure following maternal solicitation were related to lower levels of adolescent-reported prosocial behavior, higher levels of adolescent-reported victimization, and higher levels of mother-reported aggression and victimization. Results suggest that similar interaction dynamics can have different effects depending on the relational context in which they take place. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Background: Prior theory and research has implicated disgust as relevant to some, but not all phobias., Aims: The current study examined whether anxiety sensitivity is more relevant to certain specific phobias and whether disgust sensitivity is more relevant to other specific phobias., Method: Participants (n = 201) completed measures of anxiety sensitivity, disgust sensitivity and measures of aversive reactions in the presence of two fear-relevant stimuli (i.e. heights and small, enclosed spaces) and two disgust-relevant stimuli (i.e. spiders and blood/injury)., Results: Results of multiple linear regression analyses revealed that disgust sensitivity showed significant associations with aversive reactions in all four stimulus domains after controlling for anxiety sensitivity. After controlling for disgust sensitivity, anxiety sensitivity showed associations with the two fear-relevant phobias but not with the two disgust-relevant phobias included in this study. Anxiety sensitivity also showed an association with variance specific to one of the two fear-relevant specific phobias included in the study. Disgust sensitivity also showed associations with variance specific to both of the disgust-relevant phobias included in the study but not with variance specific to either of the fear-relevant specific phobias., Conclusions: These results provide evidence that the distinction between fear-relevant and disgust-relevant specific phobias is meaningful and also implicate disgust sensitivity as relevant to aversive reactions to all stimuli included in this study.

Background: The current study examined whether test-related reassurance seeking is associated with lower scores on a high stakes, standardized test (i.e., the ACT) after controlling for academic performance in high school, and with spoiled answers (i.e., changing correct answers to incorrect) on a subsequent academic exam. Method: Students ( N  = 59) completed measures of test-related reassurance seeking behavior, other test anxiety-related constructs, and social anxiety-related constructs prior to taking the last in-class exam in their introductory psychology courses. Erasure marks on the bubble answer sheets were inspected to identify the number of spoiled answers. Results: Replicating results from a prior study, reassurance seeking predicted underperformance on the ACT. In addition, reassurance seeking predicted the number of spoiled answers on the in-class exam. Reassurance seeking did not predict irrelevant changes or corrections. Conclusions: Overall, these results provide additional evidence that test-related reassurance seeking is associated with performance on academic tests, and novel evidence that test-related reassurance seeking is associated with spoiling answers.

The purpose of the current studies is to identify safety behavior dimensions relevant to test anxiety, to develop a questionnaire to assess those dimensions, and to examine the validity of that questionnaire. Items were generated from interviews with college students ( N = 24). Another sample ( N = 301) completed an initial 33-item measure. Another sample ( N = 151) completed the final 19-item version the Safety Behaviors in Test Anxiety Questionnaire and provided access to their academic records. Interviews and expert evaluations were used to select items for the initial pool. An examination of item distributions and exploratory factor analysis were used to identify dimensions and reduce the item pool. Confirmatory factor analyses were used to validate the factorial structure. Correlational analyses were used to examine criterion validity of the final measure. The Safety Behaviors in Test Anxiety Questionnaire consists of a 9-item "Superstitious Behaviors" scale and a 10-item "Reassurance Seeking." The measure shows good content validity, factorial validity, internal consistency, and convergent and discriminant validity. Only the Reassurance Seeking scale showed good incremental criterion validity. Overall, these findings suggest that reassurance seeking may be a neglected target for interventions that might increase performance on high stakes tests.

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is often treated as a discrete diagnostic entity that represents a naturally occurring class, though empirical evidence largely supports a dimensional conceptualization of social fears. Further, the inclusion of a "performance only" specifier in the DSM-5 implies that individuals who experience intense social anxiety exclusively in performance situations are distinct from those with broader social fears. The purpose of the present research was to examine the latent structure of SAD and the DSM-5 "performance only" specifier in a large nonclinical sample (n = 2019). Three taxometric procedures (MAXCOV, MAMBAC, and L-Mode) were applied to indicators derived from two commonly used measures of social anxiety. Results yielded convergent evidence indicating that social anxiety exhibits a dimensional latent structure. Further, social performance anxiety demonstrates continuous relationships with milder social fears, suggesting that the "performance only" specifier may not represent a discrete entity. The implications of these findings for the assessment, diagnosis, classification, and treatment of social anxiety are discussed.

Background: Recognizing that alcohol might affect subsequent processing of trauma-related information, this study examined whether high dose alcohol consumption (HDAC) following a campus mass shooting affected the relation between shooting exposure and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS)., Methods: Female participants (N = 691) recorded levels of physical exposure to the shooting event, alcohol use, and PTSS 1 month following the shooting event and 8 months later., Results: No evidence was found to suggest that pre-shooting HDAC moderated the relationship between trauma exposure and PTSS 1 month following the shooting. HDAC in the month following the shooting predicted less resolution of PTSS 8 months later. Specifically, at higher (but not lower) levels of HDAC, shooting exposure was associated with less reduction in PTSS from 1 to 8 months post-trauma. Several alternate explanations were ruled out., Conclusions: Less reduction in PTSS seems to occur at high levels of both shooting exposure and HDAC. Theoretical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

The purpose of this investigation was to examine discrepancies among three informants' (adolescents, mothers, and observers) reports of maternal consulting in regard to peer relationships and the relation of the discrepancies to four social adjustment variables (prosocial behavior, loneliness, positive friendship quality, and physical victimization). An ethnically diverse sample of 70 early adolescents (51 % female) and their mothers participated in this multimethod investigation. Adolescent reports of parental consulting, but not mother or observer reports, were significantly associated with adolescent reports of four psychosocial outcomes. Recognizing that comparison of equivalent regression models can inform interpretations of the data such as the monomethod associations found in this study, this article describes and discusses a strategy for analyzing data from multiple informants. The associations of adolescent reports of parental consulting with loneliness and physical victimization could be fully explained in terms of adolescent bias or other systematic variance uniquely associated with adolescent reports, but those with prosocial behavior and positive friendship quality could not. The view that discrepancies between mother and adolescent reports of parental consulting reflect poor relationship quality appeared most applicable in models of positive friendship quality, somewhat applicable in models of prosocial behavior and physical victimization, and not applicable in models of loneliness. The view that discrepancies might reflect normative and adaptive autonomy was not supported. In addition to adding to our understanding of maternal consulting in regard to peer relationships, it is also hoped that the analytic approach developed for this study will stimulate developments in research that uses multiple informants.

A clinical protocol based on contemporary cognitive behavioral treatment for social anxiety was developed and examined. Previously published instructions for conducting a focus-of-attention behavioral experiment targeting self-focused attention and safety behaviors during exposure were used to create a structured protocol. Individuals (n = 45) with high levels of social anxiety and public-speaking anxiety were randomly assigned to either a focus-of-attention behavioral experiment (FABE) or an Exposure-Only Control (EOC) condition. During four exposure trials, those in the FABE condition (n = 24) were alternately instructed to engage in self-focused attention vs. externally focused attention and to eliminate safety behaviors. Those in the EOC condition (n = 21) were not so instructed. At post-intervention, individuals in the FABE condition showed significantly less self-focused attention and anxiety, and better observed performance as rated by audience members. Focus-of-attention statistically mediated the effect of condition on anxiety. For those in the FABE condition, the degree of association between focus-of-attention and anxiety during the intervention predicted less self-focused attention post-intervention. The FABE appears to be a useful procedure for implementing part of the contemporary cognitive behavioral treatment model.

This study tested a self-verification model of social anxiety in the context of relationship formation during the transition to college. Incoming college freshmen ( N = 68) completed measures of social anxiety and social self-esteem at the beginning of college and 10 weeks later. Using sociometric ratings completed 10 weeks later, relational victimization appeared to be a unitary construct and not distinct from physical victimization. Participants with low social self-esteem at Time 1 were subsequently seen as victimized, reported disliking spending time at Time 2 with peers who reported liking them, and reported high social anxiety at Time 2 even in the absence of subsequent victimization. The implications of these results for understanding the role of self-verification processes in the maintenance of self-image and social anxiety are discussed.

Background and Objectives: Cognitive-behavioral models highlight the conjoint roles of self-focused attention (SFA), post-event processing (PEP), and performance appraisals in the maintenance of social anxiety. SFA, PEP, and biased performance appraisals are related to social anxiety; however, limited research has examined how SFA affects information-processing following social events. The current study examined whether SFA affects the relationships between performance appraisals and PEP following a social event.., Methods: 137 participants with high (n = 72) or low (n = 65) social anxiety were randomly assigned to conditions of high SFA or low SFA while engaging in a standardized social performance. Subsequent performance appraisals and PEP were measured., Results: Immediate performance appraisals were not affected by SFA. High levels of SFA led to a stronger, inverse relationship between immediate positive performance appraisals and subsequent negative PEP. High levels of SFA also led to a stronger, inverse relationship between negative PEP and changes in positive performance appraisals.., Limitations: Future research should examine whether the current findings, which involved a standardized social performance event, extend to interaction events as well as in a clinical sample., Conclusions: These findings suggest that SFA affects the processing of positive information following a social performance event. SFA is particularly important for understanding how negative PEP undermines positive performance appraisals.., (Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Extant stimulus-specific fear measures are limited to a small number of stimuli and contain significantly different content. This article describes 2 studies that develop a more flexible fear measure—the Circumscribed Fear Measure (CFM)—and examine its psychometric properties. In Study 1, participants (N = 771) completed an initial item pool while considering their most feared stimulus. Results of factor analyses were used to propose a 25-item, 5-factor measure that would span the domain of specific phobia reactions, applicable to different stimuli. In Study 2, participants (N = 959) completed the 25-item CFM, extant phobia measures, and a measure of disability. The CFM exhibited a 5-scale structure that had an equivalent structure across different stimuli. It showed good factorial validity, reliability, and generally good convergent and discriminant validity. Criterion validity was commensurate with that of extant phobia measures. The use of the measure as an index of an individual's greatest fear is also discussed. The CFM shows promise and could have substantial research and clinical utility., ((c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).)

Given the equivocal state of the literature as to the symptom-level specificity of the cognitive variable labeled negative problem orientation (NPO), we targeted NPO-symptom relations. A clinical sample (N = 132) of adults diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, mood disorder, or obsessive-compulsive disorder completed self-reports of NPO and symptom types (worry, depression, obsessive-compulsive, panic, and social anxiety). Symptom-level specificity was examined using a combination of zero-order and regression analyses that controlled for the other assessed symptoms. Results were that NPO shared small to moderate correlations with the symptoms. Regression results indicated that NPO only shared unique associations with worry, depression, and social anxiety. In the analyses, NPO clustered particularly strongly with worry. The present results provide support for conceptualizing NPO as a cognitive variable common to emotional disorders, but not as related equivalently to all disorders within this category.

Ninety-two young adults were randomly assigned to watch two episodes of The OCD Project , a reality television program depicting the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder using exposure therapy, or two episodes of another reality television program ( Big Brother ). Participants in The OCD Project condition ( n = 35) endorsed significantly fewer negative beliefs about exposure therapy than participants in the Big Brother condition ( n = 42). Participants' obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms did not moderate the beneficial effects of watching The OCD Project These results provide preliminary evidence that reality television programs can have a modest psychoeducational benefit and might be used to change attitudes about mental health problems and their treatment.

The authors examined the relation between adolescents' reports of mothers' management of peer relationships and adolescents' reports of their own aggressive, prosocial, and playful behaviors. The sample comprised 92 adolescents (M age = 15.41 years, SD = 1.81 years) enrolled in a residential summer camp. Higher levels of consulting were related to lower levels of adolescents' relational aggression, physical aggression, playful teasing, and rough-and-tumble play. Higher levels of consulting were related to higher levels of prosocial behavior. Higher levels of guiding were related to higher levels of adolescents' relational aggression and social inclusion. Higher levels of granting access to peers were related to higher levels of adolescents' prosocial behavior and social inclusion. Moderate levels of granting access to peers were related higher levels of playful teasing.

The widespread use of Mattick and Clarke's (1998) Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) and Social Phobia Scale (SPS) led 2 independent groups of researchers to develop short forms of these measures (Fergus, Valentiner, McGrath, Gier-Lonsway, & Kim, 2012; Peters, Sunderland, Andrews, Rapee, & Mattick, 2012). This 3-part study examined the psychometric properties of Fergus et al.'s and Peters et al.'s short forms of the SIAS and SPS using an American nonclinical adolescent sample in Study 1 (N = 98), American patient sample with an anxiety disorder in Study 2 (N = 117), and both a South Korean college student sample (N = 341) and an American college student sample (N = 550) in Study 3. Scores on both sets of short forms evidenced adequate internal consistency, interitem correlations, and measurement invariance. Scores on Fergus et al.'s short forms, particularly their SIAS short form, tended to capture more unique variance in scores of criterion measures than did scores on Peters et al.'s short forms. Implications for the use of these 2 sets of short forms are discussed., ((c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.)

This study examined the roles of self-focused attention and post-event processing in social performance anxiety and social interaction anxiety. College students ( N = 101) completed measures of social performance anxiety, social interaction anxiety, self-focused attention, post-event processing, and beliefs related to social anxiety. Interoceptive self-focused attention and post-event processing predicted social performance anxiety after controlling for social interaction anxiety. The associations with social interaction anxiety were not significant after controlling for social performance anxiety. Associations of behavioral self-focused attention with social performance anxiety and social interaction anxiety were not significant after controlling for interoceptive self-focused attention. No evidence of an interaction between self-focused attention and post-event processing in the prediction of social anxiety was found. This study found no evidence that the associations of interoceptive self-focused attention and post-event processing with social performance anxiety were statistically mediated by high standards, conditional beliefs about self, and unconditional beliefs about self. These results and their theoretical implications are discussed.

Current diagnostic criteria suggest that some individuals experience health anxiety and severe somatic symptoms, whereas others experience health anxiety and either no or mild somatic symptoms. However, to date, our understanding of potential differences among individuals with health anxiety and varying severity of somatic symptoms remains limited. Adopting a dimensional approach, we completed this study to help fill this gap in the literature by examining whether the interactive effect between health anxiety and somatic symptoms was related to health-related beliefs among men ( n = 211) and women ( n = 220). Among both men and women, health anxiety was related to certain health-related beliefs, particularly anxiety sensitivity, only when coupled with severe somatic symptoms. Conceptual and therapeutic implications of these results are discussed.

Wells's (2009) metacognitive theory suggests that inflexible and recurrent styles of thinking in response to negative thoughts, feelings, and beliefs underlie mood and anxiety symptoms. Wells termed such styles of thinking as the cognitive attentional syndrome (CAS). Using a clinical sample (N=132) of patients with either a primary mood or anxiety disorder, we examined relations between the CAS and mood (depression) and anxiety (generalized anxiety, social anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, and panic) symptoms. We also examined the distinctiveness of the CAS from the related construct of psychological inflexibility. The CAS shared significant positive associations with all of the assessed symptoms, but appeared particularly relevant to depression and generalized anxiety symptoms. Despite having a strong significant positive correlation with psychological inflexibility, the CAS tended to share unique relations with symptoms after controlling for psychological inflexibility. These results broadly support the purported transdiagnostic importance of Wells's theory and indicate that intervention strategies targeting the CAS might be useful in treating certain disorders., (© 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This study examined the moderating role of shyness mindset on the reduction of social anxiety during exposure-based treatment. Participants (N=60) in an intensive outpatient program for anxiety disorders were assessed at pre- and post-treatment. Social performance anxiety decreased dramatically during treatment, but the amount of decrease differed as a function of pre-treatment shyness mindset. At one standard deviation above the mean on both the social performance anxiety and shyness mindset measures, an average reduction of 15 points on the social performance anxiety measure was observed. At one standard deviation above the mean on the social performance anxiety measure and one standard deviation below the mean on the shyness mindset measure, an average reduction of 27 points on the social performance anxiety measure was observed. These results suggest that targeting shyness mindset during exposure-based treatments for social anxiety disorder might increase the effectiveness of treatment for individuals with a high shyness mindset., (Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

This study examines whether performance anxiety (PA) is specifically associated with other-evaluation concerns and interaction anxiety (IA) with self-evaluation concerns. Individuals with public speaking fears and high levels of PA or IA were distinguishable from nonanxious controls on measures taken during a public speaking challenge. In addition, high PA individuals exhibited more observer-rated negative speech characteristics in an Other-Evaluation condition compared to a Self-Evaluation condition, but high IA individuals and nonanxious individuals did not. These results provide some evidence for the distinctiveness of these dimensions of social anxiety.

The current study examined whether the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth (AFQ-Y; L. A. Greco, W. Lambert, & R. A. Baer, 2008), a self-report measure of psychological inflexibility for children and adolescents, might be useful for measuring psychological inflexibility for adults. The psychometric properties of the AFQ-Y were examined using data from a college student sample (N = 387) and a clinical sample of patients with anxiety disorders (N = 115). The AFQ-Y, but not the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II; F. W. Bond et al., in press), demonstrated a reading level at or below the recommended 5th or 6th grade reading level. The AFQ-Y also demonstrated adequate reliability (internal consistency), factorial validity, convergent and discriminant validity, and concurrent validity predicting psychological symptoms. Moreover, the AFQ-Y showed incremental validity over the AAQ-II in predicting several psychological symptom domains. Implications for the assessment of psychological inflexibility are discussed., ((c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Mattick and Clarke's (1998) Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) and Social Phobia Scale (SPS) are commonly used self-report measures that assess 2 dimensions of social anxiety. Given the need for short, readable measures, this research proposes short forms of both scales. Item-level analyses of readability characteristics of the SIAS and SPS items led to the selection of 6 items from each scale for use in the short forms. The SIAS and SPS short forms had reading levels at approximately the 6th and 5th grade level, respectively. Results using nonclinical (Study 1: N = 469) and clinical (Study 2: N = 145) samples identified these short forms as being factorially sound, possessing adequate internal consistency, and having strong convergence with their full-length counterparts. Moreover, these short forms showed convergence with other measures of social anxiety, showed divergence from measures assessing related constructs, and predicted concurrent interpersonal functioning. Recommendations for the use of these short forms are discussed.

Subjective and objective reactions to writing and reading a narrative of their experiences after having been recently exposed to a campus shooting were examined in 58 women. Posttraumatic stress, depression, anxiety symptoms, and physical exposure to the shooting were considered in relation to laboratory indices. The latter used a multimethod approach to index distress; these included subjective (self-report) and objective (heart rate, skin conductance, and cortisol) components. Consistent with prior research, reports of symptoms were significantly positively correlated with subjective distress (r ranged from .35 to .45), but only posttraumatic stress symptoms uniquely predicted subjective distress in regression analyses (partial r = .33). Objective distress, however, was not significantly related to any participant measure. Finally, a clear majority (85%) of participants reported they would participate in the study again. Points of convergence and divergence with prior studies are discussed., (Copyright © 2011 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.)

Background: A self-verification model of social anxiety views negative social self-esteem as a core feature of social anxiety. This core feature is proposed to be maintained through self-verification processes, such as by leading individuals with negative social self-esteem to prefer negative social feedback. This model is tested in two studies., Methods: In Study 1, questionnaires were administered to a college sample (N = 317). In Study 2, questionnaires were administered to anxiety disordered patients (N = 62) before and after treatment., Results: Study 1 developed measures of preference for negative social feedback and social self-esteem, and provided evidence of their incremental validity in a college sample. Study 2 found that these two variables are not strongly related to fears of evaluation, are relatively unaffected by a treatment that targets such fears, and predict residual social anxiety following treatment., Conclusions: Overall, these studies provide preliminary evidence for a self-verification model of social anxiety.

The current study uses data from a large nonclinical college student sample (N = 503) to examine a structural model of hypochondriasis (HC). This model predicts the distinctiveness of two dimensions (disease phobia and disease conviction) purported to underlie the disorder, and that these two dimensions are differentially related to variables important to health anxiety and somatoform disorders, respectively. Results were generally consistent with the hypothesized model. Specifically, (a) body perception variables (somatosensory amplification and anxiety sensitivity - physical) emerged as significant predictors of disease phobia, but not disease conviction; (b) emotion dysregulation variables (cognitive avoidance and cognitive reappraisal) emerged as significant predictors of disease conviction, but not disease phobia; and (c) both disease phobia and disease conviction independently predicted medical utilization. Further, collapsing disease phobia and disease conviction onto a single latent factor provided an inadequate fit to the data. Conceptual and therapeutic implications of these results are discussed., (2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Researchers postulate that both shame and guilt are emotions important to anxiety disorders. Extant data, however, indicate that guilt-proneness shares non-significant relationships with psychopathology symptoms after controlling for shame-proneness. To further investigate the relevance of shame and guilt to the anxiety disorders domain, the current study examined associations between shame- and guilt-proneness and anxiety disorder symptoms using data from patients (N=124) with primary anxiety disorder diagnoses. Results indicated that only symptoms of social anxiety disorder (SAD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) shared significant relations with shame-proneness after controlling for other types of anxiety disorder symptoms, depression symptoms, and guilt-proneness. Further, changes in shame-proneness during treatment were found to share significant relations with changes in obsessive-compulsive disorder, SAD, and GAD symptoms. The current results indicate that shame is more relevant to symptoms of the anxiety disorders domain than is guilt. The implications of these results for the conceptualization and treatment of anxiety disorders are discussed., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Cognitive models of social anxiety suggest that fear of negative evaluation (FNE) is the central cognitive dimension underlying the disorder. The Fear of Positive Evaluation Scale (FPES; Weeks, Heimberg, & Rodebaugh, 2008) was recently developed to assess an additional cognitive dimension purported to underlie social anxiety disorder (SAD), but its psychometric properties have yet to be examined in clinical populations. The present study, with 133 treatment-seeking patients, examined the applicability of the FPES with a clinical sample. Results indicated that the FPES was factorially distinct from a measure assessing FNE, and patients with SAD (n=51) had higher mean scores on the FPES than patients with other anxiety disorders (n=82). The FPES also showed adequate reliability (internal consistency), good convergent and discriminant validity, acceptable criterion-related validity in predicting social interaction anxiety symptoms, and appropriate sensitivity to treatment. The FPES appears to have good psychometric properties and is a promising new assessment tool for better understanding SAD.

Participants were recruited from female undergraduate students participating in an ongoing longitudinal study at the time of a campus shooting. Eighty-five percent (N = 691) of the 812 students who were invited to participate in the current study completed questionnaires an average of 27 days following a campus shooting. In a mixed cross-sectional and longitudinal design, the cognitive and the physical concerns dimensions of postshooting anxiety sensitivity accounted for unique variance in posttrauma stress symptom severity (cross-sectional), after controlling for preshooting psychological symptoms (longitudinal). The cognitive concerns dimension showed the strongest relationship. Anxiety sensitivity also appeared to moderate the relationships of hyperarousal symptoms with reexperiencing and numbing symptoms.

The present study examined utility of the Illness Attitudes Scale (IAS; [Kellner, R. (1986). Somatization and hypochondriasis. New York: Praeger Publishers]) in a non-clinical college sample (N=235). Relationships among five recently identified IAS dimensions (fear of illness and pain, symptom effects, treatment experience, disease conviction, and health habits) and self-report measures of several anxiety-related constructs (health anxiety, body vigilance, intolerance of uncertainty, anxiety sensitivity, and non-specific anxiety symptoms) were examined. In addition, this study investigated the incremental validity of the IAS dimensions in predicting medical utilization. The fear of illness and pain dimension and the symptom effects dimension consistently shared stronger relations with the anxiety-related constructs compared to the other three IAS dimensions. The symptom effects dimension, the disease conviction dimension, and the health habits dimension showed incremental validity over the anxiety-related constructs in predicting medical utilization. Implications for the IAS and future conceptualizations of HC are discussed.

The Disgust Propensity and Sensitivity Scale-Revised (DPSS-R [Pers. Indiv. Differ. 41 (2006) 1241-1252]) is a new assessment tool thought to assess two distinguishable factors contributing to disgust reactions, Disgust Propensity and Disgust Sensitivity. Extant data though indicate the presence of four unreliable DPSS-R items. The present study examined the psychometric properties of a reduced-item version of the DPSS-R, in which these four problematic items were removed, using data from two large independent samples of nonclinical college students. Results from Study 1 revealed that the reduced-item DPSS-R factor structure provided more favorable goodness-of-fit indices than the two previous full-length DPSS-R factor structures. In Study 2, the reduced-item DPSS-R scales showed good reliability, stronger relationships with symptoms of disgust-relevant than fear-relevant phobias, and adequate incremental concurrent validity in predicting symptoms of disgust-relevant phobias. The present study suggests that the reduced-item DPSS-R is both reliable and valid, and likely addresses the limitations of the full-length version.

The Body Vigilance Scale (BVS) is a measure developed to assess one's conscious attendance to internal cues. The present report investigated the structure, correlates, and predictive utility of the BVS in nonclinical (N=442) and anxiety (N=135) disorder samples. The findings of Study 1 suggest that the BVS is 1-dimensional in a nonclinical sample, and Study 2 replicated the factor structure of the BVS in an anxiety disorder sample. Correlations between the BVS and related (i.e., anxiety sensitivity) and unrelated (i.e., social anxiety) variables were consistent with predictions in both studies. Study 2 also showed that body vigilance is primarily elevated in patients with panic disorder relative to other anxiety disorders. Relative elevations in body vigilance were also observed for patients with hypochondriasis and generalized anxiety disorder. The BVS also demonstrated a specific association with medical utilization and health-related safety-seeking behaviors after controlling for related variables in nonclinical and anxiety disorder samples. The implications of our findings for the nature and measurement of body vigilance as a predictor of health concerns in anxiety disorders are considered.

Contemporary conceptualizations of hypochondriasis (HC) as severe health anxiety have led to the development of cognitive-behavioral approaches to understanding, assessing, and treating this problem. The Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI) is a new instrument that measures cognitive factors associated with HC. In the present study, we examined the psychometric properties and factor structure of the SHAI in a large sample of medically healthy university students. We also examined the scale's convergent, divergent, and predictive validity. Results indicated that the SHAI has good psychometric properties and contains three factors that assess the perceived likelihood and perceived severity of becoming ill, and body vigilance. Facets of health anxiety uniquely predicted increased safety-seeking behavior and medical utilization, behaviors that are commonly observed in HC. Results are discussed in terms of the cognitive-behavioral model of HC., (© Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2006.)

We tested several hypotheses derived from the emotional processing theory of fear reduction by manipulating claustrophobic participants' focus of attention during in vivo exposure. Sixty participants displaying marked claustrophobic fear were randomized to one of four exposure conditions. Each participant received a total of 30-min of self-guided exposure 2-weeks after pretreatment testing. One group attended to threatening words and images during exposure (TW) and was compared to a control group that attended to neutral words and images (NW). A third group performed a demanding cognitive load task--a modified Seashore Rhythm Test during exposure (SR) and was compared to an exposure only (EO) control group. Contrary to prediction, the threat word manipulation was not associated with lower levels of fear following treatment. Consistent with prediction, the distraction manipulation resulted in less fear reduction at post-treatment. Treatment process analyses revealed that the negative effects of distraction on treatment outcome manifested early as slower between-trial habituation. These results and their relevance to emotional processing theory are discussed.

This study examines panic attacks and substance use in a sample of incoming college freshman (n = 399 ) using questionnaires. Panickers (n = 47 ) were significantly more likely than nonpanickers (n = 290) to report having ever used sedatives, stimulants, opiods, and other drugs, but not tobacco, alcohol, cocaine, or hallucinogens. Gender and race did not substantially moderate the associations between substance use and panic attacks. Sedative, stimulant, opiod, and other drug use was not associated with panic attack frequency or the occurrence of unexpected attacks. The relationships of anxiety and depression with substance use were larger for panickers than nonpanickers. These results are consistent with the idea that self-medication and symptom exacerbation play a role in the development of co-occurring substance use disorders and mood and anxiety disorders.

This study examines the factor structure underlying the Anxiety Sensitivity Index for Children (ASIC. J Anxiety Disord, 12 (1998) 307) in an adolescent sample. Three-hundred-and-eight adolescents, aged 12 to 18, completed the ASIC and measures of anxiety and depression. Factor analysis of the ASIC items resulted in a two-factor structure that is similar to that reported by Laurent et al. These two factors included a physical concerns dimension and a mental concerns dimension similar to those found in studies of adult anxiety sensitivity. Subscales measuring these two factors demonstrated concurrent validity, showing particularly close associations with measures of panic symptoms. In addition, both of these subscales showed incremental validity in predicting panic symptoms after controlling for the other anxiety sensitivity subscale and a measure of depression. These results provide evidence that the anxiety sensitivity construct is applicable during adolescence and support the use of the ASIC.

This study examines the psychometric properties of three recently published anxiety measures, including their incremental validity in predicting adolescent suicidal ideation and behavior. One hundred and eighteen adolescents aged 12-18 completed measures of anxiety, depression, positive and negative affect, and suicidal ideation and behavior. All of the anxiety scales showed limitations. For example, most of the anxiety scales appeared to lack divergent validity with regard to measures of depression and positive affect. Scales in the panic domain predicted suicidal ideation after controlling for depression. Surprisingly, scales in the social phobia domain were related to lower levels of suicidal behavior after controlling for depression and suicidal ideation. The implications of these results for research on adolescent suicide and the assessment of adolescent anxiety are discussed.

This study examines predictions derived from Foa and Kozak's theory of emotional processing. We hypothesized that the provision of heart-rate feedback would facilitate emotional processing through a fuller activation of the participant's fear structure, and by focusing participants' attention on information that is incompatible with the fear structure, i.e., the interoceptive pattern of habituation. Nonclinical students (N = 54) showing marked claustrophobic fear received 30 min of self-directed exposure to a claustrophobic chamber. Three exposure conditions (heart-rate feedback, paced-tone control, and exposure only control) were examined across six 5-min exposure trials. Participants receiving heart-rate feedback displayed greater between-trial habituation across treatment trials and lower levels of fear at post-treatment. Treatment process findings failed to support the fear activation hypothesis. Implications of the findings for theories of fear reduction are discussed.

This study examines panic attacks and substance use in a non-clinical, young adult sample. Two hundred seventy-nine college students completed questionnaires that assessed non-clinical panic attacks, alcohol and drug use behavior, and anxiety and depression symptoms. Non-clinical panickers (n = 25) were significantly more likely than non-panickers (N = 222) to report using sedatives, but not alcohol, cocaine, stimulants, or other drugs. Among non-clinical panickers, sedative use was not associated with distress about panic attacks, panic attack frequency, the occurrence of unexpected attacks, or general anxiety or depression symptoms. Coping-motivated alcohol use, though not associated with non-clinical panic, was significantly associated with anxiety and depression symptoms. These results are discussed in terms of theories of the co-morbidity between substance use and panic disorder.

An exploratory study was conducted of the strategies that schizophrenia patients and their relatives employ to cope with negative symptoms. Coping strategies and their perceived efficacy were elicited in semistructured interviews conducted separately with patients and relatives. Coping responses were coded according to the following dimensions: behavioral-cognitive, social-nonsocial, and problem focused-emotion focused. Overall, the number of coping strategies was related to perceived coping efficacy for both patients and relatives, regardless of the type of strategy. Perceived coping efficacy tended to be highest for apathy; intermediate for alogia, anhedonia, and inattention; and lowest for blunting. Relatives with more knowledge about schizophrenia used more coping strategies and reported higher levels of coping efficacy. Patient rejection by relatives and distress (either patient or relative) tended to not be related to coping strategies. The findings suggest that patients and relatives use a wide variety of strategies to cope with negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Future clinical work and research need to evaluate whether families may benefit from psychoeducational approaches to teaching them how to better manage negative symptoms.

The coping behaviors and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms of 215 female assault victims (103 rape victims and 112 nonsexual assault victims) were assessed within 2 weeks following the assault (Time 1), and 133 of them (62%) were followed up 3 months later (Time 2). Posttrauma symptom severity significantly decreased during the 3-month study period, but PTSD severity levels at Times 1 and 2 were highly correlated. Three coping scales were constructed on the basis of exploratory factor analyses: Mobilizing Support, Positive Distancing, and Wishful Thinking. Three months postassault, rape victims showed higher levels of wishful thinking and PTSD than nonsexual assault victims. Wishful thinking showed a positive association and positive distancing a negative association with PTSD severity, controlling for assault type, initial levels of PTSD severity, and other coping strategies. The clinical relevance of these findings is discussed.

Background: This study tested whether alcohol consumption reduces anxiety and panic associated with a panic-challenge procedure., Methods: Subjects with panic disorder were randomly assigned to consume either a moderate dose of alcohol or a nonalcoholic placebo. All subjects were told that they were drinking alcohol to control beverage expectancies. Following the beverage administration, subjects underwent a panic challenge (35% carbon dioxide) and a series of anxiety symptom assessments., Results: Subjects who consumed alcohol reported significantly less state anxiety both before and after the challenge. In response to the challenge, subjects who consumed alcohol experienced significantly fewer panic attacks when applying liberal panic criteria; however, this effect only approached significance when applying conservative panic criteria., Conclusions: These findings suggest that alcohol acts acutely to reduce both panic and the anxiety surrounding panic, and they lend support to the view that drinking behavior among those with panic disorder is reinforced by this effect. We suggest that this process may contribute to the high rate at which alcohol-use disorders co-occur with panic disorder.

The present study examined Reiss and McNally's expectancy model in the prediction of claustrophobic fear, measured across three domains. Non-clinical subjects (N = 117) reporting claustrophobic concerns were administered a behavioral approach test to a claustrophobic chamber. Consistent with the expectancy model, danger expectancy, anxiety expectancy and the interaction of anxiety sensitivity and anxiety expectancy accounted for unique portions of behavioral performance, with other variables partialled out. The expectancy model variable set, however, did not meaningfully relate to subjective fear or heart-rate reactivity. The formulation of anxiety sensitivity as a measure of the salience of anxiety is discussed. These findings lend support to the theory as a model for the behavioral dimension of pathological fear, but not the subjective or physiological facets.