Social Anxiety and the Direction of Attentional Focus

描述（由申请人提供）：拟议的研究计划旨在 探讨社交焦虑和注意力集中对积极性的影响 情感（PA），好奇心，人际关系亲密度和负面影响（NA），通过 实验设计和治疗结果研究。社交焦虑（SA） 个人倾向于专注于消极的想法，包括 被拒绝的期望，潜在的干扰 他们在社会交往中的注意力和反应能力。 在社会交往中，倾听和回应是 重要的因素，导致相互的自我披露和亲密。 过度的自我关注可能会妨碍注意力的分配 向外，对其他人，潜在地损害质量和享受 社会互动的方式。初步的实验研究将验证假设 （1）自我关注会放大高SA之间的关系 和低水平的PA，好奇心，社会表现差，高NA期间 社会互动，（2）自我关注会放大差异 高SA组和低SA组之间的情感、自我表露和 由联盟者和独立评分者衡量的社交技能，（3） 在相互作用后的第二天和第二天，高SA个体将 表现出更强的事后反思认知处理和回忆能力 相对于低SA个体，对负面刺激的偏好。测试这些 假设，一个人际关系密切的实验任务，以前， 将在试点研究中进行验证。高和低SA学生将 与受过标准化脚本角色训练的同性同盟者互动。所有 参与者将参加一个自我和外部关注的实验 操纵在自我关注条件下，参与者将回答问题 同时有摄像机对准他们在外部聚焦条件下， 参与者将在摄像机聚焦于邦联的情况下提问。一 二次研究计划测试潜在的调节作用 在治疗过程中自我关注症状减轻和情感 认知行为团体治疗抑郁症的方法比较将 抑郁症患者与共病抑郁症患者之间的关系， 焦虑症本研究的总体目标是确定 注意力集中对情感、动机和 个体的人际行为。更好地了解这些 这些机制最终可能导致治疗模块的发展 旨在重新训练注意力，从自我导向到更好的平衡， 积极评价自我和其他取向。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed research plan seeks to investigate the effects of social anxiety and attentional focus on positive affect (PA), curiosity, interpersonal closeness, and negative affect (NA) via experimental designs and treatment outcome studies. Socially anxious (SA) individuals tend to be preoccupied with negative thoughts, including expectations of being rejected, potentially interfering with their ability to be attentive and responsive during social interactions. In social interactions, listening and responding are important ingredients that lead to reciprocal self-disclosure and intimacy. Excessive self-focused attention may prevent attention from being allocated outward, toward other people, potentially impairing the quality and enjoyment of social interactions. The primary experimental study will test the hypotheses that: (1) self-focused attention will amplify the relationship between high-SA and low levels of PA, curiosity, poor social performance, and high NA during social interactions, (2) self-focused attention will amplify differences between high and low-SA groups for ratings of affect, self-disclosure, and social skills as measured by confederates and independent raters, (3) immediately following and the day after interactions, high-SA individuals will demonstrate greater ruminative post-event cognitive processing and recall biases to negative stimuli relative to low-SA individuals. To test these hypotheses, an interpersonal closeness-generating experimental task, previously validated in a pilot study, will be employed. High and low-SA students will interact with same-sex confederates trained in standardized scripted roles. All participants will take part in both a self and external-focus experimental manipulation. In the self-focus condition, participants will answer questions while a camera is directed at them. In the external-focus condition, participants will ask questions with the camera focused on the confederate. A secondary study is planned to test the potential moderating role of self-focused attention on symptom reduction and affectivity during the course of a cognitive-behavioral group treatment for depression. Comparisons will be made between individuals with depression vs. comorbid depression and social anxiety disorder. The overarching goal of this research is to identify the potential contributing role of attentional focus to the affect, motivation, and interpersonal behavior of SA individuals. A better understanding of these mechanisms could ultimately lead to the development of treatment modules designed to re-train attention from a self-orientation to a better balance of positively-valenced self and other orientation.