Mofifying Implicit Social Anxiety Associations: An Experimental Intervention

描述（由申请人提供）：社交恐惧症是一种严重致残的慢性疾病，如果不及时治疗。虽然认知行为干预得到了大量的支持，但研究表明，多达52%的社交恐惧症患者对治疗没有完全反应（Turner, Beidel, Wolff, Spaulding, & Jacob, 1996）。因此，继续完善现有的治疗方案是至关重要的。这项研究通过调查一种实验性的减少社交焦虑的技术，提供了这样一种尝试。提出的干预是基于领先的认知理论，该理论认为人们思考和解释信息的方式与情绪问题有关。在这些理论的基础上，目前的建议评估了一种旨在创造更健康的内隐联想的实验干预，它构成了两个概念（例如，我+喜欢）之间的基本联系，这种联系发生在意识控制之外。学习改变内隐联想可能特别有价值，因为它们似乎反映了焦虑图式（一种认知脚本）的某些元素，理论上指导了病理性焦虑中的许多适应不良反应（Beck & Clark, 1997）。我们将尝试通过使用经典条件反射范式来修正这些内隐社会焦虑关联。高社交焦虑症状的个体将通过反复配对自我相关刺激与表明积极社会反馈的刺激来训练优先产生非威胁性联想。这一组（N = 30）将与两个对照组进行比较——一个对照组没有接受任何训练（N = 30），另一个对照组接受“中性”训练（N = 30；自我相关刺激将与积极、消极和中性的社会反馈同等配对）。为了评估干预的有效性，所有参与者将完成唤起社交焦虑的任务，以及评估内隐联想、注意力和解释方面的偏见的措施。我们这项研究的目标是：a)确定是否有可能改变内隐社交焦虑关联，b)确定内隐关联的变化与社交焦虑症状之间是否存在联系，以及c)调查一种信息加工偏见（内隐关联）的变化是否也会影响其他偏见（注意和解释）。这将使我们能够测试信息处理理论，完善现有的社交恐惧症干预措施，从而推进具有直接临床和理论相关性的研究。此外，获得NRSA奖学金还可以扩展我的理论知识，整合我的研究和临床能力，并加强作为独立临床科学家的职业生涯所需的定量技能。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Social phobia is a severely disabling and often chronic condition if left untreated. While cognitive- behavioral interventions have received a great deal of support, research indicates that as many as 52% of patients with social phobia fail to fully respond to treatment (Turner, Beidel, Wolff, Spaulding, & Jacob, 1996). Thus, it is crucial to continue refining existing therapeutic options. This study offers one such attempt by investigating an experimental social anxiety reduction technique. The proposed intervention is based upon leading cognitive theories suggesting that the ways people think about and interpret information are related to emotional problems. Building on these theories, the current proposal evaluates an experimental intervention designed to create healthier implicit associations, which constitute a basic association between two concepts (e.g., me + liked) that occurs outside conscious control. Learning to change implicit associations may be particularly valuable given that they appear to reflect some elements of anxious schema (a type of cognitive script), which theoretically guide many of the maladaptive responses in pathological anxiety (Beck & Clark, 1997). We will attempt to modify these implicit social anxiety associations through the use of a classical conditioning paradigm. Individuals high in social anxiety symptoms will be trained to preferentially make non-threatening associations by repeatedly pairing self-relevant stimuli with stimuli indicating positive social feedback. This group (N = 30) will be compared against two control groups-one that receives no training (N = 30) and another that receives 'neutral' training (N = 30; self-relevant stimuli will be equally paired with positive, negative, and neutral social feedback). To assess the effectiveness of the intervention, all participants will complete tasks that evoke social anxiety, as well as measures assessing biases in implicit associations, attention, and interpretation. Our goals with this research are to: a) determine whether it is possible to shift implicit social anxiety associations, b) establish whether there is a link between changes in implicit associations and symptoms of social anxiety, and c) investigate whether changes in one form of information processing bias (implicit associations) also affects other biases (attention and interpretation). This will allow us to test information processing theories and refine existing intervention efforts for social phobia, thereby advancing research with direct clinical and theoretical relevance. Moreover, receipt of the NRSA fellowship will also allow me to expand my theoretical knowledge, integrate my research and clinical abilities, and strengthen the quantitative skills necessary for a career as an independent clinical scientist.