Search results for "Social anxiety"
showing 10 items of 58 documents
The widening of the gaze cone in patients with social anxiety disorder and its normalization after CBT
2013
Gaze plays a crucial role in social interactions. Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), which is associated with severe impairment of social interactions, is thus likely to exhibit disturbances of gaze perception. We conducted two experiments with SAD-patients and healthy control participants using a virtual head whose gaze could be interactively manipulated. We determined the subjective area of mutual gaze, the so-called gaze cone, and measured it prior to and after a psychotherapeutic intervention (Exp. 1). Patients exhibited larger gaze cones than control subjects. Exp. 2 varied the emotional expression of the virtual head. These data were validated using a real person (professional actor) as s…
Reliability, validity and responsiveness of the EQ-5D in assessing and valuing health status in patients with social phobia
2013
Abstract Objective The aim of the study was to analyse the psychometric properties of the EQ-5D in patients with social phobia. Methods We used a sample of 445 patients with social phobia with five measurement points over a 30 month period. The discriminative ability of the EQ-5D was analysed by comparing the patients’ responses with the general population and between different disease severity levels. For test-retest reliability we assessed the level of agreement in patients’ responses over time, when there was no change in the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS). Construct validity was analysed by identifying correlations of the EQ-5D with more specific instruments. For responsiveness w…
Examining the Dynamics of the Implicit and the Explicit Self-Concept in Social Anxiety: Changes in the Implicit Association Test–Anxiety and the Soci…
2008
In this study, we analyzed changes in the strength of self-anxiety associations—as measured by the Implicit Association Test–Anxiety (IAT–Anxiety; Egloff & Schmukle, 2002) and the Social Phobia Anxiety Inventory (SPAI; Turner, Beidel, Dancu, & Stanley, 1989)—following treatment of social anxiety. We assessed socially anxious participants (N = 24) prior to and following a group-based treatment; and we assessed healthy controls (N = 24) at matched time points. Results showed (a) higher implicit and explicit anxiety in socially anxious participants (as compared to controls) prior to treatment and (b) reductions in IAT–Anxiety and SPAI scores of socially anxious participants following treatment…
Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS): Optimal cut points for remission and response in a German sample
2017
The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) is the most frequently used instrument to assess social anxiety disorder (SAD) in clinical research and practice. Both a self-reported (LSAS-SR) and a clinician-administered (LSAS-CA) version are available. The aim of the present study was to define optimal cut-off (OC) scores for remission and response to treatment for the LSAS in a German sample. Data of N = 311 patients with SAD were used who had completed psychotherapeutic treatment within a multicentre randomized controlled trial. Diagnosis of SAD and reduction in symptom severity according to the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th editi…
The relations between social anxiety and social intelligence: A latent variable analysis
2011
Social anxiety has been associated with biases in cognitive processing and deficits in social performances. Yet, it remains unclear if these variations may be partly attributable to deficits in fundamental social abilities: for example, social intelligence (SI). Using the Magdeburg Test of Social Intelligence (MTSI) as an objective and performance based SI measure, we examined the relationship between social anxiety and SI in a general population sample (N=110) using Structural Equation Modeling. Dimensions of social anxiety as postulated by Clark and Wells (1995) and facets of SI (social understanding, social memory, and social perception), were negatively correlated. Use of safety-behavio…
The effects of social pressure and emotional expression on the cone of gaze in patients with social anxiety disorder
2016
Abstract Background and objectives Patients with social anxiety disorder suffer from pronounced fears in social situations. As gaze perception is crucial in these situations, we examined which factors influence the range of gaze directions where mutual gaze is experienced (the cone of gaze). Methods The social stimulus was modified by changing the number of people (heads) present and the emotional expression of their faces. Participants completed a psychophysical task, in which they had to adjust the eyes of a virtual head to gaze at the edge of the range where mutual eye-contact was experienced. Results The number of heads affected the width of the gaze cone: the more heads, the wider the …
Who is looking at me? The cone of gaze widens in social phobia
2011
Gaze direction is an important cue that regulates social interactions and facilitates joint attention. Although humans are very accurate in determining gaze directions in general, they have a surprisingly liberal criterion for the presence of mutual gaze. Using an established psychophysical task that required observers to adjust the eyes of a virtual head to the margins of the area of mutual gaze, we examined whether the resulting cone of gaze is altered in people with social phobia. It turned out that during presence of a second virtual person, the gaze cone's width was specifically enlarged in patients with social phobia as compared to healthy controls. The size of this effect was correla…
A prospective study of the precursors to problem drinking in young adulthood.
1994
This study was part of the Jyvaskyla Longitudinal Study on Social Development. The subjects (196 males, 173 females) were studied at age 8, 14 and 26. Three components in drinking habits were obtained at age 26: social, problem and controlled drinking. Moderate to severe problem drinking was obtained for 26% of the men and 1% of the women, and mild problem drinking for 23% of the men and 15% of the women. Problem drinking (defined by the CAGE Questionnaire, arrest for alcohol abuse and other indicators of heavy drinking) was directly accounted for by poor school success at age 14 and, for men, by conduct problems and low anxiety. Variables at age 8 that contributed indirectly to adult probl…
Prevalence of distress, comorbid conditions and well being in the general population.
2011
Abstract Background The purposes of this paper are to determine the prevalence of distress in the community, to identify its determinants and to assess its relationship to somatic conditions and subjective well being. Methods Distress and associated factors were investigated in a random sample of 5000 participants (35–74 years) of a community-based, prospective, observational cohort study in western Mid-Germany (“Gutenberg Heart Study”) between 04/2007 and 10/2008. The sample was stratified 1:1 for gender and residence and in equal strata for decades of age. Data were assessed by self-report instruments, interviews and medical examination. Results We found a prevalence rate for depression o…
The costs of social anxiety disorder: The role of symptom severity and comorbidities
2013
Abstract Background Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is associated with low direct costs compared to other anxiety disorders while indirect costs tend to be high. Mental comorbidities have been identified to increase costs, but the role of symptom severity is still vague. The objective of this study was to determine the costs of SAD, and to explore the impact of symptoms and comorbidities on direct and indirect costs. Methods Baseline data, collected within the SOPHO-NET multi-centre treatment study ( N =495), were used. Costs were calculated based on health care utilization and lost productivity. Symptom severity was measured with the Liebowitz-Social-Anxiety-Scale; comorbidities were include…