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The Relationship Between Negative Self-imagery and Social Anxiety in a Clinically Diagnosed Sample

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Abstract

The current study aimed to investigate the content of negative self-imagery (NSI) in Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) and to explore the relationship between NSI and other maintaining variables. Eighty-six individuals (83.7% female) with SAD completed self-report questionnaires and a semi-structured imagery interview. Thematic analysis was used to assess core themes from the interview transcripts. Mediation analyses were employed to explore the relationship between NSI and other variables of interest. Imagery characteristics supported extant findings, such that they appeared distorted, from an observer perspective, and inclusive of multiple sensory modalities. ‘Unconditional beliefs’ and ‘Conditional beliefs’ depicted overarching themes emerging from the data, outlining themes in NSI regarding self- and other-directed concepts. Mediation analyses demonstrated that imagery variables mediated the relationship between trait social anxiety and subsequent distress. Furthermore, socially-relevant beliefs mediated the relationship between trait social anxiety and NSI. These findings emphasise the clinical importance of targeting the meaning of social imagery and memories in SAD.

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Notes

  1. See Norton and Abbott (2016, 2017) for full details of recruitment strategies for the current sample.

  2. Agreement ratings from Norton and Abbott (2016, 2017).

  3. Self-imagery definition read to participants as follows: People tend to describe these images as being like pictures or snapshots of themselves behaving or appearing a certain way; or images or snapshots of people they’re interacting with or audience observers; or even snapshots of landscapes or scenes that seem frozen in time. Do any of these sound familiar to you? Introduction based on interview schedule developed by Moscovitch et al. (2011).

  4. For conditions required for full mediation as outlined by Baron and Kenny (1986), refer to Norton and Abbott (2016).

  5. Intraclass correlation coefficients for individual variables available on request.

  6. Correlations for all individual variables available on request; correlations with composite scores are presented throughout, though patterns of significance are equivalent to individual correlations.

  7. VIF levels exceeding 5 and tolerance levels less than 0.2 are considered indicative of high multicollinearity (Tabachnick and Fidell 2001; Perini et al. 2006). Such levels were not evident in the reported regression models.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology (M02F), The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Katherine A. Dobinson, Alice R. Norton & Maree J. Abbott

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  1. Katherine A. Dobinson
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  2. Alice R. Norton
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  3. Maree J. Abbott
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Correspondence to Maree J. Abbott.

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Katherine A. Dobinson, Alice R. Norton and Maree J. Abbott declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Dobinson, K.A., Norton, A.R. & Abbott, M.J. The Relationship Between Negative Self-imagery and Social Anxiety in a Clinically Diagnosed Sample. Cogn Ther Res 44, 156–170 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-019-10051-w

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