Abstract
Clark and Wells (1995) developed a cognitive model of social anxiety, in which a number of cognitive processes are proposed to be related to the development and maintenance of social anxiety. Previous studies have consistently found an association between two of the most extensively studied components of this model, self-focused attention and post-event processing. The purpose of the current study was to examine potential moderators of this association using a moderated moderation model, in which maladaptive self-beliefs and social anxiety were hypothesized to moderate the association between self-focused attention and post-event processing. Based on responses to self-report measures completed by a large, non-referred sample, support was found for the moderated moderation model. As expected, negative self-beliefs moderated this association, with social anxiety emerging as a secondary moderator. Interestingly, the model also applied to the association between self-focused attention and anticipatory processing. Overall, the findings provide insight into the cognitive processes associated with engagement in post-event processing and may inform clinicians working with individuals with social anxiety.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bögels, S. M., & Mansell, W. (2004). Attention processes in the maintenance and treatment of social phobia: Hypervigilance, avoidance and self-focused attention. Clinical Psychology Review, 24, 827–856. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2004.06.005.
Bögels, S. M., Alberts, M., & de Jong, P. J. (1996). Self-consciousness, self-focused attention, blushing propensity and fear of blushing. Personality and Individual Differences, 21, 573–581. https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(96)00100-6.
Brown, E. J., Turovsky, J., Heimberg, R. G., Juster, H. R., Brown, T. A., & Barlow, D. H. (1997). Validation of the social interaction anxiety scale and the social phobia scale across the anxiety disorders. Psychological Assessment, 9, 21–27. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.9.1.21.
Brozovich, F., & Heimberg, R. G. (2008). An analysis of post-event processing in social anxiety disorder. Clinical Psychology Review, 28(6), 891–903. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2008.01.002.
Clark, D. M. (2001). A cognitive perspective on social phobia. In W. R. Crozier & L. E. Alden (Eds.), International handbook of social anxiety: Concepts, research and interventions relating to the self and shyness (pp. 405–430). New York: John Wiley & Sons Ltd..
Clark, D. M., & Wells, A. (1995). A cognitive model of social phobia. In R. G. Heimberg, M. R. Liebowitz, D. A. Hope, & F. R. Schneier (Eds.), Social phobia: Diagnosis, assessment, and treatment (pp. 69–93). New York: The Guilford Press.
Deiters, D. D., Stevens, S., Hermann, C., & Gerlach, A. L. (2013). Internal and external attention in speech anxiety. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 44, 143–149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2012.09.001.
Gaydukevych, D., & Kocovski, N. L. (2012). Effect of self-focused attention on post-event processing in social anxiety. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 50, 47–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2011.10.010.
Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. New York: Guilford Press.
Heeren, A., Wong, Q. J. J., Ceschi, G., Moulds, M. L., & Philippot, P. (2014). Probing the structural validity of the self-beliefs in social anxiety scale (SBSA): Adaptation and validation in a French-speaking community sample. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue Canadienne Des Sciences Du Comportement, 46, 506–513. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035295.
Heimberg, R. C., Brozovich, F. A., & Rapee, R. M. (2010). A cognitive behavioral model of social anxiety disorder: Update and extension. In S. G. Hofmann & P. M. DiBartolo (Eds.), Social anxiety: Clinical, developmental, and social perspectives (2nd ed., pp. 395–422). San Diego: Elsevier Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-375096-9.00015-8.
Helbig-Lang, S., Poels, V., & Lincoln, T. M. (2016a). Performance perceptions and self-focused attention predict post-event processing after a real-life social performance situation. Anxiety, Stress & Coping: an International Journal, 29, 708–715. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2016.1157169.
Helbig-Lang, S., von Auer, M., Neubauer, K., Murray, E., & Gerlach, A. L. (2016b). Post-event processing in social anxiety disorder after real-life social situations—An ambulatory assessment study. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 84, 27–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2016.07.003.
Hinrichsen, H., & Clark, D. M. (2003). Anticipatory processing in social anxiety: Two pilot studies. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 34, 205–218. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0005-7916(03)00050-8.
Hofmann, S. G. (2007). Cognitive factors that maintain social anxiety disorder: A comprehensive model and its treatment implications. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 36(4), 193–209. https://doi.org/10.1080/16506070701421313.
Holzman, J. B., & Valentiner, D. P. (2016). Self-focused attention affects subsequent processing of positive (but not negative) performance appraisals. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 50, 295–302. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2015.10.008.
Holzman, J. B., Valentiner, D. P., & McCraw, K. S. (2014). Self-focused attention and post-event processing: Relevance to social performance anxiety and social interaction anxiety. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 28, 72–82. https://doi.org/10.1891/0889-8391.28.1.72.
Kissell, K., Rodriguez, H., Lucas, L., & Fisak, B. (2016). Examination of the contribution of ruminative thinking and maladaptive self-beliefs to social anxiety. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 30, 253–262. https://doi.org/10.1891/0889-8391.30.4.253.
Makkar, S. R., & Grisham, J. R. (2011). The predictors and contents of post-event processing in social anxiety. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 35(2), 118–133. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-011-9357-z.
Mattick, R. P., & Clarke, J. C. (1998). Development and validation of measures of social phobia scrutiny fear and social interaction anxiety. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36, 455–470 https://doi-org.ezproxy.net.ucf.edu/10.1016/S0005-7967(97)10031-6.
McEvoy, P. M., & Kingsep, P. (2006). The post-event processing questionnaire in a clinical sample with social phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44, 1689–1697. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2005.12.005.
McEvoy, P. M., Mahoney, A., Perini, S. J., & Kingsep, P. (2009). Changes in post-event processing and metacognitions during cognitive behavioral group therapy for social phobia. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 23, 617–623. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2009.01.011.
Meeten, F., & Davey, G. C. L. (2011). Mood-as-input hypothesis and perseverative psychopathologies. Clinical Psychology Review, 31, 1259–1275. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2011.08.002.
Mills, A. C., Grant, D. M., Lechner, W. V., & Judah, M. R. (2013). Psychometric properties of the anticipatory social behaviours questionnaire. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 35, 346–355. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-013-9339-4.
Mills, A. C., Grant, D. M., Judah, M. R., & Lechner, W. V. (2014). Consequences of anticipatory processing on cognitive symptoms of social anxiety. Anxiety, Stress & Coping: an International Journal, 27(4), 394–409. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2013.866229.
Moscovitch, D. A. (2009). What is the core fear in social phobia? A new model to facilitate individualized case conceptualization and treatment. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 16(2), 123–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2008.04.002.
Norton, A. R., & Abbott, M. J. (2016). Self-focused cognition in social anxiety: A review of the theoretical and empirical literature. Behaviour Change, 33, 44–64. https://doi.org/10.1017/bec.2016.2.
Penney, E. S., & Abbott, M. J. (2014). Anticipatory and post-event rumination in social anxiety disorder: A review of the theoretical and empirical literature. Behaviour Change, 31, 79–101. https://doi.org/10.1017/bec.2014.3.
Rachman, S., Grüter-Andrew, J., & Shafran, R. (2000). Post-event processing in social anxiety. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38, 611–617. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0005-7967(99)00089-3.
Wong, Q. J. J., & Moulds, M. L. (2011). A new measure of the maladaptive self-beliefs in social anxiety: Psychometric properties in a non-clinical sample. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 33, 273–284. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-010-9208-3.
Wong, Q. J. J., & Rapee, R. M. (2016). The aetiology and maintenance of social anxiety disorder: A synthesis of complimentary theoretical models and formulation of a new integrated model. Journal of Affective Disorders, 203, 84–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2016.05.069.
Wong, Q. J. J., Moulds, M. L., & Rapee, R. M. (2014). Validation of the self-beliefs related to social anxiety scale: A replication and extension. Assessment, 21(3), 300–311. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191113485120.
Wong, Q. J. J., McEvoy, P. M., & Rapee, R. M. (2016). A comparison of repetitive negative thinking and post-event processing in the prediction of maladaptive social-evaluative beliefs: A short-term prospective study. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 38(2), 230–241. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-015-9506-x.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fisak, B., Bryant, A. & Klein, K. Self-Focused Attention as a Predictor of Post-event and Anticipatory Processing: Examination of a Moderation Model. J Cogn Ther 13, 203–217 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41811-020-00072-9
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41811-020-00072-9