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PubMedDate not supplied

Factor structure of social fears: The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale.

In the assessment of social anxiety, investigators often differentiate between social interactional anxiety and performance anxiety. The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), a clinician-administered measure of social anxiety and avoidance, was originally developed with separate subscales for the assessment of fear and avoidance of situations involving social interaction and performance/observation by others. Separate confirmatory factor analyses of the LSAS fear and avoidance ratings demonstrated that this two-factor model did not provide an adequate fit to the data, suggesting the need to further investigate the underlying structure of the LSAS. Separate exploratory common factor analyses of the fear and avoidance ratings yielded four similar factors for each: (1) social interaction, (2) public speaking, (3) observation by others, and (4) eating and drinking in public, which demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity with other measures of social anxiety. These findings suggest that there are four global categories of social fear assessed by the LSAS, and that while social interaction anxiety appears to be unifactorial, fear of performance/observation situations may be multifactorial.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Adolescent social anxiety as an outcome of inhibited temperament in childhood.

OBJECTIVE: Chess and Thomas suggested that temperament might make a contribution to social phobia and other forms of extreme social anxiety. This study provides the first investigation of the outcomes in adolescents who had been inhibited (subdued to and avoidant of novelty) or uninhibited (approaching novelty) in the second year of life, utilizing both direct interview and direct observation. METHOD: Seventy-nine subjects, aged 13 years, who had been classified as inhibited or uninhibited in the second year were assessed with both standardized interview and direct observation. RESULTS: There was a significant association between earlier classification of a child as inhibited and generalized social anxiety at adolescence, but no association with specific fears, separation anxiety, or performance anxiety. The adolescents who were classified as socially anxious made fewer spontaneous comments than those without social anxiety; no relation was seen between any other type of fear and the number of spontaneous comments. Adolescent girls who had been inhibited as toddlers were more likely to be impaired by generalized social anxiety than boys. CONCLUSIONS: The interview and observational data indicate that important aspects of an inhibited temperament are preserved from the second year of life to early adolescence, which predispose an adolescent to social anxiety.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Competition trait anxiety, state anxiety, and performance.

This study tested predictions about social facilitation using a competitive (evaluation) vs non-competitive setting. In addition, subjects who exhibited low, moderate, or high anxiety concerning competition were selected to determine the relation of anxiety to social facilitation. The design was 2 (competition/no competition) X 3 (competition trait anxiety), with state anxiety and performance as the major dependent variables. In a significant main effect of anxiety about competition subjects high in competitive anxiety displayed higher levels of state anxiety than subjects moderate or low in anxiety about competition. Performance differences were non-significant although means were as predicted.

Achievement↗
PubMed2004

Etiology and treatment of social anxiety: a commentary.

Substantial advances in our understanding of the etiology and treatment of performance anxiety have occurred during the past decade. It has become clear that the development of efficient and effective treatments cannot be divorced from knowledge of the specific form of psychopathology being treated and that treatments must be tailored to this psychopathology. After describing a current model of the etiology of performance anxiety and social phobia, this commentary notes the common factors present across the rich and diverse set of articles in this issue describing treatments from different approaches and different theoretical orientations. To the extent that these common factors are important mechanisms of action, it is possible that the future will introduce more unified and more effective, efficient, and theoretically informed treatment for performance anxiety as well as the potential for preventive techniques.

Adult↗
PubMed1981

Assessing various coping strategies and their effects on test performance and anxiety.

Investigated the use of cognitive coping strategies in meeting the stressfulness of a testing situation and the relation of these strategies to performance and test anxiety. Sixty-seven students completed a measure of cognitive (worry) and physiological-affective (emotionality) components of test anxiety immediately before and after a course examination. A 30-item questionnaire was designed to measure cognitive methods of coping. In addition to the use of correlations, students were grouped according to their predominant coping strategy, and group differences were examined via analyses of variance. Rationalization and isolation were associated with better performance, preoccupation and resignation with higher anxiety and poorer performance, and denial with lower anxiety.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Caffeine effects on learning, performance, and anxiety in normal school-age children.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this investigation was to study the acute effects of caffeine on learning, performance, and anxiety in normal prepubertal children. METHOD: Twenty-one children were evaluated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design. Subjects were studied during four sessions, 1 week apart, under the following conditions: baseline, placebo, 2.5 mg/kg caffeine, and 5.0 mg/kg caffeine. Subjects were randomized to order of placebo and the two dosages of caffeine. Dependent measures included tests of attention, manual dexterity, short-term memory, and processing speed. Anxiety rating scales were also administered. Saliva samples were analyzed for caffeine levels. RESULTS: Caffeine improved performance on two of four measures of the Test of Variables of Attention and on a test of manual dexterity in the dominant hand. There was a trend toward increased current level of self-reported anxiety after caffeine on a visual analogue measure of anxiety. Children reported feeling significantly less "sluggish" after caffeine ingestion than after placebo ingestion. CONCLUSIONS: In a small sample size, there was indication that caffeine enhanced performance on a test of attention and on a motor task. Children also reported feeling less "sluggish" but somewhat more anxious. Because caffeine is so widely available and frequently consumed by children, these results are important and need replication.

Anxiety↗
PubMed1989

Research comparing the dyadic adjustment and sexual functioning concerns of diabetic and nondiabetic women.

The dyadic relationship and sexual functioning concerns of a group of diabetic women and a matched control group of nondiabetic women were compared. There was no statistically significant difference in overall dyadic adjustment between the two groups. Both diabetic and nondiabetic women were moderately well adjusted. However, diabetic women were significantly more concerned than nondiabetic women in the following six specific sexual functioning areas: (a) frequency of feeling sexual repulsion, (b) frequency of difficulty with vaginal lubrication, (c) frequency of difficulty reaching orgasm, (d) impact of genital discomfort, (e) frequency of performance anxiety, and (f) impact of performance anxiety. Therefore, health care professionals need to use the suggested holistic approaches in helping diabetic women overcome these sexual functioning concerns. Finally, the relationship between level of sexual functioning concerns and overall dyadic adjustment was not statistically significant for either group. This finding supports the belief that sexual and marital factors may operate independently.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Effect of anxiety on performance in multiple choice examination.

Negative scoring of incorrectly answered multiple choice questions has logistic advantages, but may disadvantage anxious students. We therefore attempted to observe the effects of positive and negative marking of true/false questions on the examination performance of medical students with different levels of anxiety. Third-year medical students (141 men, 71 women) completed a Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory before an examination in pathology in 1994. Students knew there would be penalties for wrong answers in the first half of the examination and no penalties in the second half. Performance on the two halves was compared and effects of levels of anxiety assessed. Students reported slightly higher trait anxiety than American norms. Women students reported higher levels of anxiety than men, and levels for both genders were indicative of a moderately stressful situation. Trait anxiety was not associated with performance in either the negatively or positively marked halves of the examination. For women students, but not men, lower state anxiety was positively associated with higher performance on the negatively marked half of the examination (r = 0.29), but accounted for only 8% of the variance in scores. In our study, anxiety was correlated only slightly with results of a negatively marked examination. We conclude that anxious medical students are not unduly disadvantaged by this method of marking.

Anxiety↗
PubMed1998

Feedback, test anxiety and performance in a college course.

The effects of three forms of test feedback and text anxiety on test performance were examined within the context of a self-paced, criterion-based course in educational psychology. 73 undergraduate students completed seven units of work and were evaluated by computer-administered unit tests. Students were randomly assigned to one of three test feedback forms: (1) item-by-item knowledge of responses, (2) answer-until-correct, and (3) delayed feedback. Students received their assigned feedback during the first two units, after which they were allowed to choose. Test anxiety was measured prior to testing on Sarason's Test Anxiety Scale and during testing on an item administered by the computer program. Students who reported high test anxiety on the Test Anxiety Scale experienced more anxiety during testing than students reporting low test anxiety. Anxiety during testing was not related to type of feedback, and the two variables were not related to course performance on the second unit. Data collected at the conclusion of the semester indicated that students who reported higher test anxiety required more attempts to pass unit tests than those reporting lower test anxiety. Given a choice, students preferred answer-until-correct feedback. This preference was not related to Test Anxiety Scale scores. Anxiety during testing was not related to being allowed to choose forms of feedback.

Achievement↗
PubMed1982

Caffeine and human behavior: arousal, anxiety, and performance effects.

A review of the recent literature shows the role of caffeine in the physiology, mood, and behavior of persons to be a complex one including changes in arousal, anxiety, and performance. Questions are raised as to what degree the physiological effects of caffeine are due to central nervous system stimulation and/or result from the release of catecholamines. Anxiety resulting from both high levels of caffeine (caffeinism) and caffeine withdrawal plus an association between caffeine and depression are discussed. Performance effects are mixed, with both increases and decreases reported. Effects on mental tasks are related to personality variables. The possible role of differences in initial sensitivity, adaptation to caffeine, and/or interactions with nicotine and alcohol is discussed. The present paper reviews these studies, discusses their implications for both clinical and experimental work, summarizes the major unresolved issues, and makes suggestions for new and continuing areas of research.

Achievement↗
PubMed1977

On the etiology of sexual dysfunction.

Lack of consideration of the sexually functional population has led to misconceptions about the causes of both sexual dysfunction and sexual functioning. Although observation of the dysfunctional population appears to indicate that performance anxiety is the first-order cause of dysfunction, it is proposed that in the functional population performance anxiety has the opposite effect, generating automatic functioning rather than dysfunction. The first-order cause of dysfunction is then whatever causes this differential response to performance anxiety, conceivably an inability or unwillingness to bypass pathogenic influences. Thus automatic functioning can mask the effects of all pathogenic influences on sexuality, making these effects appear random, confounding etiological issues and creating the belief that the causes of the sexual dysfunction and sexual disorder cannot be specified.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

The pharmacologic and expectancy effects of alcohol on social anxiety in individuals with social phobia.

Individuals with social phobia are at an increased risk for alcohol problems. Individuals with social phobia could increase their risk for pathological alcohol use if they drink as a means of coping with anxiety-provoking social situations. Providing a circumscribed test of this view, we evaluate the effect of alcohol on the intensity of social phobia anxiety responses. Sixty-one individuals with social phobia gave two speech challenges in front of a group ('social anxiety challenge'), one occurring before and one after they consumed either: (a) an alcoholic drink they were told contained alcohol ('alcohol group'), (b) a non-alcoholic drink they were told contained alcohol ('placebo group'), or, (c) a non-alcoholic drink they were told contained no alcohol ('control group'). Both the alcohol group and the placebo group showed greater reduction in performance anxiety from the first to the second speech challenge than did the control group. Further, there was a strong trend in the data for the alcohol group to show greater reduction in performance anxiety from the first to the second speech challenge than did the placebo group. We concluded from these findings that the pharmacologic effects of alcohol and the belief that one consumed alcohol decrease social performance anxiety in an additive fashion. These results provide direct support for the negatively reinforcing properties of alcohol and are consistent with the view that symptom reduction may motivate alcohol use among socially phobic individuals.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2003

Arousal, anxiety, and performance: a reexamination of the Inverted-U hypothesis.

Until recently, the traditional Inverted-U hypothesis had been the primary model used by sport psychologists to describe the arousal-performance relationship. However, many sport psychology researchers have challenged this relationship, and the current trend is a shift toward a more "multidimensional" view of arousal-anxiety and its effects on performance. In the current study, 104 college-age participants performed a simple response time task while riding a bicycle ergometer. Participants were randomly assigned to one of eight arousal groups (between 20 and 90% of heart rate reserve) and were told they were competing for a cash prize. Prior to the task, the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 and Sport Anxiety Scale (SAS) were administered to assess the influence of cognitive and somatic anxiety. As hypothesized, regression analysis revealed a significant quadratic trend for arousal and reaction time. This accounted for 13.2% of the variance, F change (1, 101) = 15.10, p < .001, in performance beyond that accounted for by the nonsignificant linear trend. As predicted by the Inverted-U hypothesis, optimal performance on the simple task was seen at 60 and 70% of maximum arousal. Furthermore, for the simple task used in this study, only somatic anxiety as measured by the SAS accounted for significant variance in performance beyond that accounted for by arousal alone. These findings support predictions of the Inverted-U hypothesis and raise doubts about the utility theories that rely on differentiation of cognitive and somatic anxiety to predict performance on simple tasks that are not cognitively loaded.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

The observer perspective: effects on social anxiety and performance.

The cognitive model of social phobia by Clark and Wells (Social phobia : Diagnosis, Assessment and treatment (1995)) proposes that individuals with social phobia generate a negative impression of how they appear to others, constructed from their own thoughts, feelings and internal sensations. This impression can occur in the form of a visual image from an external, or "observer", perspective. Although social phobics use this perspective more than controls, the impact of the observer perspective has not been tested experimentally. This study investigated the effects of taking the observer perspective on thinking, anxiety, behaviour and social performance in high and low socially anxious participants. Forty-four participants (N=22 in each group) gave two speeches, one in the observer and one in the field perspective. Use of the observer perspective produced more frequent negative thoughts, more safety behaviours, and worse self-evaluation of performance in both groups. There were also clear trends demonstrating increases in anxiety and in thought belief ratings in the observer perspective compared to the field perspective. Results are consistent with the Clark and Wells model of social phobia. This study also suggests that in low socially anxious individuals, the observer perspective may contain positive information.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

A comparison of the effects of lorazepam with those of propranolol on experimentally-induced anxiety and performance.

In a double-blind cross-over study the effects of propranolol (80 mg) and of lorazepam (1 or 2.5 mg) were assessed in normal student volunteers using a number of performance tests and mood-rating and bodily symptom questionnaires. Drug effects on experimentally-induced anxiety were also studied. The high dose of lorazepam impaired performance in digit-symbol substitution, symbol copying and verbal learning tests, and increased subjects' ratings of dizziness. Both lorazepam and propranolol increased simple reaction time. Lorazepam but not propranolol increased ratings of sedation. Although the stressor increased subjects' ratings of anxiety, neither drug altered anxiety ratings. Propranolol decreased and lorazepam increased subjects' pulse. These changes were not reflected in subjects' self-ratings - lorazepam caused a reduction in ratings of palpitations. The results suggest that if administered acutely, neither drug is beneficial in the treatment of short-term anxiety associated with intellectual stress.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Effects of mood manipulation and anxiety on performance of an emotional Stroop task.

In Study 1 subjects high and low in trait anxiety were asked to identify the colour of anxiety-related, anxiety-matched neutral, happiness-related and happiness-matched neutral words. There were two types of stimulus presentation: blocked trials, where stimuli were blocked with respect to their valence, and mixed trials, where stimuli were mixed with respect to their valence. Subjects high in trait anxiety took longer to identify the colour of anxiety-related compared to matched neutral words for blocked-trial presentation only. In Study 2 subjects were exposed to either a positive or a negative mood-manipulation followed by a mixed-trial Stroop task. The mood manipulation procedure was successful in producing predicted changes in self-reported state anxiety. Analyses showed that high-trait-anxiety subjects exhibited interference effects consistent with the induced mood. No such effects were observed for the low-trait-anxiety subjects.

Adult↗