Constructing a self: the role of self-structure and self-certainty in social anxiety.
Behav Res Ther
; 48(10): 955-65, 2010 Oct.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-20800751
Current cognitive models stress the importance of negative self-perceptions in maintaining social anxiety, but focus predominantly on content rather than structure. Two studies examine the role of self-structure (self-organisation, self-complexity, and self-concept clarity) in social anxiety. In study one, self-organisation and self-concept clarity were correlated with social anxiety, and a step-wise multiple regression showed that after controlling for depression and self-esteem, which explained 35% of the variance in social anxiety scores, self-concept clarity uniquely predicted social anxiety and accounted for an additional 7% of the variance in social anxiety scores in an undergraduate sample (N=95) and the interaction between self-concept clarity and compartmentalisation (an aspect of evaluative self-organisation) at step 3 of the multiple regression accounted for a further 3% of the variance in social anxiety scores. In study two, high (n=26) socially anxious participants demonstrated less self-concept clarity than low socially anxious participants (n=26) on both self-report (used in study one) and on computerised measures of self-consistency and confidence in self-related judgments. The high socially anxious group had more compartmentalised self-organisation than the low anxious group, but there were no differences between the two groups on any of the other measures of self-organisation. Self-complexity did not contribute to social anxiety in either study, although this may have been due to the absence of a stressor. Overall, the results suggest that self-structure has a potentially important role in understanding social anxiety and that self-concept clarity and other aspects of self-structure such as compartmentalisation interact with each other and could be potential maintaining factors in social anxiety. Cognitive therapy for social phobia might influence self-structure, and understanding the role of structural variables in maintenance and treatment could eventually help to improve treatment outcome.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Anxiety Disorders
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Self-Assessment
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Self Concept
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Self Efficacy
/
Depression
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
Limits:
Adolescent
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Adult
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Female
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Humans
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Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
En
Journal:
Behav Res Ther
Year:
2010
Document type:
Article
Country of publication:
Reino Unido