Ruminative coping and post-event processing in social anxiety.
Cognitive models of social anxiety implicate various factors in the initiation and maintenance of socially anxious states, including anticipatory processing, self-focused attention and post-event processing. The present study focused on post-event processing, which is a post-mortem analysis following a social event that is described as ruminative in nature and serves to maintain social anxiety. Participants (N=112; 64 women, 48 men) were presented with vignettes that involved making mistakes in public and were instructed to record their thoughts to allow for the examination of the content of post-event processing. Ruminative coping and distraction were assessed via self-report. Results indicated that participants high in social anxiety (n=55) were more likely to ruminate and less likely to distract when faced with socially anxious stressors compared to those low in social anxiety (n=57). Further, as hypothesized, participants high in social anxiety recorded more negative thoughts and more upward counterfactual thoughts ('if only' type thoughts on how things could have been better; associated with negative affect) compared to those low in social anxiety. These results are discussed in terms of cognitive models of social anxiety.
Kocovski
Nancy L
NL
Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Ont., Canada M3J 1P3. nancy_kocovski@camh.net
Endler
Norman S
NS
Rector
Neil A
NA
Flett
Gordon L
GL
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D003887:Desensitization, Psychologic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D019455:Self Psychology; D012919:Social Behavior