title: Cognitive-evaluative features of childhood social anxiety in a performance task.
abstract: Using an experimental design, we analysed differences in the occurrence of cognitive-evaluative distortions and performance deficits across children with social anxiety disorder, with subclinical anxiety and without any anxiety symptoms. Twenty-one children with full syndrome social phobia, 18 children with partial syndrome social phobia and 20 children without any symptoms of social phobia were compared with respect to their degree of anxiety, negative thinking and task performance during two social-evaluative tasks. In addition, self-ratings of task performance, performance estimations for other children and objective behavioural ratings by two independent observers were obtained. Children with social anxiety disorder and subclinical social anxiety showed higher degrees of experienced anxiety and negative thinking than healthy control children. There was no group difference in respect to actual task performance. Findings are discussed with regard to the continuum assumption of childhood social anxiety disorder and the need of well-adapted early interventions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute for Psychology, University of Freiburg, D-79085 Freiburg i. Br., Germany. tuschen@psychologie.uni-freiburg.de
authors.forename: Brunna
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tuschen-Caffier
authors.forename: Sigrid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kühl
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bender
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012649:Self Concept; D012919:Social Behavior; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013850:Thinking