Discrepancies between implicit and explicit self-esteem among adolescents with social anxiety disorder.
OBJECTIVE
Previous studies have found high implicit self-esteem (ISE) to prevail concurrently with low explicit self-esteem (ESE) in socially anxious adults. This suggests that self-esteem discrepancies are associated with social anxiety disorder (SAD). Given that the onset of SAD often occurs in adolescence, we investigated self-esteem discrepancies between ISE and ESE in adolescents suffering from SAD.


METHODS
Two implicit measures (Affect Misattribution Procedure, Implicit Association Test) were used both before and after a social threat activation in 20 adolescents with SAD (14-20 years), and compared to 20 healthy adolescents who were matched for age and gender. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Social Cognitions Questionnaire and Beck Depression Inventory were administered as explicit measures. We expected discrepant self-esteem (high ISE, low ESE) in adolescents with SAD, in comparison to congruent self-esteem (positive ISE, positive ESE) in healthy controls, after social threat activation.


RESULTS
Both the patient and control groups exhibited high positive ISE on both implicit measures, before as well as after social threat induction. Explicitly, patients suffering from SAD revealed lower levels of ESE, compared to the healthy adolescents.


CONCLUSIONS
This study is the first to examine ISE and ESE in a clinical sample of adolescent patients with SAD. Our results suggest that SAD is associated with a discrepancy between high ISE and low ESE, after a social-threat manipulation. The findings are discussed in relation to other studies using implicit measures in SAD and may provide a more comprehensive understanding of the role of self-esteem in adolescent SAD.
Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Goethe-University, Varrentrappstr. 40-42, Frankfurt am Main 60486, Germany. schreiber@psych.uni-frankfurt.de
Franziska
F
Schreiber
Christiane
C
Bohn
Idan M
IM
Aderka
Ulrich
U
Stangier
Regina
R
Steil
D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010555:Personality Inventory; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult