title: Audio Feedback with Reduced Self-focus as an Intervention for Social Anxiety: An Experimental Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Socially anxious individuals tend to underestimate their performance largely due to attentional bias. Video and audio feedback (AF) with cognitive preparation (CP) have shown to improve socially anxious individuals' evaluation of their performance in previous studies. In the present study, it was hypothesized that one of the three steps in CP, reduced self-focus (RS), is sufficient to cause an improved voice evaluation after AF. This was tested in a single-session randomized controlled experiment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-one socially anxious participants were asked to give a speech, then to listen to and evaluate a taped recording of their performance. Half of the sample were instructed to reduce their self-focus prior to AF, the rest received AF only. RS involved asking participants to listen to the audio recording as though they were listening to a stranger. Generalization effects were assessed by a second speech.
  
  
  RESULTS
  AF with RS led to more improved voice evaluations than AF-only after the first speech, and the effects remained in the evaluation of the second speech. More positive speech evaluations were associated with corresponding reductions of performance anxiety.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  small sample, analogue study.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  One component of cognitive preparation-(RS)-appears to be sufficient to cause significant effects on voice evaluation in socially anxious individuals. If the results are replicated in clinical samples, AF with RS may be a promising intervention in the treatment of social anxiety.
authors.affiliation: a Psychology , Kognio - Centre for CBT , Lund , Sweden.
authors.forename: Jan-Erik Christer
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Nilsson
authors.affiliation: b Psychology , Lund University , Lund , Sweden.
authors.forename: Lars-Gunnar
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Lundh
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D056228:Feedback, Sensory; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D060805:Performance Anxiety / Q000628:therapy*; D000072861:Phobia, Social / Q000628:therapy; D012649:Self Concept; D013060:Speech; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Social anxiety; audio feedback; cognitive preparation; reduced self-focus