Individuals with social anxiety disorder (SADs; n = 41) and healthy controls (HCs; n = 40) were administered the Waterloo Images and Memories Interview, in which they described mental images that they tend to experience in both anxiety-provoking and non-anxiety-provoking social situations. Participants then recalled, in as much detail as possible, specific autobiographical memories of salient aversive and non-aversive social experiences that they believed led to the formation of these images. Audio-recorded memory narratives were transcribed and coded based on the procedure of the Autobiographical Interview, which provides a precise measure of the degree of episodic detail contained within each memory. Participants also rated the subjective properties of their recalled memories. Results revealed that participants across the two groups retrieved equivalent rates of both aversive and non-aversive social memories. However, SAD participants' memories of aversive events contained significantly more episodic detail than those of HCs, suggesting that they may be more highly accessible. Moreover, participants with SAD appraised their memories of aversive experiences as more distressing and intrusive than HCs, and perceived them as having a significantly greater influence on their self-perception. In contrast, no group differences were observed for memories of non-aversive events. Findings have the potential to shed new light on autobiographical memory in SAD, with implications for psychotherapeutic intervention.

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Background: Imager rescripting (IR) is an effective intervention for social an iet disorder (SAD) that targets autobiographical memories of painful past events. IR is thought to promote needs fulfillment and memor updating b guiding patients to change unhelpful schema through addressing the needs of the ounger self within the memor . Methods: Qualitative coding was used to e amine the features of clinicall relevant strategies enacted during IR to fulfill needs and update memories in 14 individuals with SAD. Results: Most participants enacted multiple strategies to address the needs of the ounger self during rescripting, with compassionate and assertive strategies used more frequentl than avoidance. Strategies were t picall feasible and enacted b the imagined self, with most patients achieving a strong degree of needs fulfillment, especiall when strategies were consistent with identified needs. Participants reflections on how their memories have changed are provided from followup data collected si months post-intervention. Themes of self-reappraisal, selfcompassion, and self-distancing are highlighted as potentiall important for facilitating needs fulfilment and memor updating. Conclusions: Findings illuminate the clinical processes through which sociall traumatic memories in SAD ma be updated in IR b guiding patients to fulfill their needs and promote improved emotional health.

Background Previous research has shown that high levels of trait social anxiety (SA) disrupt the social repair processes following a painful social exclusion, but the cognitive mechanisms involved in these processes and how trait SA may disrupt them remain unknown. Methods We conducted a preregistered study on Prolific participants ( N = 452) who were assigned to experience either social exclusion or inclusion and were then exposed to follow-up opportunities for social reconnection. Results Moderated mediation analyses revealed that irrespective of levels of SA, participants responded to social pain with heightened approach motivation and greater downstream positive affect. Exploratory analyses revealed that heightened desire to affiliate was driven by increased curiosity and attention to social rewards. Moreover, higher SA was associated with lower overall desire to affiliate and this relationship between SA and affiliation was mediated by diminished reward responsiveness. Conclusions Findings highlight the roles of goal pursuit and social reward responsiveness in social repair and how high levels of trait SA may disrupt these processes. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10608-021-10263-z.

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