Intrusive social images in individuals with high and low social anxiety: a multi-method analysis

Abstract

Background:Models of social anxiety suggest that intrusive images/memories are common in social anxiety and contribute to the maintenance of social anxiety.Aims:We examined the context and phenomenological features of intrusive social images using quantitative and qualitative measures across various levels of social anxiety.Method:Undergraduate students (n = 191) completed measures of social anxiety (i.e. Social Interaction Anxiety Scale and Social Phobia Scale) and wrote a description of an intrusive social image. Individuals who reported an intrusive social image (n = 77) rated the frequency, interference and phenomenological (e.g. vividness, emotional intensity) characteristics of the image. A content analysis of the intrusive image narratives was completed by independent raters.Results:High social anxiety (HSA) increased the likelihood and frequency of experiencing intrusive images, and to some extent the interference caused by these images. However, the characteristics of these images with regard to their content and quality were similar across levels of social anxiety. Among participants who provided narratives, HSA individuals (n = 34) did not differ from low socially anxious (LSA) individuals (n = 28) in themes that reflect concerns about their own thoughts, actions and behaviours. However, HSA individuals reported greater concerns about how other individuals would react, and their intrusive images were often from an observer perspective when compared with LSA individuals.Conclusions:These results are interpreted in relation to cognitive models of emotion, memory and cognitive behavioural models of social anxiety.

Flashforward imagery in speech anxiety: Characteristics and associations with anxiety and avoidance

“…The reports on recurrent experiences of FF imagery are in line with previous research demonstrating the occurrence of negative imagery in social anxiety. The content of FF images in this sample appeared to be similar to that of previously reported negative images in both clinical and non-clinical samples (e.g., descriptions of being judged negatively and performing badly; Hackmann et al, 2000 ; Homer and Deeprose, 2017 ; Ashbaugh et al, 2019 ). Although the present sample could be labeled as an analogue sample, the mean score on the SPS fell above the suggested clinical cut-off score of 24 ( Brown et al, 1997 ).…”

“…Negative images occur more frequently in individuals with SAD than in individuals without SAD, are rated as more vivid and distressing, and have been found to be more often seen from an observer than from a field perspective (Hackmann et al, 1998;Schreiber and Steil, 2013). In analogue samples of high versus low socially anxious individuals, findings on imagery characteristics have been less consistent (Moscovitch et al, 2011;Ashbaugh et al, 2019). Yet, when instructed to hold a negative versus a neutral image in mind during social interaction or a speech, higher levels of anxiety, more safety behaviors, and worse performance were reported in both SAD groups and non-SAD comparison groups (Hirsch et al, 2003(Hirsch et al, , 2004(Hirsch et al, , 2006.…”

“…Thus far, research on imagery and social anxiety did not strictly differentiate between types of negative imagery. Imagery definitions and assessments have varied and the time orientation of relevant intrusive imagery has not always been reported ( Brewin et al, 2010 ; for observational studies in analogue samples that did report time orientation, see Homer and Deeprose, 2017 ; Ashbaugh et al, 2019 ). Yet, prospective or future-oriented negative imagery may be of particular importance in the persistence of SA and, therefore, may be a relevant type of imagery to specifically assess.…”

Specific topics, specific symptoms: linking the content of recurrent involuntary memories to mental health using computational text analysis

“…Though these results have supported that there are associations between AM content and mental health, numerous studies have not reached such conclusions. Other researchers have observed no significant differences in IAM content as a function of psychopathology, including between dysphoric versus nondysphoric participants 24 and between participants with high versus low social anxiety 25 . Previous work has also failed to find evidence of disorder-congruent content: while AM content from participants with anxiety disorders was significantly different from nonclinical controls, content did not significantly differ across various disorders (i.e., social anxiety disorder versus panic disorder 26 ).…”

Imagery rescripting and negative self-imagery in social anxiety disorder: a systematic literature review

“…These images are commonly recurrent, spontaneous and from a third-person's perspective (Hackmann et al, 2000). Research has found that, during an anxiety-provoking social task, high social anxiety individuals more commonly experienced negative images and memories (Chiupka et al, 2012) and were more likely to report an observer's perspective (Ashbaugh et al, 2019) compared with low social anxiety individuals. Studies have found that holding an NSI (compared with a neutral selfimage) is associated with an increase in safety-seeking behaviours, anxiety and critical appraisals of social performance (Hirsch et al, 2004;Ng et al, 2014).…”