An examination of the construct validity of the Generalized Pliance Questionnaire

The Generalized Pliance Questionnaire (GPQ) was originally validated against measures of psychological flexibility and psychological distress. However, measures which have substantial conceptual overlap with the GPQ (e.g., the Need to Belong Scale [NTBS], Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale [BFNE]) were not examined. The present study seeks to investigate the construct validity of the GPQ-9. As expected, data from a survey of 272 participants indicated significant large correlations between the GPQ-9 and NTBS and BFNE respectively. The results of a confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the unidimensional structure of the GPQ-9. A structural equation model revealed that the BFNE (and not the GPQ-9 or NTBS) was significantly associated with psychological flexibility and psychological distress. Implications of these tentative preliminary findings suggest that the GPQ may be a more sensitive measure than the BFNE for ACT research

Assessing the Straightforwardly-Worded Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale for Differential Item Functioning Across Gender and Ethnicity

The Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (BFNE; Leary Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 9, 371–375, 1983) assesses fear and worry about receiving negative evaluation from others. Rodebaugh et al. Psychological Assessment, 16, 169–181, (2004) found that the BFNE is composed of a reverse-worded factor (BFNE-R) and straightforwardly-worded factor (BFNE-S). Further, they found the BFNE-S to have better psychometric properties and provide more information than the BFNE-R. Currently there is a lack of research regarding the measurement invariance of the BFNE-S across gender and ethnicity with respect to item thresholds. The present study uses item response theory (IRT) to test the BFNE-S for differential item functioning (DIF) related to gender and ethnicity (White, Asian, and Black). Six data sets consisting of clinical, community, and undergraduate participants were utilized (N=2,109). The factor structure of the BFNE-S was confirmed using categorical confirmatory factor analysis, IRT model assumptions were tested, and the BFNE-S was evaluated for DIF. Item nine demonstrated significant non-uniform DIF between White and Black participants. No other items showed significant uniform or non-uniform DIF across gender or ethnicity. Results suggest the BFNE-S can be used reliably with men and women and Asian and White participants. More research is needed to understand the implications of using the BFNE-S with Black participants

Does anticipation help or hinder performance in a subsequent speech?

This study examined the effects of anticipatory processing on a subsequent speech in high and low socially anxious participants. Forty participants (n = 20 in each group) gave two speeches, one after no anticipatory processing and one after 10-minutes of anticipatory processing. In anticipatory processing, high socially anxious participants were more anxious, and experienced more negative and unhelpful self-images than low socially anxious participants did. However, both groups rated memories of past speeches as having a somewhat helpful effect on their speech preparation. High socially anxious participants tended to use the observer perspective more in the anticipated speech, while, in the unanticipated speech, they might have been switching between observer and field perspectives. Low socially anxious participants tended to use the field perspective in both speeches. High and low socially anxious participants reported better speech performances after the anticipated, compared to after the unanticipated speech. Results suggest that anticipatory processing may have both positive and negative effects on socially anxious individuals' cognitive processing and performance before and during a speech

Deductive Reasoning and Social Anxiety:Evidence for a Fear-confirming Belief Bias

This study investigated the relationship between belief bias and fear of negative evaluation. Belief bias refers to a bias in deductive reasoning that acts to confirm rather than falsify prior beliefs. Participants (N = 52) with varying levels of fear of negative evaluation completed a belief bias task by means of linear syllogisms, with stimuli covering both social anxiety convictions and factual neutral statements. A linear relationship was found between fear of negative evaluation and belief bias for the social anxiety conviction category. No differences in reasoning were found for the neutral syllogisms. These results support the view that highly socially anxious individuals do not have a reasoning abnormality, but do have difficulty judging anxiogenic information as false and reassuring convictions-contradicting information as true. Such belief bias logically prevents dysfunctional cognitions from being corrected, thereby sustaining phobic fear

Conflict Competence Among Undergraduates: Exploring the Impact of Fear of Negative Evaluation

According to a study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, workplace conflict costs employers up to $359 billion annually (as cited by CPP Global, 2008). Considering this cost, teaching the current generation of college students to effectively manage conflict is a charge for colleges and universities who aim to prepare students to successfully enter the workforce after graduation. Current methods of conflict resolution training, however, lack consistency and show varying levels of success. Developing effective tools depends on a clear understanding of barriers students face in learning to effectively resolve conflicts. In looking to examine these barriers, this study explored whether Fear of Negative Evaluation (FNE) correlates with avoidance among undergraduate students across the United States. While the correlation between FNE and conflict avoidance was only found to be moderate, correlations to other styles of conflict resolution demonstrate that FNE may play some moderating role in the conflict resolution styles that students most use. The difference in findings between LGBTQ+ participants and other participants with similarly high BFNE-S scores demonstrates that other factors besides FNE must also influence conflict resolution style. These findings strengthen the call for a better understanding of the multiple factors that impact conflict competence

Assessing Client Progress Session by Session in the Treatment of Social Anxiety Disorder: The Social Anxiety Session Change Index

Frequent assessment during therapy can improve treatments and provide accountability. However, clinicians often do not monitor progress because of the time it takes to administer and score assessments. In response, the Social Anxiety Session Change Index (SASCI) was developed. The SASCI is a short, easily administered rating of subjective improvement that asks clients with social anxiety disorder how much they have changed since the beginning of therapy. Change on the SASCI was related to change in fear of negative evaluation, a core aspect of social anxiety, and to clinician-rated improvement, but not to ratings of anxiety sensitivity or depression. Because it is brief and easily interpretable, the SASCI can be used in a variety of clinical settings to monitor change across therapy. The SASCI is presented along with examples of how the information gathered from frequent administration can inform clinical practice

Predictive Validity of the Brief Fearof Negative Evaluation Subscales

From the Washington University Senior Honors Thesis Abstracts (WUSHTA), Spring 2018. Published by the Office of Undergraduate Research. Joy Zalis Kiefer, Director of Undergraduate Research and Associate Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences; Lindsey Paunovich, Editor; Helen Human, Programs Manager and Assistant Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences Mentor: Tom Rodenbaug

Cost and Probability Biases in Social Phobia: Evaluating Their Relation to Attention Bias and Treatment Outcome

Social phobia is maintained in part by judgmental biases concerning the probability and cost of negative social events. One hypothesized mechanism of action of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety disorders is its reduction in the exaggerated probabilities and costs associated with feared outcomes, termed the “cognitive mediation hypothesis” (Foa & Kozak, 1986). A number of studies have examined the cognitive mediation hypothesis; some investigations find cost bias to be more important to treatment outcome, whereas others find probability bias to be more important. However, methodological limitations of several of these studies leave open the possibility that changes in judgmental biases are simply correlates or consequences of social anxiety reduction. Attentional processes, which mark the first discrimination of incoming information, may serve as precursors to cognitive processes like probability and cost estimates. Though intuitively linked, whether social phobics’ pattern of attending to external threat cues is correlated with their appraisals of the cost and probability of negative events has yet to be examined empirically. The current project examines cost and probability biases and their relation to attention bias and treatment outcome in a randomized controlled trial of CBT for social phobia. It was found that, contrary to hypotheses, greater attentional bias for threat in either direction (vigilance or avoidance) did not predict higher cost and probability estimates. However, a significant relation was observed between attentional vigilance and outcome probability estimates, such that greater vigilance for threat predicted greater estimates of the likelihood that negative social events will occur. As hypothesized, early changes in cost and probability biases predicted later changes in social anxiety symptoms (and not vice versa). Changes in probability estimates were a stronger predictor of treatment outcome than changes in cost estimates. Broadly, findings provide support for the cognitive mediation hypothesis of social phobia and point to both outcome cost and outcome probability as potential treatment mechanisms. Findings are discussed in the context of extant theories of social phobia, and directions for future research are proposed