Top

Cognitive Therapy and Research

Gepubliceerd in:

23-02-2024 | Original Article

Predictors of Excessive Reassurance Seeking in Social Anxiety

Auteurs: Van Bui, David A. Moscovitch

Gepubliceerd in: Cognitive Therapy and Research | Uitgave 2/2024

Abstract

Purpose

There has been limited research conducted on the nature and consequences of excessive reassurance seeking in individuals with social anxiety, who tend to worry about the impression they make in evaluative social contexts. We examined the effects of self-reported trait social anxiety, low self-certainty, and engagement in post-event processing on reassurance seeking behaviours.

Methods

The sample consisted of 399 non-clinical undergraduate participants who completed self-report questionnaires in an online pre-registered correlational study.

Results

Partially consistent with our preregistered hypothesis, hierarchical regression analyses revealed that each predictor variable explained unique variance in reassurance seeking behaviours over and above the others, but interaction effects were non-significant for the main outcome variable measuring overall reassurance-seeking. Ancillary analyses revealed a significant three-way interaction between social anxiety symptoms, self-certainty, and post-event processing on engagement in evaluative threat-related reassurance seeking specifically.

Conclusions

Future prospective, naturalistic, and experimental research is needed to verify that evaluative threat-related reassurance seeking in social anxiety may be driven by heightened self-doubt and engagement in post-event processing, which may hinder socially anxious individuals from receiving high-quality support from those in their social network.

vorige artikel A Schema Conceptualisation of Psychosocial Functioning Among Transitioned Military Personnel

volgende artikel The Regulatory Role of Cognitive Reappraisal in the Effect of Neuroticism on Test Anxiety

Alleen toegankelijk voor geautoriseerde gebruikers

Abramowitz, J. S., Schwartz, S. A., & Whiteside, S. P. (2002). A contemporary conceptual model of hypochondriasis. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 77(12), 1323–1330. https://doi.org/10.4065/77.12.1323.CrossRefPubMed

Baumgardner, A. H. (1990). To know oneself is to like oneself: Self-certainty and self-affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58(6), 1062–1072. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.58.6.1062.CrossRefPubMed

Blackie, R. A., & Kocovski, N. L. (2018). Examining the relationships among self-compassion, social anxiety, and post-event processing. Psychological Reports, 121(4), 669–689. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033294117740138.CrossRefPubMed

Brozovich, F. A., & Heimberg, R. G. (2013). Mental imagery and post-event processing in anticipation of a speech performance among socially anxious individuals. Behavior Therapy, 44(4), 701–716. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2013.07.001.CrossRefPubMed

Campbell, J. D. (1990). Self-esteem and clarity of the self-concept. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59(3), 538–549. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.59.3.538.CrossRefPubMed

Campbell, J. D., Trapnell, P. D., Heine, S. J., Katz, I. M., Lavallee, L. F., & Lehman, D. R. (1996). Self-concept clarity: Measurement, personality correlates, and cultural boundaries. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70(1), 141–156. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.70.1.141.CrossRef

Carter, M. M., Hollon, S. D., Carson, R., & Shelton, R. C. (1995). Effects of a safe person on induced distress following a biological challenge in panic disorder with agoraphobia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 104, 156–163. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.104.1.156.CrossRefPubMed

Clark, D. A. (2004). Cognitive-behavioral therapy for OCD. Guilford Press.

Clark, D. M., & Wells, A. (1995). A cognitive model of social phobia. In R. G. Heimberg, M. R. Liebowitz, D. A. Hope, & F. R. Schneier (Eds.), Social phobia: Diagnosis, assessment, and treatment (pp. 69–93). The Guilford.

Clark, G. I., Rock, A. J., Clark, L. H., & Murray-lyon, K. (2020). Adult attachment, worry and reassurance seeking: Investigating the role of intolerance of uncertainty. Clinical Psychologist, 24(3), 294–305. https://doi.org/10.1111/cp.12218.CrossRef

Connor, K. M., Davidson, J. R., Churchill, L. E., Sherwood, A., Foa, E., & Weisler, R. H. (2000). Psychometric properties of the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN). New self-rating scale. The British Journal of Psychiatry: The Journal of Mental Science, 176(4), 379–386. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.176.4.379.CrossRefPubMed

Cougle, J. R., Fitcha, K. E., Finchamb, F. D., Riccardia, C. J., Keough, M. E., & Timpano, K. R. (2012). Excessive reassurance seeking and anxiety pathology: Tests of incremental associations and directionality. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 26(1), 117–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2011.10.001.CrossRefPubMed

Coyne, J. C. (1976). Depression and the response of others. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 85(2), 186–193. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.85.2.186.CrossRefPubMed

Einstein, D. A. (2014). Extension of the transdiagnostic model to focus on intolerance of uncertainty: A review of the literature and implications for treatment. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 21(3), 280–300. https://doi.org/10.1111/cpsp.12077.CrossRefPubMed

Evraire, L. E. (2014). The contribution of attachment styles and reassurance seeking to daily mood and relationship quality in romantic couples. Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 2525. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/2525.

Evraire, L. E., & Dozois, D. J. A. (2011). An integrative model of excessive reassurance seeking and negative feedback seeking in the development and maintenance of depression. Clinical Psychology Review, 31(8), 1291–1303. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2011.07.014.CrossRefPubMed

Gavric, D., Moscovitch, D. A., Rowa, K., & McCabe, R. E. (2017). Post-event processing in social anxiety disorder: Examining the mediating roles of positive metacognitive beliefs and perceptions of performance. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 91, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2017.01.002.CrossRefPubMed

Gavric, D., Cameron, D., Waechter, S., Moscovitch, D. A., McCabe, R. E., & Rowa, K. (2023). Just do something: An experimental investigation of brief interventions for reducing the negative impact of post-event processing in social anxiety disorder. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 98, 102744. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2023.102744.CrossRefPubMed

Gillett, D. A., & Mazza, S. J. (2018). Clarifying a construct: An integrative functional model of reassurance-seeking behaviors. Journal of Rational-Emotive & Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 36(4), 362–377. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-018-0291-9.CrossRef

Grant, D. M., Judah, M. R., Mills, A. C., Lechner, W. V., Davidson, C. L., & Wingate, L. R. (2014). Rumination and excessive reassurance seeking: Mediators of the relationship between social anxiety and depression? Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 36(3), 465–474. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-013-9399-5.CrossRef

Heerey, E. A., & Kring, A. M. (2007). Interpersonal consequences of social anxiety. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 116(1), 125–134. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.116.1.125.CrossRefPubMed

Hirsch, C. R., & Mathews, A. (2000). Impaired positive inferential bias in social phobia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 109(4), 705–712. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.109.4.705.CrossRefPubMed

Jacobson, J. A., & Weary, G. (1999). The role of causal uncertainty in the reassurance-seeking-depression relation. Psychological Inquiry, 10(4), 288–290. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2007.26.8.922.CrossRef

Joiner, T. E. (1994). Contagious depression: Existence, specificity to depressed symptoms, and the role of reassurance seeking. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67(2), 287–296. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.67.2.287.CrossRefPubMed

Joiner, T. E., & Metalsky, G. I. (1995). A prospective test of an integrative interpersonal theory of depression: A naturalistic study of college roommates. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(4), 778–788. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.69.4.778.CrossRefPubMed

Joiner, T. E., & Metalsky, G. I. (2001). Excessive reassurance seeking: Delineating a risk factor involved in the development of depressive symptoms. Psychological Science, 12(5), 371–378. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00369.CrossRefPubMed

Joiner, T. E., Metalsky, G. I., Katz, J., & Beach, S. R. H. (1999). Depression and excessive reassurance seeking. Psychological Inquiry, 10(4), 269–278. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1004_1.CrossRef

Kobori, O., & Salkovskis, P. (2013). Patterns of reassurance seeking and reassurance-related behaviours in OCD and anxiety disorders. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 41(1), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1352465812000665.CrossRefPubMed

Lohr, J. M., Olatunji, B. O., & Sawchuk, C. N. (2007). A functional analysis of danger and safety signals in anxiety disorders. Clinical Psychology Review, 27(1), 114–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2006.07.005.CrossRefPubMed

McEvoy, P. M., & Kingsep, P. (2006). The post-event processing questionnaire in a clinical sample with social phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44(11), 1689–1697. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2005.12.005.CrossRefPubMed

Mellings, T. M., & Alden, L. E. (2000). Cognitive processes in social anxiety: The effects of self-focus, rumination and anticipatory processing. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38(3), 243–257. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0005-7967(99)00040-6.CrossRefPubMed

Moscovitch, D. A., Orr, E., Rowa, K., Reimer, S. G., & Antony, M. M. (2009). In the absence of rose-colored glasses: Ratings of self-attributes and their differential certainty and importance across multiple dimensions in social phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 47(1), 66–70.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2008.10.007.

Moscovitch, D. A., Rowa, K., Paulitzki, J. R., Ierullo, M. D., Chiang, B., Antony, M. M., & McCabe, R. E. (2013). Self-portrayal concerns and their relation to safety behaviors and negative affect in social anxiety disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 51(8), 476–486. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2013.05.002.CrossRefPubMed

Moscovitch, D. A., Moscovitch, M., & Sheldon, S. (2023). Neurocognitive model of schema-congruent and -incongruent learning in clinical disorders: Application to social anxiety and beyond. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 17456916221141351, https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916221141351. Advance online publication.

Oppenheimer, C. W., Technow, J., Hankin, B. L., Young, J. F., & Abela, J. R. (2012). Rumination and excessive reassurance seeking: Investigation of the vulnerability model and specificity to depression. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy, 5(3), 254–267. https://doi.org/10.1521/ijct.2012.5.3.254.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Parrish, C. L., & Radomsky, A. S. (2010). Why do people seek reassurance and check repeatedly? An investigation of factors involved in compulsive behavior in OCD and depression. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 24(2), 211–222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2009.10.010.CrossRefPubMed

Parrish, C. L., & Radomsky, A. S. (2011). An experimental investigation of factors involved in excessive reassurance seeking: The effects of perceived threat, responsibility and ambiguity on compulsive urges and anxiety. Journal of Experimental Psychopathology, 2(1), 44–62. https://doi.org/10.5127/jep.011110.CrossRef

Rachman, S., Grüter-Andrew, J., & Shafran, R. (2000). Post-event processing in social anxiety. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38(6), 611–617. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0005-7967(99)00089-3.CrossRefPubMed

Radomsky, A. S., Neal, R. L., Parrish, C. L., Lavoie, S. L., & Schell, S. E. (2021). The Covert and overt reassurance seeking inventory (CORSI): Development, validation and psychometric analyses. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 49(1), 3–20. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1352465820000703.CrossRefPubMed

Rapee, R. M., & Heimberg, R. G. (1997). A cognitive-behavioral model of anxiety in social phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 35(8), 741–756. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0005-7967(97)00022-3.CrossRefPubMed

Rector, N. A., Kamkar, K., Cassin, S. E., Ayearst, L. E., & Laposa, J. M. (2011). Assessing excessive reassurance seeking in the anxiety disorders. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 25(7), 911–917. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2011.05.003.CrossRefPubMed

Romano, M., Ma, R., Moscovitch, M., & Moscovitch, D. A. (2020). Autobiographical memory bias. In J. S. Abramowitz & S. M. Blakey (Eds.), Clinical handbook of fear and anxiety: Maintenance processes and treatment mechanisms (pp. 183–202). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000150-011.

Salkovskis, P. M., & Kobori, O. (2015). Reassuringly calm? Self-reported patterns of responses to reassurance seeking in obsessive compulsive disorder. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 49(Part B), 203–208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2015.09.002.

Sheehan, K. H., & Sheehan, D. V. (2008). Assessing treatment effects in clinical trials with the Discan metric of the Sheehan disability scale. International Clinical Psychopharmacology, 23(2), 70–83. https://doi.org/10.1097/YIC.0b013e3282f2b4d6.CrossRefPubMed

Sheehan, D. V., Harnett-Sheehan, K., & Raj, B. A. (1996). The measurement of disability. International Clinical Psychopharmacology, 11(3), 89–96. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004850-199606000-00015.CrossRefPubMed

Starr, L. R., & Davila, J. (2008). Excessive reassurance seeking, depression, and interpersonal rejection: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 117(4), 762–775. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013866.CrossRefPubMed

Stopa, L., & Clark, D. M. (1993). Cognitive processes in social phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 31(3), 255–267. https://doi.org/10.1016/0005-7967(93)90024-o.CrossRefPubMed

Stopa, L., & Clark, D. M. (2000). Social phobia and interpretation of social events. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38(3), 273–283. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0005-7967(99)00043-1.CrossRefPubMed

Stopa, L., Brown, M. A., Luke, M. A., & Hirsch, C. R. (2010). Constructing a self: The role of self-structure and self-certainty in social anxiety. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 48(10), 955–965. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2010.05.028.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Taylor, C. T., & Alden, L. E. (2011). To see ourselves as others see us: An experimental integration of the intra and interpersonal consequences of self-protection in social anxiety disorder. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 120(1), 129–141. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022127.CrossRefPubMed

Ward, A., Lyubomirsky, S., Sousa, L., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2003). Can’t quite commit: Rumination and uncertainty. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29(1), 96–107. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167202238375.CrossRefPubMed

Weinstock, L. M., & Whisman, M. A. (2007). Rumination and excessive reassurance-seeking in depression: A cognitive-interpersonal integration. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 31(3), 333–342. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-006-9004-2.CrossRef

Wilson, J. K., & Rapee, R. M. (2006). Self-concept certainty in social phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44(1), 113–136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2005.01.006.CrossRefPubMed

Wilson, G. A., Koerner, N., & Antony, M. M. (2018). An examination of feedback seeking in individuals with social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, or no history of mental disorder using a daily diary method. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 32(1), 15–37. https://doi.org/10.1891/0889-8391.32.1.15.CrossRefPubMed

Titel: Predictors of Excessive Reassurance Seeking in Social Anxiety
Auteurs: Van Bui
David A. Moscovitch
Publicatiedatum: 23-02-2024
Uitgeverij: Springer US
Gepubliceerd in: Cognitive Therapy and Research / Uitgave 2/2024
Print ISSN: 0147-5916
Elektronisch ISSN: 1573-2819
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-024-10473-1

Bohn Stafleu van Loghum

Deel dit onderdeel of sectie (kopieer de link)

Abstract

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Log in om toegang te krijgen

Andere artikelen Uitgave 2/2024

Association Between Judgment Biases During Facial Processing and Body Dysmorphic Symptomatology

A Schema Conceptualisation of Psychosocial Functioning Among Transitioned Military Personnel

The Regulatory Role of Cognitive Reappraisal in the Effect of Neuroticism on Test Anxiety

Examining Cultural Differences in How Loneliness is Associated with Psychological Ill-Being Through Social Problem Solving: Does How You Perceive Problems Matter More Than How You Tackle Them?

Reduced Belief Updating in the Context of Depressive Symptoms: An Investigation of the Associations with Interpretation Biases and Self-Evaluation

What Does ‘High Anxiety Sensitivity’ Look Like? Using Cluster Analysis to Identify Distinct Profiles of High Anxiety Sensitive Treatment-Seekers