Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

Shari Steinman

Committee Member

Barry Edelstein

Committee Member

Amy Gentzler

Abstract

According to cognitive models of social anxiety disorder (SAD), individuals place excessive importance on gauging others’ reactions (e.g., facial expressions) to their social performance. Facial interpretation bias modification (FIBM) was developed to shift interpretations of ambiguous faces. The current study uses FIBM to test whether face interpretation is causally related to SAD symptoms in an unselected adult sample. Participants (N=139) were randomized to 1 of 3 conditions (positive, negative, accurate) in a single-session, online study. Pre- and post- intervention measures of face interpretation and SAD were completed. In line with hypotheses, individuals in the positive condition interpreted faces more positively at post-test compared to baseline, and individuals in the negative condition interpreted faces more negatively at post-test compared to baseline. Participants in the accurate condition were significantly more accurate at post-test compared to baseline. Contrary to hypotheses, FIBM did not affect SAD symptoms. Results demonstrate that FIBM successfully shifted face interpretations but did not affect SAD symptoms. Furthermore, FIBM scores did not correlate with any social anxiety measures. This suggests either the current study may have been limited due to methodological factors or that the interpretation of faces may not be causally related to SAD and highlights the need for refinement of SAD cognitive models.

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