Cognition and the maintenance of social anxiety disorder: A correlational study

Abstract

Background:Beliefs that are negatively biased, inaccurate, and rigid are thought to play a key role in the mood and anxiety disorders. Social anxiety disorder involves the fear of social situations, including situations that involve scrutiny or contact with strangers. Anxiety is maintained in part by estimates of the probability and cost of feared negative outcomes. Social phobia may be unique among the anxiety disorders in that it is characterized by overestimates of the cost of events that are objectively non-catastrophic. Objective: The current study was conducted to study the role of cost and probability of feared negative outcomes in. Sample: 50 students with a mean age of 21 years constituted the sample for the study. Tools: Data were collected usingOutcome Probability and Cost Questionnaire (Uren, Szabó, & Lovibond, 2004) and Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (Liebowitz, 1987). Results: Results pointed to a positive correlation between cost and probability of feared negative outcomes and social anxiety. Conclusion: The present study was undertaken in order to investigate the relationship between cost and probability of feared negative outcomes with social anxiety, it can be concluded that there is a significant positive relationship between cost, probability of feared negative outcomes, avoidance of social situations and social anxiety.