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Social anxiety and interpretation bias: examining clinical and subclinical components in adolescents
Author(s) -
Loscalzo Yura,
Giannini Marco,
Miers Anne C.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
child and adolescent mental health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.912
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1475-3588
pISSN - 1475-357X
DOI - 10.1111/camh.12221
Subject(s) - subclinical infection , social anxiety , psychology , anxiety , clinical psychology , interpretation (philosophy) , anxiety disorder , developmental psychology , psychiatry , medicine , computer science , programming language
Background This study aimed to examine whether different components of interpretation bias are clinical or dimensional features of adolescent social anxiety. The study analyzed the components of this bias at a subclinical level of Social Anxiety Disorder ( SAD ) and compared these with a clinical sample of adolescents with SAD . Method Adolescents in the age range 13–17 years participated. A group with SAD ( n = 30) was compared with a group with subclinical SAD ( n = 60), and a non‐socially anxious group ( n = 95). Results Negative interpretation bias for social situations was found to be a dimensional aspect of social anxiety. In contrast, belief in negative interpretations of social situations appears to be a clinical feature. Contrary to expectations, endorsement of positive interpretations did not differ between the three groups. Conclusions The results suggest that a screening instrument based on negative interpretations of social situations could be useful to detect adolescents at‐risk of developing SAD . In a clinical setting, the belief in negative interpretations and the presence of the bias in nonsocial situations should also be considered.