Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Trait and Daily Emotion Regulation in Social Anxiety Disorder

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Cognitive Therapy and Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Emotion regulation strategies vary widely in use and effectiveness across psychological diagnostic categories. However, little data exists on (1) the use of these strategies in social anxiety disorder (SAD), and (2) how trait measures compare with actual daily use of emotion regulation strategies. We collected trait and daily assessments of emotion suppression, cognitive reappraisal, and positive and negative emotions from 40 adults with SAD and 39 matched healthy controls. Participants with SAD reported greater trait suppression and less cognitive reappraisal than healthy controls, and exhibited this same pattern of emotion regulation in daily life. Participants overall reported worse emotional experiences when suppressing positive (vs. negative) emotions, and better emotional experiences when reappraising to feel more positive (vs. less negative) emotions. However, SAD participants exhibited greater benefits (specifically increased positive emotions) from reappraising to feel less negative than healthy controls. These findings highlight the importance of positive emotion regulation strategies, particularly for individuals with SAD.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aldao, A. (2013). The future of emotion regulation research capturing context. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 8(2), 155–172.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Aldao, A., Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Schweizer, S. (2010). Emotion-regulation strategies across psychopathology: A meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 30(2), 217–237.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Alden, L. E., Taylor, C. T., Mellings, T. M., & Laposa, J. M. (2008). Social anxiety and the interpretation of positive social events. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 22(4), 577–590.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bar-Haim, Y., Lamy, D., Pergamin, L., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & Van Ijzendoorn, M. H. (2007). Threat-related attentional bias in anxious and nonanxious individuals: a meta-analytic study. Psychological Bulletin, 133(1), 1–24.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett, L. F. (1998). Discrete emotions or dimensions? The role of valence focus and arousal focus. Cognition and Emotion, 12, 579–599.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, T. A., Chorpita, B. F., & Barlow, D. H. (1998). Structural relationships among dimensions of the DSM-IV anxiety and mood disorders and dimensions of negative affect, positive affect, and autonomic arousal. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 107(2), 179–192.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell-Sills, L., & Barlow, D. H. (2007). Incorporating emotion regulation into conceptualizations and treatments of anxiety and mood disorders. In J. J. Gross (Ed.), Handbook of emotion regulation (pp. 542–559). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Di Nardo, P. A., Brown, T. A., & Barlow, D. H. (1994). Anxiety disorders interview schedule for DSM–IV: Lifetime version (ADIS-IV-L). San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Etkin, A., & Wager, T. D. (2007). Functional neuroimaging of anxiety: A meta-analysis of emotional processing in PTSD, social anxiety disorder, and specific phobia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 10, 1476–1488.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farmer, A. S., & Kashdan, T. B. (2012). Social anxiety and emotion regulation in daily life: Spillover effects on positive and negative social events. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 41(2), 152–162.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Farmer, A. S., & Kashdan, T. B. (2013). Affective and self-esteem instability in the daily lives of people with social anxiety disorder. Clinical Psychological Science, 2, 187–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • First, M. B., Spitzer, R. L., Gibbon, M., & Williams, J. B. W. (2002). Structured clinical interview for DSM-IV-TR Axis I disorders, research version, non-patient edition (SCID-I/NP). New York: Biometrics Research, New York State Psychiatric Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fitzmaurice, G. M., Laird, N. M., & Ware, J. H. (2004). Applied longitudinal analysis. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fleeson, W. (2001). Toward a structure-and process-integrated view of personality: Traits as density distributions of states. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80(6), 1011–1027.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fleeson, W. (2004). Moving personality beyond the person-situation debate the challenge and the opportunity of within-person variability. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 13(2), 83–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foa, E. B., Franklin, M. E., Perry, K. J., & Herbert, J. D. (1996). Cognitive biases in generalized social phobia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 105(3), 433–439.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gilboa-Schechtman, E., Foa, E. B., & Amir, N. (1999). Attentional biases for facial expressions in social phobia: The face-in-the-crowd paradigm. Cognition and Emotion, 13(3), 305–318.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldin, P. R., Manber, T., Hakimi, S., Canli, T., & Gross, J. J. (2009a). Neural bases of social anxiety disorder: Emotional reactivity and cognitive regulation during social and physical threat. Archives of General Psychiatry, 66(2), 170–180.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Goldin, P. R., Manber-Ball, T., Werner, K., Heimberg, R., & Gross, J. J. (2009b). Neural mechanisms of cognitive reappraisal of negative self-beliefs in social anxiety disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 66(12), 1091–1099.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gratz, K. L., & Roemer, L. (2004). Multidimensional assessment of emotion regulation and dysregulation: Development, factor structure, and initial validation of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 26(1), 41–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gross, J. J. (1998). The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review. Review of General Psychology, 2(3), 271–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gross, J. J., & Jazaieri, H. (2014). Emotion, emotion regulation, and psychopathology: An affective science perspective. Clinical Psychological Science, 2(4), 387–401.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gross, J. J., & John, O. P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 348–362.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Herbert, J. D., & Cardaciotto, L. (2005). A mindfulness-based perspective on social anxiety disorder. In S. M. Orsillo & L. Roemer (Eds.), Acceptance and mindfulness-based approaches to anxiety: Conceptualization and treatment (pp. 189–212). New York: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hermann, C., Ofer, J., & Flor, H. (2004). Covariation bias for ambiguous social stimuli in generalized social phobia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 113, 646–653.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hofmann, S. G. (2004). Cognitive mediation of treatment change in social phobia. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72, 393–399.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hofmann, S. G. (2007). Cognitive factors that maintain social anxiety disorder: A comprehensive model and its treatment implications. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 36, 195–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hofmann, S. G., Sawyer, A. T., Fang, A., & Asnaani, A. (2012). Emotion dysregulation model of mood and anxiety disorders. Depression and Anxiety, 29, 409–416.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Joseph, S., & Linley, P. A. (2005). Positive adjustment to threatening events: An organismic valuing theory of growth through adversity. Review of General Psychology, 9(3), 262–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kashdan, T. B. (2007). Social anxiety spectrum and diminished positive experiences: Theoretical synthesis and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 27(3), 348–365.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kashdan, T. B., Farmer, A. S., Adams, L. M., Ferssizidis, P., McKnight, P. E., & Nezlek, J. B. (2013). Distinguishing healthy adults from people with social anxiety disorder: Evidence for the value of experiential avoidance and positive emotions in everyday social interactions. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 122(3), 645–655.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kashdan, T. B., & McKnight, P. E. (2013). Commitment to a purpose in life: An antidote to the suffering by individuals with social anxiety disorder. Emotion, 13, 1150–1159.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kashdan, T. B., & Steger, M. F. (2006). Expanding the topography of social anxiety an experience-sampling assessment of positive emotions, positive events, and emotion suppression. Psychological Science, 17(2), 120–128.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kashdan, T. B., Weeks, J. W., & Savostyanova, A. A. (2011). Whether, how, and when social anxiety shapes positive experiences and events: A self-regulatory framework and treatment implications. Clinical Psychology Review, 31(5), 786–799.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kashdan, T.B., Young, K.C., & Machell, K.A. (in press). Positive emotion regulation: Addressing two myths. Current Opinion in Psychology.

  • Kessler, R. C., Berglund, P., Demler, O., Jin, R., Merikangas, K. R., & Walters, E. E. (2005). Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the national comorbidity survey replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62(6), 593–602.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Machell, K. A., Blalock, D. V., Kashdan, T. B., & Yuen, M. (2016). Academic achievement at the cost of ambition: The mixed results of a supportive, interactive environment on socially anxious teenagers. Personality and Individual Differences, 89, 166–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mischel, W. (1968). Personality and assessment. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morrison, A. S., & Heimberg, R. G. (2013). Social anxiety and social anxiety disorder. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 9, 249–274.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moscovitch, D. A. (2009). What is the core fear in social phobia? A new model to facilitate individualized case conceptualization and treatment. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 16(2), 123–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nezlek, J. B. (2007). A multilevel framework for understanding relationships among traits, states, situations and behaviours. European Journal of Personality, 21, 789–810.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nezlek, J. B., & Kuppens, P. (2008). Regulating positive and negative emotions in daily life. Journal of Personality, 76(3), 561–579.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pond, R. S., Kashdan, T. B., Dewall, C. N., Savostyanova, A., Lambert, N. M., & Fincham, F. D. (2012). Emotion differentiation moderates aggressive tendencies in angry people: A daily diary analysis. Emotion, 12(2), 326–337.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rapee, R. M., & Heimberg, R. G. (1997). A cognitive-behavioral model of anxiety in social phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 35(8), 741–756.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Raudenbush, S. W., & Bryk, A. S. (2002). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raudenbush, S. W., Bryk, A. S., Cheong, Y. F., & Congdon, R. T. (2004). HLM 6: Hierarchical linear and nonlinear modeling. Lincolnwood: Scientific Software International Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reis, H. T., & Gable, S. L. (2000). Event-sampling methods. In H. T. Reis & C. Judd (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in social psychology (pp. 190–222). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, M. D., & Clore, G. L. (2002). Belief and feeling: evidence for an accessibility model of emotional self-report. Psychological Bulletin, 128(6), 934–960.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schneier, F. R., Heckelman, L. R., Garfinkel, R., Campeas, R., Fallon, B. A., Gitow, A., & Liebowitz, M. R. (1994). Functional impairment in social phobia. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 55, 322–331.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Snijders, T. A. B., & Bosker, R. J. (1994). Modeled variance in two-level models. Sociological Methods & Research, 22(3), 342–363.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, C. T., Bomyea, J., & Amir, N. (2010). Attentional bias away from positive social information mediates the link between social anxiety and anxiety vulnerability to a social stressor. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 24(4), 403–408.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Turk, C. L., Heimberg, R. G., Luterek, J. A., Mennin, D. S., & Fresco, D. M. (2005). Emotion dysregulation in generalized anxiety disorder: A comparison with social anxiety disorder. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 29, 89–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, D., & Clark, L. A. (1994). The PANAS-X: Manual for the positive and negative affect schedule—expanded form. Iowa: University of Iowa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson, D., & Friend, R. (1969). Measurement of social-evaluative anxiety. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 33(4), 448.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weeks, J. W., Heimberg, R. G., Rodebaugh, T. L., & Norton, P. J. (2008). Exploring the relationship between fear of positive evaluation and social anxiety. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 22, 386–400.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weeks, J. W., & Howell, A. N. (2012). The bivalent ear of evaluation model of social anxiety: Further integrating findings on fears of positive and negative evaluation. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 41(2), 83–95.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Werner, K. H., Goldin, P. R., Ball, T. M., Heimberg, R. G., & Gross, J. J. (2011). Assessing emotion regulation in social anxiety disorder: The emotion regulation interview. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 33(3), 346–354.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Werner, K. W., & Gross, J. J. (2009). Emotion regulation and psychopathology: A conceptual framework. In A. Kring & D. Sloan (Eds.), Emotion regulation and psychopathology. New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, T. D., & Gilbert, D. T. (2003). Affective forecasting. In M. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 35, pp. 345–411). San Diego, CA: Elsevier Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zanarini, M. C., Skodol, A. E., Bender, D., Dolan, R., Sanislow, C., Schaefer, E., & Gunderson, J. G. (2000). The collaborative longitudinal personality disorders study: Reliability of Axis I and II diagnoses. Journal of Personality Disorders, 14(4), 291–299.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (R21-MH073937) and the George Mason University Center for the Advancement of Well-Being to TBK.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, MS 3F5, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA

    Dan V. Blalock & Todd B. Kashdan

  2. Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, VA, USA

    Antonina S. Farmer

Authors
  1. Dan V. Blalock
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Todd B. Kashdan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Antonina S. Farmer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Dan V. Blalock or Todd B. Kashdan.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

Dan V. Blalock, Todd B. Kashdan and Antonina S. Farmer declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Animal Rights

No animal studies were carried out by the authors for this article.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Blalock, D.V., Kashdan, T.B. & Farmer, A.S. Trait and Daily Emotion Regulation in Social Anxiety Disorder. Cogn Ther Res 40, 416–425 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-015-9739-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-015-9739-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation