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Updated: Jul 6, 2026

Reducing State Anxiety Using Working Memory Maintenance
Published on: July 19, 2017
Negative self-focused cognitions mediate the effect of trait social anxiety on state anxiety
Stefan M Schulz1, Georg W Alpers, Stefan G Hofmann
1Department of Psychology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215-2002, USA.
Abstract:
The cognitive model of social anxiety predicts that negative self-focused cognitions increase anxiety when anticipating social threat. To test this prediction, 36 individuals were asked to anticipate and perform a public-speaking task. During anticipation, negative self-focused cognitions or relaxation were experimentally induced while self-reported anxiety, autonomic arousal (heart rate, heart rate variability, skin conductance level), and acoustic eye-blink startle response were assessed. As predicted, negative self-focused cognitions mediated the effects of trait social anxiety on self-reported anxiety and heart rate variability during negative anticipation. Furthermore, trait social anxiety predicted increased startle amplitudes. These findings support a central assumption of the cognitive model of social anxiety.
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