Social anxiety disorder and memory for positive feedback

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is theorized to involve memory biases, often focusing on negative social recall.
• Existing research on memory biases in SAD has yielded inconsistent findings, particularly regarding negative information recall.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate potential biases in the recall of positive social feedback among individuals with SAD.
• To extend cognitive models of SAD by examining the processing of positive social information.

Main Methods:

• Participants included individuals with SAD (n=59) and nonanxious controls (n=63).
• Participants completed an unexpected public speaking task and received standardized positive or neutral feedback.
• Feedback recall was assessed after 5 minutes and after 1 week.

Main Results:

• At delayed recall (1 week), individuals with SAD recalled positive feedback as less positive than its actual valence.
• No significant difference was observed in immediate recall (5 minutes).

Conclusions:

• The findings support cognitive models of SAD by demonstrating a bias in the recall of positive social information.
• Further research is necessary to elucidate the mechanisms behind this 'fading positivity' in SAD.