Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 29, 2025

Comparing Eye-tracking Data of Children with High-functioning ASD, Comorbid ADHD, and of a Control Watching Social Videos
Published on: December 7, 2018
Socioeconomic status and social anxiety: attentional control as a key missing variable?
Nele Claes1, A Smeding1, A Carré1
1Univ. Savoie Mont Blanc, Univ Grenoble Alpes, Chambéry, France.
Background And Objectives:
The aim was to examine the role of attentional control as a psychological factor involved in socioeconomic status-related mental health differences, and specifically in social anxiety. Based on the literature on socioeconomic status differences in cognitive abilities and attentional control theory, we hypothesized that attentional control would account for the relation between socioeconomic status and social anxiety. We tested this hypothesis in an integrative model also including trait anxiety and subjective socioeconomic status.
Design:
Cross-sectional.
Method:
Online, 439 French adults were recruited via social media. They completed self-reported measures of attentional control, objective socioeconomic status, subjective socioeconomic status, social anxiety, and trait anxiety.
Results:
Using Structural Equation Modelling, findings showed a positive association between objective (but not subjective) socioeconomic status and attentional control, which in turn was related to social anxiety. Exploratory analyses showed that only income, as objective socioeconomic status indicator, was associated with attentional control.
Conclusions:
The current study is the first to support that low socioeconomic status individuals report less attentional control and more social anxiety symptoms. This suggests that attentional control is a psychological factor involved in social anxiety inequalities.
Related Concept Videos
Social Anxiety Disorder
Autism Spectrum Disorder
These core symptoms manifest differently among individuals, ranging from mild to severe. The disorder's complexity extends beyond its clinical presentation, encompassing a diverse range of biological, cognitive, and sociocultural influences.
Self-Presentation: Self-Monitoring and Self-Handicapping
Social Cognitive Perspective on Personality
Anxiety: Overview
Individuals with anxiety often experience a range of physical and emotional symptoms, including sweating, trembling, tachycardia, and disturbances in sleep patterns. These symptoms vary in intensity and frequency but are generally disruptive and distressing.
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Diagnostic Criteria and Symptoms
To diagnose ADHD, symptoms must manifest before age 12 and be evident across multiple settings....

