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The effect of face interpretation training on social anxiety symptoms
Grace L Wheeler1, Shari A Steinman2
1Department of Psychology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, United States.
Introduction:
According to cognitive models, individuals with social anxiety place excessive importance on gaging others' reactions to their social performance. This may lead to misinterpretation of facial expression. Facial interpretation bias modification (FIBM) was developed to shift interpretations of faces.
Methods:
The current study uses FIBM to test whether face interpretation is causally related to social anxiety symptoms in an unselected sample. Participants (N = 139) were randomized to 1 of 3 conditions (positive, negative, accurate) in a single-session, online study. Pre- and post-intervention measures of face interpretation and social anxiety were completed.
Results:
Individuals in the positive condition interpreted faces more positively at post-test compared to baseline, and individuals in the negative condition interpreted faces more negatively at post-test compared to baseline. Contrary to hypotheses, FIBM did not affect social anxiety symptoms.
Conclusion:
It is possible the interpretation of faces may not be related to social anxiety.
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