The Impact of Social Identities on the Presentation and Treatment of Social Anxiety Disorder

147 Pages·2016·1.18 MB·English

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Psychology Dissertations Department of Psychology
8-12-2016
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Suzanne Johnson
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Johnson, Suzanne, "The Impact of Social Identities on the Presentation and Treatment of Social Anxiety
Disorder." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2016.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/8678016
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THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL IDENTITIES ON THE PRESENTATION AND TREATMENT OF
SOCIAL ANXIETY DISORDER

by

SUZANNE JOHNSON

Under the Direction of Page Anderson, Ph.D.

ABSTRACT
The overall theme for this European-style dissertation is an examination of how social
identities are represented in treatment studies for social anxiety disorder and how fears of
confirming stereotypes about one’s social identities affect social anxiety disorder in the form of
stereotype confirmation concerns. In the first chapter, I introduce social anxiety disorder (SAD),
describe cognitive behavioral therapy for SAD, review recruitment strategies to increase the
representation of social minority groups in treatment research, discuss the importance of
accurately reporting the social identities represented in samples, describe the particular relevance
of stereotypes for social anxiety disorder, and provide a theoretically grounded rationale for the
ways in which stereotype confirmation concerns may impact the experience and treatment of
social anxiety disorder. For the second chapter, I present a study that examines the extent to
which the demographic characteristics of participants (e.g., age, gender) are reported in treatment
outcome research for social anxiety disorder. The findings from this study illuminate who
participates in clinical trials for social anxiety (and therefore, to whom they may apply), as well
as the infrequency with which some social identities are reported. Failure to report demographic
characteristics of participants treated for social anxiety disorder makes it impossible to determine
the external validity of the empirical literature. It also begs the question of whether we may be
failing to identify salient constructs related to the social identities of our participants that affect
our understanding of the social anxiety disorder and its treatment. The third and fourth chapters
present two papers on the effects of stereotype confirmation concerns on both the experience and
the treatment of social anxiety disorder. The final chapter describes how the series of studies
presented in this dissertation fits into research on social anxiety disorder, as well as directions for
future research.
INDEX WORDS: Social anxiety, Social identities, Culture, Treatment, Reporting standards
THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL IDENTITIES ON THE PRESENTATION AND TREATMENT OF
SOCIAL ANXIETY DISORDER

by

SUZANNE JOHNSON

A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
in the College of Arts and Sciences
Georgia State University
2016
Copyright by
Suzanne Johnson
2016
THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL IDENTITIES ON THE PRESENTATION AND TREATMENT OF
SOCIAL ANXIETY DISORDER

by

SUZANNE JOHNSON

Committee Chair: Page Anderson
Committee: Erin Tone
Wing Chan
Ciara Smalls-Glover

Electronic Version Approved:

Office of Graduate Studies
College of Arts and Sciences
Georgia State University
May 2016
iv

DEDICATION
Thank you to my pack of people who supported this endeavor. Also thank you to the
clinic diversity committee whose conversations about identities and cultural competency
enriched my graduate school training and the lens through which I view this work.
v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This collection of work would not have been possible with the support of my advisor,
Page Anderson and the encouragement of my committee. Thank you to the wonderful system of
people that contributed to each step of this process.
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................. v
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ x
LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... xi
1 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Social Anxiety ....................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Cognitive Behavioral Treatment for Social Anxiety Disorder ......................... 1
1.3 Recruiting to Achieve Diverse Samples in Treatment Research ..................... 3
1.4 Effective Generalizability Depends on Accurate Reporting: How Are We
Doing? 4
1.5 The Importance of Social Identities .................................................................... 6
1.5.1 Multidimensional Model of Racial Identity ................................................... 7
1.6 Effects of Stereotypes ........................................................................................... 8
1.6.1 Stereotype Threat ............................................................................................ 9
1.7 Stereotype Confirmation Concerns .................................................................. 13
1.7.1 Stereotype Confirmation Concerns: Taking an Intersectionality Perspective
on the Experience of Stereotypes ......................................................................................... 14
1.7.2 The Current Model of Social Anxiety .......................................................... 16
1.8 Incorporating Social Identities into the Current Model of Social Anxiety
Disorder 17
vii
1.8.1 Step 1: Perceived Audience .......................................................................... 17
1.8.2 Step 2: Mental Representation of the Self as Seen by the Audience .......... 18
1.8.3 Step 3: Comparison of Image of Self with Expected Standards of the
Audience 20
1.8.4 Step 4: Estimation of the Likelihood and Consequences of Negative
Evaluation 21
1.9 The Potential Impact of Stereotype Confirmation Concerns......................... 22
2 FIRST ARTICLE...................................................................................................... 24
2.1 Abstract ............................................................................................................... 24
2.2 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 25
2.3 Methods ............................................................................................................... 28
2.3.1 Article Collection .......................................................................................... 28
2.3.2 Coding ........................................................................................................... 28
2.3.3 Measures ....................................................................................................... 29
2.3.4 Data analytic plan ......................................................................................... 30
2.4 Results ................................................................................................................. 31
2.5 Discussion ............................................................................................................ 32
2.6 Limitations .......................................................................................................... 35
2.7 Final Conclusions ............................................................................................... 35
2.8 References ........................................................................................................... 36