Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T17:15:01.241Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Targeting fear of positive evaluation in patients with social anxiety disorder via a brief cognitive behavioural therapy protocol: a proof-of-principle study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 August 2020

Justin W. Weeks ,
M. Taylor Wilmer ,
Carrie M. Potter ,
Elizabeth M. Waldron ,
Mark Versella ,
Simona C. Kaplan ,
Dane Jensen  and
Richard G. Heimberg
Justin W. Weeks*
Affiliation:
Nebraska Medicine, Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry, Omaha, NE68198-4185, USA
M. Taylor Wilmer
Affiliation:
Adult Anxiety Clinic of Temple, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Carrie M. Potter
Affiliation:
Adult Anxiety Clinic of Temple, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Elizabeth M. Waldron
Affiliation:
Adult Anxiety Clinic of Temple, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Mark Versella
Affiliation:
Adult Anxiety Clinic of Temple, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Simona C. Kaplan
Affiliation:
Adult Anxiety Clinic of Temple, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Dane Jensen
Affiliation:
Adult Anxiety Clinic of Temple, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Richard G. Heimberg
Affiliation:
Adult Anxiety Clinic of Temple, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background:

Our aim was to develop a brief cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) protocol to augment treatment for social anxiety disorder (SAD). This protocol focused specifically upon fear of positive evaluation (FPE). To our knowledge, this is the first protocol that has been designed to systematically target FPE.

Aims:

To test the feasibility of a brief (two-session) CBT protocol for FPE and report proof-of-principle data in the form of effect sizes.

Method:

Seven patients with a principal diagnosis of SAD were recruited to participate. Following a pre-treatment assessment, patients were randomized to either (a) an immediate CBT condition (n = 3), or (b) a comparable wait-list (WL) period (2 weeks; n = 4). Two WL patients also completed the CBT protocol following the WL period (delayed CBT condition). Patients completed follow-up assessments 1 week after completing the protocol.

Results:

A total of five patients completed the brief, FPE-specific CBT protocol (two of the seven patients were wait-listed only and did not complete delayed CBT). All five patients completed the protocol and provided 1-week follow-up data. CBT patients demonstrated large reductions in FPE-related concerns as well as overall social anxiety symptoms, whereas WL patients demonstrated an increase in FPE-related concerns.

Conclusions:

Our brief FPE-specific CBT protocol is feasible to use and was associated with large FPE-specific and social anxiety symptom reductions. To our knowledge, this is the first treatment report that has focused on systematic treatment of FPE in patients with SAD. Our protocol warrants further controlled evaluation.

Keywords

cognitive behavioural therapyfear of evaluationfear of positive evaluationsocial anxiety disordersocial phobia
Type
Brief Clinical Report
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 48 , Issue 6 , November 2020 , pp. 745 - 750
Copyright
© British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

a

M. Taylor Wilmer is now at Center for Anxiety and Behavioral Change, McLean, VA 22101, USA.

b

Carrie M. Potter is now at Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

c

Elizabeth M. Waldron is now at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.

d

Mark Versella is now at Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08901, USA.

e

Dane Jensen is now at Haverford College Counseling and Psychological Services, Haverford, PA 19041, USA.

References

Brown, T. A., & Barlow, D. H. (2014). Anxiety and Related Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-5 (ADIS-5L) Lifetime Version. New York, NY, USA: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Carleton, R. N., Collimore, K. C., Asmundson, G. J., McCabe, R. E., Rowa, K., & Antony, M. M. (2009). Refining and validating the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale and the Social Phobia Scale. Depression and Anxiety, 26, 71–81. doi: 10.1002/da.20480CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fergus, T. A., Valentiner, D. P., McGrath, P. B., Stephenson, K., Gier, S., & Jecius, S. (2009). The Fear of Positive Evaluation Scale: psychometric properties in a clinical sample. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 23, 1177–1183. doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2009.07.024CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reichenberger, J., & Blechert, J. (2018). Malaise with praise: a narrative review of 10 years of research on the concept of Fear of Positive Evaluation in social anxiety. Depression and Anxiety, 35, 1–11. doi: 10.1002/da.22808CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weeks, J. W. (2010). The Disqualification of Positive Social Outcomes Scale: a novel assessment of a long-recognized cognitive tendency in social anxiety disorder. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 24, 856–865. doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2010.06.008CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weeks, J. W., Heimberg, R. G., Rodebaugh, T. L., Goldin, P. R., & Gross, J. J. (2012). Psychometric evaluation of the Fear of Positive Evaluation Scale in patients with social anxiety disorder. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 24, 301–312. doi: 10.1037/a0025723Google ScholarPubMed
Weeks, J. W., & Zoccola, P. M. (2015). ‘Having the heart to be evaluated’: the differential effects of fears of positive and negative evaluation on emotional and cardiovascular responses to social threat. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 36, 115–126. doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2015.08.004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weeks, J. W., & Zoccola, P. M. (2016). Fears of positive versus negative evaluation: distinct and conjoint neuroendocrine, emotional, and cardiovascular responses to social threat. Journal of Experimental Psychopathology, 7, 632–654. doi: 10.5127/jep.056016CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Weeks et al. Supplementary Materials

Weeks et al. Supplementary Materials

Download Weeks et al. Supplementary Materials(File)
File 97.6 KB
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.