Supervisors info:
Ντιάνα (Αρχοντούλα) Χαρίλα, ΕΔΙΠ, Τμήμα Ψυχολογίας, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Βασιλική Νικολοπούλου, ΕΔΙΠ, Τμήμα Ψυχολογίας, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Φιλία Ίσαρη, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Ψυχολογίας, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Summary:
The purpose of the current study is to investigate at a single time point the relationship between children’s automatic thoughts and social anxiety from 5th and 6th grade in primary typical schools and 1st and 2nd grade in secondary typical schools. Specifically, this paper aims at the examination of the relationship between a) thoughts related to physical threat and negative evaluation b) thoughts related to physical threat and social avoidance, c) thoughts related to social threat and negative evaluation, d) thoughts related to social threat and social avoidance, e) thoughts related to personal failure and negative evaluation and f) thoughts related to personal failure and social avoidance, g) thoughts related to hostile intent and negative evaluation, h) thoughts related to hostile intent and social avoidance.
The sample was composed of 187 adolescents, 34,7% male and 62,6% female participants. Social anxiety was measured with the Social Anxiety Scale Revised, SASC-R, La Greca & Stone, 1993. (Greek edition: Vasilopoulos, 2009). Automatic thoughts where measured with the Children’s Automatic Thought Scale – CATS (Shniering & Rapee, 2002), (Translated by: Giannopoulou, I. Argalia, E., & Zafiropoulou, M). Also, a self - administered questionnaire for demographic characteristics was used. The results of this research showed the statistically significant positive relationship between negative thoughts related to social, physical threat, personal failure, hostile intent and negative evaluation and social avoidance.
These findings suggest the importance of investigating cognitive mechanisms which contribute to the social anxiety development and maintenance. Understanding the underline cognitive processes in social anxiety may better inform researchers working to enhance the efficacy of treatments for children and adolescents with social anxiety.
