The Study of Mediating Effects of Self-Focused Attention and Social Self-Efficacy on Links between Social Anxiety and Judgment Biases

Since individuals with social anxiety disorder experience a high level of anxiety in social situations, and self efficacy in social situations is considered to determine social anxiety, the present study examines the relationship between social self-efficacy, self-focused attention, cognitive biases, and social anxiety. This is a cross-sectional comparative study. 830 high school students (429 girls and 401 boys) who were selected using random-cluster sampling method completed the following questionnaires: Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A), Probability/Cost Questionnaire for Children (PCQ-C), Focus of Attention Questionnaire (FAQ) and Self-efficacy for Social Situation Scale (SESS). Data were analyzed using correlation coefficient and regression analysis. There were significant correlations between social anxiety and social self-efficacy (p<0.001) and self-focused attention (p<0.001). In addition, social anxiety, social self-efficacy and self- focused attention had a significant relationship with the probability (p<0.001) and the outcome (p<0.001) of negative social events and the mediational model was ultimately confirmed. In other words social anxiety was related to social self-efficacy and self-focused attention and therefore with cognitive biases. Self-focused attention and measures of biased judgments are related to the control of social self-efficacy and social anxiety.