Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Individuals with social phobia often have specific concerns about how they sound, as well as how they look, in social situations. Additionally, clients with social phobia experience negative self-imagery during anxiety provoking social situations. Their negative self-imagery encompasses a range of modalities including auditory aspects of performance [Hackmann, A., Clark, D. M., & McManus, F. (2000). Recurrent images and early memories in social phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38, 601-610.]. Other research has shown that clients with social phobia underestimate their social performance, at least in part due to them basing their judgements on negative self-imagery [Hirsch, C. R., Clark, D. M., Mathews, A., & Williams, R. (2003). Self-images play a causal role in social phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 41, 901-921.]. This is the first study to assess underestimation of auditory performance in clients with social phobia and whether auditory feedback (adapted from video feedback) reduces this underestimation. Clients with social phobia and community controls recited a short story onto minidisk and then rated their performance. They then received auditory feedback. An assessor who was not informed about group allocation rated minidisk recordings of performance. Clients with social phobia rated their performance more negatively and underestimated auditory performance (in comparison to the assessor) to a greater extent than controls. Auditory feedback partially corrected this underestimation of auditory performance.

Original publication

DOI

10.1016/j.jbtep.2007.08.004

Type

Journal article

Journal

J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry

Publication Date

12/2007

Volume

38

Pages

447 - 458

Keywords

Acoustic Stimulation, Adult, Anxiety, Fear, Feedback, Psychological, Female, Humans, Imagination, Male, Phobic Disorders, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Self Concept, Surveys and Questionnaires, Voice