Do interpersonal features of social anxiety influence the development of depressive symptoms?

Abstract

This study is a prospective examination of possible interpersonal features of social anxiety that might predict increases in depressive symptoms. It was hypothesised that social anxiety would be associated with avoidance of expressing emotion, lack of assertion, and interpersonal dependency and that these dysfunctional interpersonal styles would predict depressive symptoms one year later while controlling for Time 1 depressive symptoms. One hundred and two undergraduates completed interview and self-report measures of these interpersonal styles in addition to measures of social anxiety and depressive symptoms. Results indicated that social anxiety was associated with all three interpersonal styles. However, only avoidance of expressing emotions predicted Time 2 depressive symptoms. Theoretical implications of these results are discussed.

Portions of these data were presented at the 2004 meeting of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy, New Orleans.

Portions of these data were presented at the 2004 meeting of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy, New Orleans.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Carline Bigord, Myrla Gibbons Doxey, Lynda Maskasky, and Joy Parish for their assistance with interviewing and coding, Karen Kuba, Rhainnon Rager, and Michele Soon Tzan Tan for their assistance with data management, and the UB students who generously gave their time to participate in this project.

Notes

Portions of these data were presented at the 2004 meeting of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy, New Orleans.

¹Some researchers have argued that the social phobia subscale of the SPAI is a better indicator of social anxiety symptoms compared to the difference subscale (Herbert, Bellack, & Hope, 1991; Herbert, Bellack, Hope, & Mueser, 1992). Thus, all analyses were repeated without subtracting the agoraphobia subscale from the social phobia subscale. No differences emerged in the pattern of the analyses, and so only those that used the difference subscale were reported in the present study.