Attention allocation and social worries predict interpretations of peer-related social cues in adolescents.

ABSTRACT: Adolescence is a sensitive period for increases in normative but also debilitating social fears and worries. As the interpretation of interpersonal cues is pertinent to social anxiety, investigating mechanisms that may underlie biases in social cue appraisal is important. Fifty-one adolescents from the community aged 14-19 were presented with self- and other-relevant naturalistic social scenes for 5s and then required to rate either a negative or a positive interpretation of the scene. Eye-tracking data were collected during the free viewing period to index attentional deployment. Individual differences in social worries were measured via self-report. Social anxiety levels significantly predicted biases in interpretation ratings across scenes. Additionally, cumulative attentional deploymen

SUBMITTER: Haller SPW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5485637 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature