Cognitive components of social anxiety.

Designed a self-report questionnaire to measure the frequency of occurrence of self-relevant cognitions that accompany the experience of social distress. Male and female college students were asked to recall an experience of social anxiety and to report associated cognitions. One hundred and seventeen representative cognitions were selected and administered to a second sample, along with the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale and the Social Avoidance and Distress Scale. Twenty-one items were selected on the basis of their ability to predict social anxiety. Factor-analysis indicated a four-factor solution. This new measure may provide a means of identifying cognitive targets for treatment planning as well as an instrument for assessing change in cognitions associated with psychotherapeutic intervention.