(PS2-B31) Momentary Social Anxiety, Social Interaction, and Positive Affect: A Network Perspective

Longitudinal network analysis can be used as a tool in mental health disorders research in order to evaluate the interaction between symptoms and direction of symptoms over time (Fried et al., 2017). Understanding the interactions of social anxiety symptoms, social interaction, and positive affect may be important because the relationship between these core mechanisms may lead to the maintenance of social anxiety disorder. In some studies, individuals with social anxiety experience increased positive affect following social interaction (Goodman et al., 2021; Hur et al., 2020) while others find diminished positive affect following social interaction (Geyer et al., 2018). Additionally, these studies are limited because they do not include momentary social anxiety symptoms. In the current study, we examined the relationship among the above variables using a longitudinal network analysis.

Undergraduates with elevated self-reported baseline social anxiety symptoms (n = 91) completed ecological momentary assessment surveys 5 times a day (9:00 am, 12:00 pm, 3:00 pm, 6:00 pm, and 9:00 pm) over the course of 14 consecutive days (total of 70 timepoints collected). We chose to focus our model on self-reported anxiety symptoms (felt worried, sought reassurance), social behavior (social interaction, avoided people), positive affect (felt positive), and depressive symptoms (dwelled on the past, loss of pleasure).

Results of the contemporaneous network showed that social interaction was positively associated with both positive affect and anxiety (sought reassurance). Our temporal network revealed that social interaction did not predict positive affect or anxiety (sought reassurance) at the next timepoint. However, avoiding people predicted lower positive affect at the next timepoint.

Findings from both networks highlight the limited effect of social interaction on positive affect as a potential mechanism for the maintenance of social anxiety.