Social anxiety compared to depression better accounts for enhanced acquisition of self-reported anxiety toward faces paired with negative evaluation in a conditioning task

Previous studies have shown that social anxiety was associated with enhanced acquisition of anxiety as measured by subjective ratings in conditioning tasks using faces as the conditioned stimulus and negative evaluation as the unconditioned stimulus. However, a recent study failed to replicate the effect. The current study re-examined the enhanced acquisition effect with a larger sample, explored whether differences in expectancy of negative evaluation was a potential mechanism, and compared the contribution of social anxiety to that of depression on enhanced acquisition. Two hundred and sixty-three unselected participants took part in a differential conditioning task in which three faces each were paired with hostile, neutral, and friendly reaction during acquisition, and all three were paired with neutral reaction during extinction. Results replicated earlier findings that participant social anxiety was associated with enhanced acquisition of anxiety. Socially anxious participants did not show higher expectancy of hostile reaction during acquisition, which suggested the need to consider alternative mechanisms underlying enhanced acquisition. Depression was also associated with enhanced acquisition; however, that association was accounted for by social anxiety. The effect of social anxiety was significant over and above depression, which supported its diagnostic validity.