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Department of Psychology, Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences, Bu-ali-Sina University, Hamadan, Iran. , yarmohamadivasel@basu.ac.ir
Abstract: (325 Views)
Background: Some studies have suggested cognitive factors for the etiology of social anxiety disorder. On the other hand, attention bias plays an important role in theoretical models of anxiety. Although some studies have confirmed the role of attention bias on social anxiety, no research has been conducted so far on the process of the effect of the attention bias mechanism on social anxiety and mediating variables (Negtive future thinking and Responsibility for Negative Thoughts).
Aims: The aim of this study was to develop a structural model of social anxiety based on attention bias mediated by negtive future thinking and Responsibility for negative thoughts in students.
Methods: The method of this research was correlational and structural equation modeling. The statistical population of the research included all undergraduate students at the University of Kurdistan in the academic year 2023-2024. The statistical sample was selected based on the sample size determination method for the structural equation model, with a number of 371 people using the multistage cluster sampling method. The data collection tools in this study included Social Anxiety Questionnaire (Jerabek, 1996), attention bias Questionnaire (Woody et al., 1997), and researcher-made scales of negtive future thinking (Saifpanahy, 2023) and responsibility for negative thoughts scale (Saifpanahy, 2023). To analyze the data, structural equation modeling, path analysis, and Bootstrap methods were used in SPSS version 27 and Lisrel version 8.8 software.
Results: The results showed that the model developed in this study has a good fit with the data. The structural relationships of the model showed that attention bias has a direct and positive effect on negtive future thinking, responsibility for negative thoughts, and social anxiety (P<0.01). Negtive future thinking has a positive and significant relationship with responsibility for negative thoughts (P<0.01). Negtive future thinking and responsibility for negative thoughts also have a positive and significant relationship with social anxiety (P<0.01). Also, Negtive future thinking and responsibility for negative thoughts had a significant mediating role in the relationship between attention bias and social anxiety (P<0.01).
Conclusion: Considering the effect of attention bias on increasing negative thoughts and social anxiety, it is recommended to use methods to reduce attention bias and increase positive focus, such as mindfulness, for people with attention bias. It is also suggested that in order to reduce students' responsibility for negative thoughts, strategies should be taught to accept these thoughts and reduce their avoidance.
Aims: The aim of this study was to develop a structural model of social anxiety based on attention bias mediated by negtive future thinking and Responsibility for negative thoughts in students.
Methods: The method of this research was correlational and structural equation modeling. The statistical population of the research included all undergraduate students at the University of Kurdistan in the academic year 2023-2024. The statistical sample was selected based on the sample size determination method for the structural equation model, with a number of 371 people using the multistage cluster sampling method. The data collection tools in this study included Social Anxiety Questionnaire (Jerabek, 1996), attention bias Questionnaire (Woody et al., 1997), and researcher-made scales of negtive future thinking (Saifpanahy, 2023) and responsibility for negative thoughts scale (Saifpanahy, 2023). To analyze the data, structural equation modeling, path analysis, and Bootstrap methods were used in SPSS version 27 and Lisrel version 8.8 software.
Results: The results showed that the model developed in this study has a good fit with the data. The structural relationships of the model showed that attention bias has a direct and positive effect on negtive future thinking, responsibility for negative thoughts, and social anxiety (P<0.01). Negtive future thinking has a positive and significant relationship with responsibility for negative thoughts (P<0.01). Negtive future thinking and responsibility for negative thoughts also have a positive and significant relationship with social anxiety (P<0.01). Also, Negtive future thinking and responsibility for negative thoughts had a significant mediating role in the relationship between attention bias and social anxiety (P<0.01).
Conclusion: Considering the effect of attention bias on increasing negative thoughts and social anxiety, it is recommended to use methods to reduce attention bias and increase positive focus, such as mindfulness, for people with attention bias. It is also suggested that in order to reduce students' responsibility for negative thoughts, strategies should be taught to accept these thoughts and reduce their avoidance.
Article number: 3
Keywords: social anxiety, attention bias, negtive future thinking, responsibility for negative thoughts, students.
Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Special
Received: 2025/10/20 | Accepted: 2026/08/22 | Published: 2026/10/23
Received: 2025/10/20 | Accepted: 2026/08/22 | Published: 2026/10/23
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This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License. |
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)