Positive interpretation bias protects against the development of social anxiety

Theoretical models of social anxiety suggest that distorted interpretation processes contribute to its development and maintenance, although the pathways through which this occurs are not well understood. Therefore, the present longitudinal study sought to determine whether negative interpretation bias, positive interpretation bias, and interpretation inflexibility (the degree to which participants correctly revise initial interpretations) predict changes in social anxiety over time. In an important advance over prior studies, individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) were accounted for, as WMC is thought to play a crucial role in the generation and maintenance of interpretation biases. Following a baseline assessment of social anxiety, interpretation biases, and WMC, participants completed follow-up assessments of social anxiety both 2 weeks (n = 106) and 4 weeks (n = 96) later. After controlling for baseline social anxiety and WMC, greater positive interpretation bias was found to predict lower social anxiety at both follow-ups. Neither negative interpretation bias nor interpretation inflexibility was significantly associated with follow-up social anxiety. These results provide support for greater positive interpretation bias as a facilitator of decreases in social anxiety and a potential target for clinical intervention.