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ObjectivesThe researchers investigated the relation between mindfulness and social anxiety symptoms, and examined whether this relation is mediated by cognitive appraisals commonly associated with social anxiety. Participants Ninety‐eight individuals diagnosed with social phobia. Design Using a cross‐sectional design, ordinary least squares regression and bootstrapping mediation analyses were used to test the study hypotheses. Results Mindfulness was negatively related to symptoms of social anxiety. This relation was partially mediated by cognitive appraisals about the likelihood and cost of a negative social outcome. Conclusion Further research using a longitudinal design and other measures of mindfulness is needed to replicate these findings and further explicate the mechanism by which mindfulness might be associated with negative cognitive appraisals.

The present study examined whether pretreatment mindfulness exerts an indirect effect on outcomes following cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Cognitive processes of probability and cost bias (i.e., overestimations of the likelihood that negative social events will occur, and that these events will have negative consequences when they do occur) were explored as potential mediators of the relation between mindfulness and social anxiety symptom change. People with higher levels of mindfulness may be better able to benefit from treatments that reduce biases because mindfulness may aid in regulation of attention. Sixty-seven individuals with a primary diagnosis of social phobia identifying public speaking as their greatest fear received eight sessions of one of two types of exposure-based CBT delivered according to treatment manuals. Participants completed self-report measures of mindfulness, probability bias, cost bias, and social anxiety symptoms. Mediation hypotheses were assessed by a bootstrapped regression using treatment outcome data. Pretreatment mindfulness was not related to change in social anxiety symptoms from pre- to posttreatment. However, mindfulness had an indirect effect on treatment outcome via its association with probability bias, but not cost bias, at midtreatment. These findings were consistent across three metrics of social anxiety symptoms. Mindfulness may play a role in response to CBT among individuals with social phobia through its relation with probability bias--even when the treatment does not target mindfulness.

OBJECTIVES:This study examined the relation between mindfulness and fear of negative evaluation over the course of nonmindfulness based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for social anxiety disorder (SAD). We expected that higher levels of mindfulness would be associated with a more positive response to treatment. METHOD: This study is a secondary report from a randomized controlled trial in which participants (N = 65) diagnosed with SAD were randomly assigned to receive 8 weeks of 1 of 2 manualized treatments (exposure group therapy, n = 33; or virtual reality exposure therapy, n = 32) either immediately or following an 8 week waiting period. RESULTS: Fear of negative evaluation decreased following treatment and was negatively related to mindfulness throughout treatment and follow-up. Mindfulness did not moderate treatment outcome. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that while mindfulness is related to fear, it is not a moderator of symptom reduction in nonmindfulness-based treatment. Implications for treatment and future research are discussed.