Elsevier

Behavior Therapy

Volume 32, Issue 1, Winter 2001, Pages 185-207
Behavior Therapy

Review Article
The relation between anxiety and skill in performance-based anxiety disorders: A behavioral formulation of social phobia

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0005-7894(01)80052-6Get rights and content

Anxiety-related responding and skill deficits have historically been associated with performance-based anxiety disorders such as social phobia. Prominent cognitive-behavioral models of social phobia have typically deemphasized skill deficits and focused more on the effects of negative cognition on social performance. Considering that empirical accounts of the relation between social skill and social performance are generally modest, the impact of skill deficits on the development and maintenance of performance inadequacies may be relatively neglected in theoretical paradigms in this area. A second problem that has plagued social skill research is the misuse of the term skill deficit as a synonym for performance deficit. In response to these issues, we utilize the multilevel framework of psychological behaviorism to offer a more parsimonious account of the relation between anxiety and skill in social phobia. We argue that this integrated model assimilates contemporary accounts of social phobia and uniquely expands upon them by delineating the unique and cumulative effects of skill and anxiety on social performance. We further suggest that this model resolves existing theoretical incompatibilities, facilitates improved patient-treatment matching, and shows promise as a guiding framework for empirical research.

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