Exclusion Memories in Social Anxiety

Background: The impact of exclusion (affiliation-loss) events is theorized to be painful and personally meaningful, especially in social anxiety. However, specific data on the impact of autobiographical exclusion events in social anxiety is scarce. To fill this gap, we conducted two studies. Methods: Participants (Study 1: N = 246; Study 2: N = 273), including varying levels of subclinical social anxiety, recalled exclusion events. The participants reported several indices of the events’ impact: emotional intensity, post-traumatic distress, the centrality of the exclusion event in the person’s life story, and cognitions concerning perceived affiliation and status following the event (Study 2). Results: We hypothesized and found that social anxiety relates to enhanced post-traumatic distress, controlling for depressive symptoms and events’ centrality. Based on the dual sensitivity to affiliation and status in social anxiety (Gilboa-Schechtman, et al., 2024), we predicted that the association of social anxiety with post-traumatic distress will be mediated by affiliation and status-related cognitions. We found that status-, but not affiliation-related cognitions, mediate the impact of social anxiety on post-traumatic distress. Conclusions: Exclusion events appear to be linked to heightened post-event distress, particularly among individuals with high social anxiety. Event centrality and status sensitivity may partially explain this association, pointing to potential directions for future research and therapeutic exploration.