• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.152-159
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• 2004

Objective : The present study investigated the interpretation bias and expectation and judgemental bias of performance in socially anxious children. Method : Children with high social anxiety (n=18) and low social anxiety (n=16) were recruited through self-report and peer nomination, Participants performed three tasks to assess for cognitive bias. The first task measured interpretation of ambiguous social situations. The second task measured expectations regarding performance in a three minute impromptu speech. The third task assessed for judgemental bias via comparison between post-speech self rating and observer rating. Result : Children with high social anxiety did not differ significantly from low social anxiety children on the dependent measures assessing bias in interpretation, expectation and judgement. However, a significant difference was found in the judges' rating of children's performances on the speech task, with high social anxiety children obtaining significantly lower scores compared to low social anxiety children. Conclusion : The role of cognitive biases in the development and maintenance of social anxiety in children was discussed.