P An Examination of the Unique Contributions of Social Anxiety In Predicting Maintenance Factors in Romantic Relationships Christian M. Hahn, M.Sc.; & Lorne J. Campbell, PhD. The University of Western Ontario BACKGROUND METHOD RESULTS Social anxiety is characterized by fear and avoidance of social situations and is associated with pronounced difficulties in interpersonal functioning and, subsequently, relationship maintenance (Clark & Wells, 1995; Schneider et al., 2002; Sparrevohn & Rapee, 2009). individuals with high levels of social anxiety are less likely to marry and are more likely to divorce than are their non-anxious counterparts, (Davidson, Hughes, George, & Blazer, 1994; Lampe, Slade, Issakidis, & Andrews, 2003; Wittchen et al., 2000). Relatively little is known about the way that social anxiety impacts the specific factors that maintain romantic relationships Social anxiety is associated with a unique, self-protective style of communication, deficits in relationship maintenance behaviours, and distorted perceptions of available social support Relationship satisfaction, trust, commitment, and support, are all key processes in romantic relationships These processes are driven largely by stable interpersonal dynamics and prosocial perceptions of one’s partner (Amato, Booth, Johnson, & Rogers, 2007; Rempel, Ross, & Holmes, 2001; Rhoades, Stanley, & Markman, 2010). The association between social anxiety and relationship satisfaction is unclear, with past research finding mixed results; perhaps due to variance in employed methodology and insufficient statistical power Social anxiety has been elsewhere demonstrated to be a robust predictor of perceived partner social support The associations between dyadic trust and commitment, and social anxiety have not been investigated in prior research Dyadic trust is associated with optimism, assumptions of the benevolence of others, and expectations of prosocial behaviours (Rempel, Ross, & Holmes, 2001) Commitment is linked with the availability of attractive alternatives and with strong social communication Social anxiety disorder is highly comorbid with major depressive disorder and has a similar expression of illness Depression is also associated with pronounced difficulties in romantic relationships It is important to consider the effects of depression when studying the influence of social anxiety on romantic relationship functioning P PARTICIPANTS Power analysis using G*Power 3.1 indicated that a sample of 257 participants was required to achieve 90% statistical power for a regression model with two predictors The final sample included N = 254 adult participants (Mage = 36.37 years, SD = 11.11; 49.5% male) recruited via Amazon’s Mechanical TURK (MTURK) All participants were involved in a monogamous romantic relationship at the time of participation (Mrelationship length = 8.95 years [SD = 8.88; Median = 5.71]) Participants were required to have a 95% job approval rate on MTURK PROCEDURE Prior to data collection, this study was pre-registered on the open science framework (OSF) Participants remotely completed a series of questionnaires hosted on the online survey platform Qualtrics Attention checks were embedded within the survey and inattentive participants were flagged for removal from data analysis MEASURES Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS: Mattick & Clarke, 1998) Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS; Hendrick, Dicke, & Hendrick, 1998) Dyadic Trust Scale (DTS; Larzelere & Huston, 1980) The Interpersonal Support Evaluation List – General Population (ISEL; Cohen & Hoberman, 1983; Cohen, Mermelstein, Kamarck, & Hoberman, 1985) Commitment Scale – 15 Item Version(Rusbult, Kumashiro, Kubacka, & Finkel, 2009) Zung Self-report Depression Scale (SDS; Zung, 1965) DATA ANALYTIC STRATEGY Multiple regression analyses will be run to predict each of relationship satisfaction (total score, RAS), commitment (total score, 15-item Commitment Scale), trust (average score, Dyadic Trust Scale, and support (total score, ISEL), from social anxiety (total score, SIAS). In instances of a significant first order associations a subsequent hierarchical regression analysis will be run in which the DV remains the same but is entered as the level 1 predictor and social anxiety as the level 2 predictor for each model at level 1 the DV will be regressed onto participant depression, and at level 2, the DV will be regressed onto participant social anxiety Interaction terms between social anxiety and depression are not part of this analytic strategy First order regression analyses Social anxiety was found to be a unique predictor of relationship satisfaction, dyadic trust, social support, and commitment Criterion B F R2 Relationship Satisfaction -.121 30.335*** .101 Social Support -.854 106.357*** .303 Commitment -.033 13.476*** .231 Trust -.257  43.562*** .139 Hierarchical regression analyses Social anxiety was found to be a unique predictor of relationship satisfaction, dyadic trust, and social support The association between social anxiety and commitment was no longer significant when depression was included in the model Criterion (Model) Variables entered B Beta t R2 change F change Adjusted R2 Relationship Satisfaction (1) Depression -.277 -.390 -6.741*** .152 45.444*** .149 (2) Depression -.213 -.301 -4.117*** .013 3.941* .159 (2) Social Anxiety -.056 -.145 -1.985* Social Support -1.730 -.626 -11.914*** .380 141.942*** .293 -1.217 -.434 -6.958*** .056 23.120*** .319 -.466 -.300 -4.808** Commitment -.078 -.295 -4.616*** .087 21.307*** .083 -.063 -.238 -.238** .006 1.472 .085 -.014 -.096 -1.213 Trust -.616 -.485 -8.826*** .235 77.893*** .232 -.502 -.395 -5.707*** 4.473* .243 -.101 -.146 -2.115* DISCUSSION The primary goal of the present research was to identify potential sources of relational disharmony that are driven by the symptoms of social anxiety. The results of this study largely fit with the predicted associations between romantic relationship functioning and social anxiety. Increased social anxiety predicted decreased relationship satisfaction, dyadic trust, and global perceptions of support, above and beyond the influence of depressive symptoms. Prior research in this field has yielded inconsistent results. By using a high-powered and diverse sample, controlling for relevant covariates, and selecting theoretically appropriate measures, the results of the present study provide a novel investigation and clarification of the unique association between social anxiety and relationship satisfaction. The present study was the first to identify a link between perceived social support in distressing situations and social anxiety Support in this context is believed to be a greater source of personal benefit than is support in neutral contexts The present study was pre-registered on the open-science framework (OSF), utilized a diverse sample of adults engaged in long-term romantic relationships, and the statistical power of 90% computed a priori was achieved Due to this we are confident in the generalizability and replicability of the results of the present study Future research will employ Longitudinal research to allow for empirical investigations of the direction of causality that is absent in the extant literature. RESULTS HYPOTHESES Zero order correlations for all study variables Hypothesis 1. Based on prior literature highlighting the propensity for social anxiety to generate biased working models of the hostility of others and exhibit withdrawal behaviours, participant social anxiety is anticipated to be negatively impact several key aspects of romantic relationship functioning. These influences are expected to be unique from those attributable to depression   H1a: Higher social anxiety will predict lower relationship satisfaction above and beyond the influence of depression. H1b: Higher social anxiety will predict lower social support above and beyond the influence of depression. H1c: Higher social anxiety will predict lower dyadic trust above and beyond the influence of depression. H1d: Higher social anxiety will predict commitment above and beyond the influence of depression. This hypothesis is non-directional. Variables SIAS SDS RAS DTS ISEL COMM   r - .613*** -.318*** -.386*** -.373*** -.491*** .738*** -.550*** -.619*** .402*** .492*** -.231*** -.276*** .648*** .566*** .393*** https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Christian_Hahn5 https://osf.io/cv7pz/