A sequential mediation model based on an emotion-focused approach for social anxiety: Traumatic childhood experiences, shame, and self-criticism

BACKGROUND: Instead of cognitive distortions, emotion-focused therapy emphasizes the emotion schemes of shame/deficiency in the psychopathology of social anxiety. The aim of this research was to examine the mediating role of shame and self-criticism in the relationship between traumatic childhood experiences and social anxiety using a sequential model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This research was conducted in a cross-sectional descriptive design. The study sample included 420 students (175 males and 245 females (who were selected as a convenience sample from the first semester (February 2022 to July 2023). Research instruments used in the study included the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire Short Form (CTQ-SF), Young’s Shame/Deficit Schema Scale, Gilbert’s Self-Criticism Forms, and Connor’s Social Anxiety Scale. Data analyses included descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics, which also used the Pearson correlation coefficient and structural equation model using the partial least squares regression method. RESULTS: The entire model is significant and 20% of the variance of social anxiety is predicted in this way (R 2 = 0.20, P < .001). The fit indices also showed the goodness of the model. The results demonstrate both the significant direct impact of traumatic childhood experiences on social anxiety (β = 0.178, t = 2.97, P < .001, 95% CI) and the significant indirect effects of these experiences through shame schema and self-criticism (β = 0.25, t = 6.68, P < .001, 95% CI). The total effects of these childhood traumas (direct and indirect (on social anxiety were also statistically significant (β = 0.42, t = 8.49, P < .001, 95% CI). CONCLUSIONS: The results confirm emotion-focused therapy model for social anxiety, which showed that self-criticism and shame mediate the relationship between traumatic experiences and social anxiety. The idea that self-criticism is a mechanism for coping with shame to avoid appearing imperfect again was also supported in this research.