2016 Volume 8 Issue 1 Pages 12-21
Post-Event Processing (PEP) is defined that ruminating about anxiety-evoking social events; it is a key factor contributing to social anxiety. Although previous studies have shown that rumination and worry similar to PEP in terms of repetitive thinking style are related to attentional control functions, the relevance of PEP and attentional control functions has not been clarified. Moreover, no instrument has been developed to measure the observer's perspective during PEP. We investigated the relation between the PEP of an experimental social situation and attentional control functions with developing the Functional Recall Vantage Perspective Scale during PEP. Undergraduate students completed several questionnaires and a cognitive task measuring their attentional control functions. They then participated in a speech task. The following day, we measured the PEP of the speech task and conducted a correlation analysis between the PEP scores and the attentional control function scores. The results indicated that the Observer–Avoidance perspective subscale of the Functional Recall Vantage Perspective Scale can measure the observer's perspective of PEP. Furthermore, they also showed that negative PEP and the Observer–Avoidance perspective are negatively correlated with selective attentional control functions. Therefore, to decrease PEP in particular, focusing on selective attention may be beneficial.
