A positive side effect of wearing face coverings for socially anxious females: Findings from a speech task
Background: Wearing face masks has become more common due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Until now, it has not been investigated whether socially anxious individuals can reduce their acute anxiety symptoms by wearing face masks during a speech task. Method: Fifty-nine socially anxious females were asked...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Heliyon |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023109418 |
| _version_ | 1797336943921463296 |
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| author | Carina Tiewald Arved Seibel Anne Schienle |
| author_facet | Carina Tiewald Arved Seibel Anne Schienle |
| author_sort | Carina Tiewald |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Wearing face masks has become more common due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Until now, it has not been investigated whether socially anxious individuals can reduce their acute anxiety symptoms by wearing face masks during a speech task. Method: Fifty-nine socially anxious females were asked to prepare and give an oral presentation. Participants were randomly allocated either to a group that was asked to wear a face mask during the task, or to a group that was not asked to wear a face mask during the task. Dependent variables included physiological parameters (systolic/diastolic blood pressure, heart rate) and self-reports (valence and arousal at baseline, as well as directly before and after the presentation). Results: The analyses showed that the group without face masks had a higher systolic blood pressure than the group with face masks, directly before as well as after the presentation. The two groups did not differ in the other measures. Conclusion: Wearing face masks has a small stress-reducing effect on socially anxious females. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T09:02:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-11f85295f2a44c6d9bbb55e711a53354 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2405-8440 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T09:02:11Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heliyon |
| spelling | doaj.art-11f85295f2a44c6d9bbb55e711a533542024-02-01T06:33:14ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402024-01-01101e23733A positive side effect of wearing face coverings for socially anxious females: Findings from a speech taskCarina Tiewald0Arved Seibel1Anne Schienle2Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Graz, Graz, AustriaDepartment of Clinical Psychology, University of Graz, Graz, AustriaCorresponding author.; Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Graz, Graz, AustriaBackground: Wearing face masks has become more common due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Until now, it has not been investigated whether socially anxious individuals can reduce their acute anxiety symptoms by wearing face masks during a speech task. Method: Fifty-nine socially anxious females were asked to prepare and give an oral presentation. Participants were randomly allocated either to a group that was asked to wear a face mask during the task, or to a group that was not asked to wear a face mask during the task. Dependent variables included physiological parameters (systolic/diastolic blood pressure, heart rate) and self-reports (valence and arousal at baseline, as well as directly before and after the presentation). Results: The analyses showed that the group without face masks had a higher systolic blood pressure than the group with face masks, directly before as well as after the presentation. The two groups did not differ in the other measures. Conclusion: Wearing face masks has a small stress-reducing effect on socially anxious females.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023109418Social anxietyFace masksBehavioral assessmentPhysiological assessment |
| spellingShingle | Carina Tiewald Arved Seibel Anne Schienle A positive side effect of wearing face coverings for socially anxious females: Findings from a speech task Heliyon Social anxiety Face masks Behavioral assessment Physiological assessment |
| title | A positive side effect of wearing face coverings for socially anxious females: Findings from a speech task |
| title_full | A positive side effect of wearing face coverings for socially anxious females: Findings from a speech task |
| title_fullStr | A positive side effect of wearing face coverings for socially anxious females: Findings from a speech task |
| title_full_unstemmed | A positive side effect of wearing face coverings for socially anxious females: Findings from a speech task |
| title_short | A positive side effect of wearing face coverings for socially anxious females: Findings from a speech task |
| title_sort | positive side effect of wearing face coverings for socially anxious females findings from a speech task |
| topic | Social anxiety Face masks Behavioral assessment Physiological assessment |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023109418 |
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