ABSTRACT

Background

A unique feature of the global coronavirus pandemic has been the widespread adoption of mask-wearing as a public health measure to minimize the risk of contagion. Little is known about the effects of increased mask-wearing on social interactions, social anxiety, or overall mental health.

Objectives

Explore the potential effects of mask-wearing on social anxiety.

Design

We review existing literatures to highlight three preselected sets of factors that may be important in shaping the effects of mask-wearing on social anxiety. These are: (a) people’s perceptions of the social norms associated with wearing masks; (b) people’s experiences of the degree to which masks prevent accurate interpretation of social and emotional cues; and (c) people’s use of masks as a type of safety behavior that enables self-concealment.

Methods

APA PsycNet and PubMed were searched principally between September and November 2020 for articles describing the relationship between social anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, ambiguous feedback, and safety behavior use and for research on the relationship between mask-wearing and social norms and social interactions. Information identified as relevant from articles of interest was extracted and included in our review.

Results & Conclusions

The effects of mask-wearing on social anxiety are likely to be substantial and clinically relevant.

中文翻译：

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戴口罩对社交焦虑的影响：一项探索性评论

摘要

背景

全球冠状病毒大流行的一个独特特征是广泛采用戴口罩作为公共卫生措施，以最大程度地降低传染风险。关于增加戴口罩对社交互动、社交焦虑或整体心理健康的影响知之甚少。

目标

探索戴口罩对社交焦虑的潜在影响。

设计

我们回顾了现有文献，以突出三组预先选择的因素，这些因素可能对塑造戴口罩对社交焦虑的影响很重要。它们是： (a) 人们对与戴口罩相关的社会规范的看法；(b) 人们对面具妨碍准确解释社会和情感线索的程度的体验；(c) 人们使用口罩作为一种能够自我隐藏的安全行为。

方法

APA PsycNet 和 PubMed 主要在 2020 年 9 月至 11 月期间被搜索，以查找描述社交焦虑、对不确定性的不容忍、模糊反馈和安全行为使用之间关系的文章，以及关于戴口罩与社会规范和社交互动之间关系的研究。从感兴趣的文章中识别出的相关信息被提取并包含在我们的评论中。

结果与结论

戴口罩对社交焦虑的影响可能是实质性的且具有临床意义。