Research Interests

1) How do socially anxious individuals view and appraise themselves and others, and how do such appraisals impact emotion regulation, information processing, and social behaviour?

2) What are the emotional, behavioural, and interpersonal correlates, causes, and consequences of negative self-perception in social anxiety, and how might these relate to physiological events in the brain and body?

3) How are appraisals of self and others represented in the thoughts, images, and autobiographical memories of socially anxious individuals and what are the specific cues that may activate or inhibit their retrieval across contexts?

4) What are the mechanisms of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for social anxiety disorder and is it possible to improve treatment outcomes by customizing CBT interventions to target idiosyncratic symptom profiles of individual patients?

Much of my current research on social anxiety is guided by (and geared toward testing) the theoretical framework proposed in Moscovitch (2009). What is the core fear in social phobia? A new model to facilitate individualized case conceptualization and treatment. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 16, 123-134. Copies of this paper and other recent or representative articles from our lab can be accessed by clicking on the hyperlinks imbedded in the publication list below.

Recent and Representative Publications

• Moscovitch, D.A., Gavric, D.L., Senn, J., Santesso, D.L., Miskovic, V., Schmidt, L.A., McCabe, R.E., & Antony, M.M. (in press). Changes in judgment biases and use of emotion regulation strategies during cognitive-behavioral therapy for social anxiety disorder: Distinguishing treatment responders from nonresponders. Cognitive Therapy and Research.
• Bielak, T., & Moscovitch, D.A. (2012). Friend or foe? Memory and Expectancy Biases for Faces in Social Anxiety. Journal of Experimental Psychopathology, 3, 42-61.
• Moscovitch, D.A., Rodebaugh, T.L., & Hesch, B.D. (2012). How awkward! Social anxiety and the perceived consequences of social blunders. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 50, 142-149.
• Moscovitch, D.A., Gavric, D.L., Merrifield, C., Bielak, T., & Moscovitch, M. (2011). Retrieval properties of negative vs. positive mental images and autobiographical memories in social anxiety: Outcomes with a new measure. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 49, 505-517.
• Moscovitch, D.A., & Huyder, V. (2011). The negative self-portrayal scale: Development, validation, and application to social anxiety. Behavior Therapy, 42, 183-196.
• Miskovic, V., Moscovitch, D.A., Santesso, D.L., McCabe, R.E., Antony, M.M., & Schmidt, L.A. (2011). Changes in EEG cross-frequency coupling during cognitive behavioral therapy for social anxiety disorder. Psychological Science, 22, 507-516.
• Moscovitch, D.A., Santesso, D.L., Miskovic, V., McCabe, R.E., Antony, M.M., & Schmidt, L.A. (2011). Frontal EEG asymmetry and symptom response to cognitive behavioral therapy in patients with social anxiety disorder. Biological Psychology, 379-385.
• Orr, E., & Moscovitch, D.A. (2010). Learning to re-appraise the self during video feedback for social anxiety: Does depth of processing matter? Behaviour Research and Therapy, 48, 728-737.
• Moscovitch, D.A., Suvak, M.K., & Hofmann, S.G. (2010). The relationship between affect and autonomic arousal in generalized social anxiety disorder. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 24, 785-791.
• Moscovitch, D.A. (2009). What is the core fear in social phobia?: A new model to facilitate individualized case conceptualization and treatment. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 16, 123-134.
• Moscovitch, D.A., Orr, E., Rowa, K., Gehring Reimer, S.,& Antony, M.M.(2009). In the absence of rose-colored glasses: Ratings of self-attributes and their differential certainty and importance across multiple dimensions in social phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 47, 66-70.
• Moscovitch, D.A., & Hofmann, S.G.,(2007).When ambiguity hurts: Social standards moderate self-appraisals in generalized social phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45, 1039-1052.
• Moscovitch, D.A., Hofmann, S.G., Suvak, M.K., & In-Albon, T. (2005). Mediation of changes in anxiety and depression during treatment of social phobia. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73, 945-952.
• Hofmann, S.G., Moscovitch, D.A., Kim, H.-J., & Taylor, A.N. (2004). Changes in self-perception during treatment of social phobia. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72, 588-596.

The Lab

My lab currently consists of six graduate students in our clinical psychology doctoral training program, two undergraduate honours thesis students, and several research assistants and volunteers. The physical space of the lab is generous and includes an array of specialized facilities, resources, and work spaces that can be accessed by trainees engaged in research at all levels. Within this infrastructure, I aim to foster a stimulating and collaborative learning environment in which students are supported in their acquisition of fundamental knowledge and technical skills in areas germane to the research agenda of the lab and the field of clinical psychology. My research has been generously funded by the Canada Research Chairs Program, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Ontario Mental Health Foundation, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, and the Ontario Research Fund.

Anxiety Studies Division of the Centre for Mental Health Research

In 2009, Dr. Christine Purdon and I founded the Anxiety Studies Division (ASD) at the Centre for Mental Health Research (CMHR). The ASD consists of University of Waterloo Clinical Psychology faculty members and graduate students whose research is dedicated to investigating the nature and treatment of anxiety and its disorders. The primary function of the ASD is to develop and maintain a pool of valued members from the surrounding community with and without anxiety problems who are willing to participate in our research studies. Please visit the ASD website for more information.

Clinical Interests and Expertise

I am a registered clinical psychologist with the College of Psychologists of Ontario. My primary theoretical orientation is cognitive-behavioural and I specialize in evidence-based treatment of adult stress, anxiety, depression, and related difficulties. My clinical work is informed by empirically-supported methods of assessment and treatment and guided by attention to therapeutic process and adaptability to the individual differences of my clients and patients. I am actively involved in the clinical supervision of graduate students in the CMHR. I also provide CBT assessment and treatment to adult outpatients in private practice one day a week.

Updated Feb 2012