Emotional intelligence mediates the association between middle temporal gyrus gray matter volume and social anxiety in l
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ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION
Emotional intelligence mediates the association between middle temporal gyrus gray matter volume and social anxiety in late adolescence Song Wang1,2,3 · Yajun Zhao4 · Xiuli Wang3 · Xun Yang5 · Bochao Cheng6 · Nanfang Pan1,2 · Xueling Suo1,2 · Qiyong Gong1,2,3 Received: 20 November 2019 / Accepted: 18 September 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract As a common mental health problem, social anxiety refers to the fear and avoidance of interacting in social or performance situations, which plays a crucial role in many health and social problems. Although a growing body of studies has explored the neuroanatomical alterations related to social anxiety in clinical patients, far fewer have examined the association between social anxiety and brain morphology in the general population, which may help us understand the neural underpinnings of social anxiety more comprehensively. Here, utilizing a voxel-based morphometry approach via structural magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated brain gray matter correlates of social anxiety in 231 recent graduates of the same high school grade. We found that social anxiety was positively associated with gray matter volume in the right middle temporal gyrus (MTG), which is a core brain area for cognitive processing of emotions and feelings. Critically, emotional intelligence mediated the impact of right MTG volume on social anxiety. Notably, our results persisted even when controlling for the effects of general anxiety and depression. Altogether, our research reveals right MTG gray matter volume as a neurostructural correlate of social anxiety in a general sample of adolescents and suggests a potential indirect effect of emotional intelligence on the association between gray matter volume and social anxiety. Keywords Social anxiety · Emotional intelligence · Structural magnetic resonance imaging · Psychoradiology · Middle temporal gyrus · Adolescents
Introduction * Qiyong Gong [email protected] 1
Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
2
Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, China
3
Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
4
School of Education and Psychology, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, China
5
School of Public Affairs, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
6
Department of Radiology, West China Second University Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
As a common mental health problem, social anxiety is defined as the abnormal fear and avoidance of interaction in social or performance situations in which an individual is concerned about being evaluated or scrutinized by other people [1]. It is widely regarded as a continuous psychological construct that encompasses both nonclinical and clinical manifestations [2–4]. Higher levels of social anxiety ma
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