Mediation of the impact of social anxiety on the negative attention bias during laughter perception through cerebral activation patterns of the prefrontal cortex.

<p>X = independent variable (i.e., LSAS-SR scores), Y = dependent variable (i.e., response time differences JOY – TAU), M = mediator variable (i.e., differential cerebral activation JOY – TAU in the left DLPFC); a = effect of X on M; b = effect of M on Y partialling out X; c = total effect of X on Y; c’ = direct effect of X on Y; ab = indirect effect of X on Y through M. p value of ab refers to the Sobel test. Continuous arrows indicate significant effect while non-significant effects are symbolized by dashed arrows. Significance of the results remains unaltered when statistically controlling for the influence of general anxiety (STAI).