Prieto Fidalgo, ÁngelCalvete Zumalde, Esther2025-05-132025-05-132024-01Prieto-Fidalgo, Á., & Calvete, E. (2024). Bidirectional relationships between interpretation biases, safety behaviors, and social anxiety. Current Psychology, 43(3), 2597-2606. https://doi.org/10.1007/S12144-023-04461-Z1046-131010.1007/S12144-023-04461-Zhttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14454/2721Theoretical models of social anxiety (SA) propose bidirectional relationships between SA, interpretation biases, and safety behaviors (Safe-B). However, longitudinal studies evaluating these bidirectional relationships are scarce. The main objective of this study was to analyze the bidirectional relationships between interpretation biases (from ambiguous situations and ambiguous faces), Safe-B, and SA. A two-time longitudinal study was carried out with the participation of 575 vocational training students (M = 19.49, SD = 2.41). Both the interpretation biases measured through ambiguous situations and ambiguous faces and the Safe-B predicted higher levels of SA in the second time. In turn, a bidirectional relationship was found between SA and Safe-B. However, no bidirectional relationships were found between interpretation biases and Safe-B and between biases and SA. Among others, the limitations of the study include the high attrition rate (30.4%) and the high proportion of male students (62.1%). The findings highlight the role of interpretation bias and Safe-B in SA. In turn, as a new initiative, the study supports the bidirectional relationship between Safe-B and SA. Implications are discussed throughout the manuscripteng© The Author(s) 2023Bidirectional relationshipsInterpretation biasLongitudinal designSafety behaviorsSocial anxietyjournal article2025-05-131936-4733