The focus of intervention for adolescent social anxiety: Communication skills or self-esteem

Abstract

Social skills training is a long-standing intervention for adolescents with social anxiety, while self-esteem is often ignored. However, there is little evidence suggesting that those with social anxiety require social skills training or interventions associated with self-esteem. The aim of the research was to investigate whether social skills and self-esteem varied between three groups of adolescents (mean age = 14.53; SD = 1.60). Clustering the social anxiety scores resulted in a comparison group and two groups above the social anxiety cutoff: a socially anxious/shy (SA/Shy) group and an elevated social anxiety group. It was expected that there would be lower social skills and self-esteem scores associated with the socially anxious group, compared with other groups. The results were as anticipated for total and components of self-esteem (except home self-esteem). Contrary to expectations, between-group differences for social skills factors were not found. Results are interpreted in reference to appropriate interventions to assist socially anxious adolescents. Cutoffs for defining clinical status are also discussed. The conclusion is that interventions to deal with social anxiety and shyness should include a strong focus on self-esteem issues and less on social skills.