Childhood Social Anxiety Research Articles

High prevalence of indicators of social anxiety in children and adolescents from Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil

High prevalence of indicators of social anxiety in children and adolescents from Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil

Bidirectional and interactive effects of child temperament and parenting in early childhood on the trajectory of social anxiety in adolescence.

Research suggests that certain parenting behaviors are best suited to promote optimal child development, depending on a child's distinctive temperamental presentation. This multimethod, longitudinal study examines the interactive effect of parenting and temperament in early childhood on the developmental trajectory of social anxiety in adolescence. Longitudinal growth modeling was used to examine the developmental trajectory of child social anxiety from age 9-15 and the interactive effect of parenting and child temperament at 36 months on the developmental trajectory of child social anxiety from age 9-15. The slope of social anxiety from age 9-15 suggested a decrease in social anxiety throughout early adolescence. Furthermore, 36-month behavioral inhibition (BI) predicted the trajectory of child social anxiety from age 9-15 when parents displayed low and high levels of dismissive and supportive parenting (at 36 months). Results support an interactive effect of infant temperament and parenting in early childhood (at 36 months) on the developmental trajectory of child social anxiety from age 9-15. Specifically, results suggest that engaging highly inhibited children with high supportive and low dismissive parenting may help reduce social anxiety over time in adolescence. Furthermore, parenting needs may differ for children high or low in BI to impact the developmental trajectory of social anxiety in adolescence, such that children who are high BI seem to benefit from low dismissive and high supportive parenting, and children who are low in BI seem to benefit more from high dismissive parenting.

Neuroticism and positive coping style as mediators of the association between childhood psychological maltreatment and social anxiety

Neuroticism and positive coping style as mediators of the association between childhood psychological maltreatment and social anxiety

Interparental Conflict and Chinese Children’s Social Development

Interparental relationship is one of the substantial factors that affect children’s mental well-being and emotional development in a family. Interparental conflicts are pervasive in most families, which may have adverse effects on children. However, interparental conflict in China received restricted attention, and social research about marital conflict has limited focus on children. A cross-sectional survey of 846 students was conducted to explore the correlations between interparental conflict and Chinese children’s social anxiety and life adjustment. The results showed that more perceived threat, persistent and unresolved conflicts, older age, and lower coping efficacy were associated with increased social anxiety in children while paternal education of high school was related to lower social anxiety. Child-related and unresolved conflicts, greater intensity of the conflict, frequent conflict, and paternal education of college and above were associated with impaired children’s life adjustment development. Perception of interparental conflicts was closely associated with children’s social development.

WITHDRAWN: Enhance self-esteem evaluation model for children's social anxiety and loneliness

The typical effects of daily social experiences for most children are short-term solitude, and for some children, these sensations become cumulative and impair their academic success, general welfare, and mental health. Social partnerships are important to children's welfare, and there may be significant consequences of these relationships. In solitude and social anxiety, such disorders play a central role. In the absence of resolution of the dispute between peers, records of soleness, social anxiety, and social evasion are associated with youth. Although such relationships are well known, the relationship between peer conflict-avoidance and various adjustment features has not been investigated. The findings showed that children who report being lonely and anxious for others who have not reported being lonely are anxious. Essentially, the former spoke more often about family matters and intimate subjects and made up for their poor social skills and encountered new people. The research aimed to investigate the significance of the relation between anxiety and loneliness of social support and self-esteem. The modelling of structural equation revealed partial stabilization results between anguish and loneliness through social reinforcement and self-esteem. In addition, a multi-group study has found, relative to their counterparts, which infants appear to have more adverse assessments. The research obtains the results: Fear of negative evaluation ratio is 87.6%, Intercept loneliness ratio is 88.77%, Reduce social anxiety ratio is 84.5%, Depression reduction ratio is 82.25%, Improving the self-confidence ratio is 93.80%. • Outward control locus and shyness, leading to solitude. • A social anxiety disorder can be linked with other traumatic experiences in life, • Self-esteem eliminates depression and increases the personality's optimistic facets.

Social Support and Self-Esteem as Predictors of Psychological Distress among Students with Learning Disabilities in Accra, Ghana

Using a survey research design, this study examined the extent to which social support and self-esteem predict psychological distress among students with learning disabilities at Multi Kids Inclusive Academy in Accra, Ghana. The Simple Random Sampling technique was used to select 94 students. Survey questionnaires containing the Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale (Malecki & Demaray, 2002), Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995), and Adapted Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale (Dagnan & Sandhu, 1999) were used to collected data. Descriptive statistics, Reliability and Normality tests, Simple Linear Regression Analysis, and the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient test within the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 application software were used to analyze data. Results indicated that Social Support from Teachers (β= .202, p = .033) and Social Support from Classmates (β= .548, p = .000) predicts psychological distress. Social Support from Parents Dimension subscale (β= -.024, p = .810), did not predict psychological distress. In addition, a significant negative relationship was found between self-concept and psychological distress. Also, differences in gender (β= -.238, p = .033) and age (β= .266, p = .017) predicts psychological distress.

ÇÖLYAK HASTALIĞI OLAN ÇOCUKLARDA DEPRESYON VE SOSYAL ANKSİYETENİN DEĞERLENDİRİLMESİ

OBJECTIVE: Depression and anxiety levels adult patients with celiac disease (CD) have been investigated and conflicting results have been reported. However, there are limited studies on the association of CD with depression and anxiety in pediatric patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of a tendency toward depression and social anxiety in children with CD.MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients aged between 8-14 years old and who had a gluten-free diet for at least one year and healthy controls within the same age group were included in this study. All participants were administered the Children Depression Inventory (CDI) and Social Anxiety Scale-Revised (SASC-R). 45 children with celiac disease and 45 healthy children were included in this study.RESULTS: The mean age of the experimental group was 11.6 ± 2.4 years old and 76% were female. The mean age of the control group was 12,0±2.1 years old and 62% were female. No significant differences were found between children with CD and healthy controls in terms of CDI and SASC-R scores. Anxiety levels of the patients whose adherence to the diet was good were found to be higher.CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the incidences of depression and social anxiety were not different from healthy children as similar to previous studies in children with CD.

The Role of Social Skills in Predicting Treatment-Recovery in Children with a Social Anxiety Disorder

The current study investigated the role of social skills and its interaction with social anxiety as predictors of treatment outcome in children with an anxiety disorder either with or without a social anxiety disorder (SoAD). In total, 133 children (aged 8 to 13) with an anxiety disorder received a 10-session cognitive behavioral treatment (FRIENDS program). Pre- to post treatment Reliable Change (RC) and Treatment-Recovery (TR) were assessed from a multi-informant perspective, by including diagnostic information (ADIS C/P), child-reported anxiety symptoms (MASC) and parent-reported internalizing symptoms (CBCL-Int). Social skills were assessed with the parent-rated Social Skills Rating System (assertion, self-control, responsibility). Results showed that 1) parents of children with a SoAD reported significantly less favorable use of assertive and responsible social behavior in their children pre-treatment than parents of children without SoAD, 2) children with higher social skills had a better treatment recovery, and 3) children with anxiety and higher responsible behavior pre-treatment and without a SoAD had a better treatment recovery, but this effect did not show for children with SoAD. In conclusion, better use of social behavior increased the likelihood of treatment recovery but not of reliable change. Further studies on the role of social skills in the treatment of childhood (social) anxiety are needed to investigate the mechanisms by which social skills impact treatment outcome.

Analysis of features of social anxiety and exploring the relationship between childhood major adverse experiences and social anxiety in early adulthood among Chinese college students

Introduction: Prior studies have explored the prevalence of social anxiety disorders and found that childhood major adverse experiences increased the risk of social anxiety. However, few studies analyzed features of social anxiety and explored the mediation mechanism of the relationship between childhood major adverse experiences and social anxiety in early adulthood.Methods: Two thousand seven hundred and fifty-nine college students from Hunan, China participated in the survey-based study. They completed questionnaires on major adverse childhood experiences, social anxiety symptoms, and a sense of security during a study conducted from 2017 to 2018.Results: 1) 33.38% of the students reported experiencing at least one social anxiety symptom; the highest detection rate (20.22%) was social anxiety symptoms related to participants’ nervousness when in large groups. 2) Females and individuals who consumed alcohol in the past year and individuals with a poor physical condition had a significantly higher risk of having social anxiety symptoms (p<0.05). 3) Childhood major adverse events experience increased the risk of some social anxiety symptoms, especially experiencing 3 or more adverse events (p<0.05). 4) A sense of security mediated the relationship between childhood major adverse events experience and social anxiety symptoms.Conclusions: Extensive detection rate of social anxiety symptoms existed among college students, early adversities increased the risk of social anxiety in early adulthood, and the relationship between childhood major adversity and social anxiety was affected by sense of security.

Theory of Mind as a Mechanism That Accounts for the Continuity or Discontinuity of Behavioral Inhibition: A Developmentally Informed Model of Risk for Social Anxiety.

Research has established that children with high levels of early behavioral inhibition (BI) - a subdued, timid, fearful response to novel or mildly challenging stimuli or events - are at an elevated risk for social anxiety in later childhood and adolescence. Yet, substantial heterogeneity has been documented in those developmental trajectories; consequently, understanding factors that moderate children's paths from early BI to social anxiety is an important goal. We proposed that the association between children's BI at toddler age and social anxiety at early school age is (a) mediated by their BI at preschool age, and (b) moderated by the level of social understanding, or Theory of Mind (ToM). In 102 typically developing community children, we observed BI in the laboratory at age 2 and 4.5 in "Risk Room" paradigms and assessed ToM at age 4.5 and 5.5 using false belief tasks. Mothers and fathers rated children's social anxiety symptoms at age 6.5. We supported the proposed moderated mediation model, with the path from BI at age 2 to BI at age 4.5 to social anxiety at age 6.5 unfolding only for children whose ToM abilities were relatively low, but not for those whose ToM abilities were relatively high. Results also supported a curvilinear relation between ToM and social anxiety, which highlights the risk of elevated social anxiety for children with extremely low ToM abilities. Taken together, proficiency in mindreading may help inhibited children navigate social environments and thus reduce risks for social anxiety.

Childhood abuse and social anxiety symptoms among young adults: Moderating role of respiratory sinus arrhythmia suppression to social stress

BackgroundChildhood abuse (CA) has been considered as an environmental risk factor for the development of social anxiety symptoms. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is a biomarker that has been found to interact with environmental stressors to affect psychopathological symptoms. However, little is known whether RSA moderates the relationship between CA and social anxiety symptoms. ObjectiveThe current study aimed to examine the relationships between CA and two forms of social anxiety symptoms including social performance anxiety symptoms (SPAS) and social interaction anxiety symptoms (SIAS), and the moderating role of baseline RSA and/or RSA suppression to a social-evaluative stress in these links. Participants and settingA total of 157 Chinese undergraduate students (Mage = 18.96, SD = 0.85, 85 % females) participated in this study. MethodParticipants completed the short form of Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Social Phobia Scale and Social Interaction Anxiety Scale to assess CA, SPAS and SIAS, and then underwent a social stress protocol (a public speech task) during which their baseline RSA and stress induced RSA were obtained. ResultsCA was positively correlated with SPAS but was not correlated with SIAS. RSA suppression to social stress moderated the associations between CA and two forms of social anxiety symptoms, such that CA was positively associated with SPAS and SIAS among individuals with blunted RSA suppression, but not among those with greater RSA suppression. ConclusionsGreater social stress RSA suppression as a better physiological regulation marker might ameliorate the negative effect of CA on social anxiety symptoms.

Restricted Visual Scanpaths During Emotion Recognition in Childhood Social Anxiety Disorder.

Background: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) has its typical onset in childhood and adolescence. Maladaptive processing of social information may contribute to the etiology and maintenance of SAD. During face perception, individuals execute a succession of visual fixations known as a scanpath which facilitates information processing. Atypically long scanpaths have been reported in adults with SAD, but no data exists from pediatric samples. SAD has also been linked to atypical arousal during face perception. Both metrics were examined in one of the largest eye-tracking studies of pediatric SAD to date.Methods: Participants were children and adolescents with SAD (n = 61) and healthy controls (n = 39) with a mean age of 14 years (range 10–17) who completed an emotion recognition task. The visual scanpath and pupil dilation (an indirect index of arousal) were examined using eye tracking.Results: Scanpaths of youth with SAD were shorter, less distributed, and consisted of a smaller number of fixations than those of healthy controls. These findings were supported by both frequentist and Bayesian statistics. Higher pupil dilation was also observed in the SAD group, but despite a statistically significant group difference, this result was not supported by the Bayesian analysis.Conclusions: The results were contrary to findings from adult studies, but similar to what has been reported in neurodevelopmental conditions associated with social interaction impairments. Restricted scanpaths may disrupt holistic representation of faces known to favor adaptive social understanding.

Longitudinal prediction of children's math anxiety from parent-child relationships

Math anxiety is highly prevalent and thus has received considerable attention. However, only a few cross-sectional studies have examined the influence of parent–child relationships on math anxiety. We conducted a longitudinal study to test the effect of father–child and mother–child relationships on the math anxiety of children. Our sample comprised 287 elementary students who reported their father–child relationship, mother–child relationship, and math anxiety at two time points 1 year apart. Family cohesion was used as the indicator of the parent–child relationship. Cross-lagged models indicated that the father–child relationship, rather than the mother–child relationship, predicted the math anxiety of children, even after controlling for the gender of children, age of children, learning anxiety of children, social anxiety of children, learning motivation of children, math performance of children and math anxiety of parents. This study highlights the importance of the father–child relationship in the math anxiety of children.

Temperamental Shyness, Frontal EEG Theta/Beta Ratio, and Social Anxiety in Children.

The authors examined how children's frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) theta/beta ratio-an index of neurocognitive control-changed from baseline to a social stressor, and whether these EEG changes moderated the relation between temperament and anxiety. Children (N=152; Mage =7.82years, 52% male, 81% White) had their EEG recorded during a baseline and speech anticipation condition. Children's frontal theta/beta ratio decreased from baseline to speech anticipation, and this baseline-to-task change moderated the relation between temperamental shyness and social anxiety. Temperamental shyness was related to higher state and trait social anxiety only among children with large baseline-to-task decreases in theta/beta ratio. Findings are consistent with theoretical models hypothesizing that temperamentally shy children with heightened neurocognitive control may be at greater risk for anxiety.

Restricted visual scanpaths and hyperarousal during emotion recognition in childhood social anxiety disorder

IntroductionSocial anxiety disorder (SAD) typically develops during late childhood or early adolescence, and often runs a chronic course if left untreated. Maladaptive processing of social information has been suggested to contribute to the etiology and maintenance of SAD. Scanpaths are a succession of visual fixations and saccades through which individuals extract information during face perception. Atypically long scanpaths have previously been reported in adults with SAD but no studies have been conducted on youth samples. SAD has previously also been linked to atypical arousal during face processing.ObjectivesThis study aimed to investigate differences in visual attention and arousal to emotional faces comparing children and adolescents with SAD to a non-psychiatric population of youths.MethodsIn one of the largest eye-tracking studies of pediatric SAD to date, children and adolescents with SAD (n = 62) and healthy controls (n = 39) completed a task where they were meant to recognise different emotional expressions in pictures of faces while their eye movements were recorded. The visual scanpath and the pupil dilation response were examined.ResultsYouth with SAD showed restricted scanpaths, suggesting they scanned a more limited part of the face during face perception. Higher pupil dilation was also observed in the children and adolescents with SAD.ConclusionsThe restricted pattern of scanpath observed in youth with SAD is contrary to findings among adults, but similar to what has been reported in neurodevelopmental disorders associated with social interaction impairments such as autism. Restricted scanpaths may partially contribute to the maintencance of social anxiety disorder.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

Early behavioral and physiological markers of social anxiety in infants with fragile X syndrome

BackgroundSocial anxiety is highly prevalent in neurotypical children and children with fragile X syndrome (FXS). FXS is a genetic syndrome that is characterized by intellectual disability and an increased risk for autism spectrum disorder. If social anxiety is left untreated, negative outcomes are highly prevalent later in life. However, early detection of social anxiety is challenging as symptoms are often subtle or absent very early in life. Given the prevalence and impairment associated with childhood social anxiety, efforts have accelerated to identify risk markers of anxiety. A cluster of early features of anxiety have been identified including elevated behavioral inhibition, attentional biases, and physiological dysregulation that index early emerging markers of social anxiety. Infants with FXS provide a unique opportunity to study the earlier predictors of social anxiety. The current study utilized a multi-method approach to investigate early markers of social anxiety in 12-month-old infants with FXS.MethodParticipants included 32 infants with FXS and 41 low-risk controls, all approximately 12 months old. Parent-reported social behavioral inhibition was recorded from the Infant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ-R). Direct observations of behavioral inhibition and attention were measured during a stranger approach task with respiratory sinus arrhythmia collected simultaneously.ResultsParent-reported social behavioral inhibition was not significantly different between groups. In contrast, direct observations suggested that infants with FXS displayed elevated behavioral inhibition, increased attention towards the stranger, and a blunted respiratory sinus arrhythmia response.ConclusionsFindings suggest that infants with FXS show both behavioral and physiological markers of social anxiety at 12 months old using a biobehavioral approach with multiple sources of input. Results highlight the importance of a multi-method approach to understanding the complex early emergent characteristics of anxiety in infants with FXS.

Treating Childhood Social Anxiety Disorder With Virtual Environments and Serious Games: A Randomized Trial

Disseminating efficacious psychological treatments remains a challenge for researchers and clinicians. In the case of social anxiety disorder (SAD), Social Effectiveness Therapy for Children (SET-C) has been demonstrated as an efficacious intervention, but elements of the protocol, such as peer generalization sessions, remain challenging to conduct in typical clinical settings. To address this need, we developed an artificially intelligent, web-based application, Pegasys-VR™, designed to replace peer generalization sessions and enhance homework compliance. The feasibility of Pegasys-VR™ was tested in a randomized controlled trial in comparison to SET-C. The results indicated that both programs were equally efficacious in decreasing anxiety and improving social skill in social encounters. Sixty-three percent (63%) of children treated with SET-C and 60% treated with Pegasys-VR™ did not meet diagnostic criteria for SAD at posttreatment. Pegasys-VR™ is a feasible, efficacious, and dissemination-friendly element of a comprehensive treatment program for social anxiety disorder in children.

Self‐esteem as a mediator of parental attachment security and social anxiety

AbstractThis study examined the mediating role of self‐esteem on the relationship between parental attachment security and social anxiety in children, separating maternal and paternal attachment. A total of 298 Korean children in 5th and 6th grade participated. Using structural equation modeling, results showed that the research model fit the data well and the mediating effects of self‐esteem were statistically significant. Self‐esteem fully mediated both relationships between maternal and paternal attachment security and social anxiety. This finding suggests the importance of maternal and paternal attachment security and self‐esteem as protective factors against social anxiety in children. Implications for practice and future research directions are discussed.

Fearful Temperament and Child Social Anxiety Symptoms: Clarifying the Influence of Maternal Punitive Responses.

Fearful temperament-the tendency to exhibit apprehension and/or avoidance in novel situations-is a well-established risk factor for childhood anxiety in general, and social anxiety in particular. Yet, there is little understanding of parent emotion socialization strategies that influence the association between fearful temperament and child social anxiety symptoms. The present investigation addresses this gap in the literature by examining maternal punitive responses to clinically anxious children's negative emotions as a moderator of the covariance between fearful temperament and social anxiety symptom severity. Clinically anxious children ages 8-12years (N = 105; 57.1% female; 61.9% racial/ethnic minority) and their mothers completed measures assessing child fearful temperament, maternal punitive emotion socialization responses, and child social anxiety symptoms. Children also participated in an anxiety-provoking speech task during which manifest social anxiety was coded by trained observers. Children's fearful temperament coupled with greater maternal punitive responses to children's negative emotions was associated with lower child-reported social anxiety symptoms. Models predicting manifest social anxiety were not significant. Maternal punitive responses to children's negative emotions may encourage clinically anxious youth to approach feared situations and therefore result in lower anxiety. Yet, the potentially negative effects of punitive responses on other aspects of anxious children's socioemotional development warrant scientific attention. Future research should examine the phenomenology of punitive parental responses among parents of anxious youth to better understand their effects on child behavior.

Therapist-Led, Internet-Delivered Treatment for Early Child Social Anxiety: A Waitlist-Controlled Evaluation of the iCALM Telehealth Program

Despite recent advances in the treatment of early child social anxiety, the broad accessibility of brick-and-mortar services has been limited by traditional barriers to care, and more recently by new obstacles related to efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19. The present waitlist-controlled trial examined the preliminary efficacy of a family-based behavioral parenting intervention (i.e., the iCALM Telehealth Program) that draws on Parent-Child Interaction Therapy and videoconferencing to remotely deliver clinician-led care for anxiety in early childhood. Young children (3–8 years) with a diagnosis of social anxiety disorder (N = 40; 65% from ethnic/racial minority backgrounds) were randomly assigned to iCALM or waitlist. Intent-to-treat analyses found that at post, independent evaluators classified roughly half of the iCALM-treated children, but only 6% of waitlist children, as “Responders” (Wald test = 4.51; p = .03). By Post, iCALM led to significantly greater reductions than waitlist in child anxiety symptoms, fear, discomfort, and anxiety-related social impairment, and also led to greater improvements in child soothability. By 6-month follow-up, the percentage of iCALM-treated children classified as “Responders” rose to roughly 60%. Exploratory moderation tests found iCALM was particularly effective in reducing life impairments and parental distress among families presenting with higher, relative to lower, levels of baseline parental accommodation. The present findings add to a growing body of research supporting the promise of technology-based strategies for broadening the portfolio of options for delivering clinician-led mental health services.