Peer perceptions of social skills in socially anxious and nonanxious adolescents

Social Interactions in Everyday Life of Socially Anxious Adolescents: Effects on Mental State, Anxiety, and Depression

Unfavorable interpersonal behavior in social anxiety disorder (SAD) contributes to the maintenance of the disorder and may also be related to the development of secondary depression. Since there is limited research on daily life behavior in SAD, this study aimed to describe social interaction behavior and analyze the effect of positive interactions on depression, anxiety, and mental state. Data were obtained from the Behavior and Mind Health study (11/2015-12/2016), an epidemiological cohort study of adolescents and young adults (n = 1,180, aged 14-21 years) from Dresden, Germany. Interpersonal behavior, current mental state, anxiety, and depression were assessed eight times per day over four days using smartphone-based ecological momentary assessments. The analyzed subsample consisted of n = 723 participants, comparing 12-month SAD (n = 60) and healthy controls (HC; n = 663). The interaction behavior of participants with SAD did not differ substantially from that of HC in terms of frequency of social interactions, type of interaction partner, and time spent communicating, although they reported fewer real-life interaction partners (SAD: M = 2.49, SD = 4.78; HC: M = 3.18, SD = 6.43; F(17,044) = 23.92, p < 0.001). When comparing mental state, anxiety, and depression after interactions with familiar people to no interaction, no differences were found between SAD and HC. However, interactions with unfamiliar people negatively affected depressive symptoms in individuals with SAD (b = 0.53; SE = 0.25; 95%CI: 0.04-1.03; p = 0.036). In adolescents with SAD, social situations with unfamiliar people seem to be processed in a dysfunctional way, contributing to increased depressive mood in everyday life. This is particularly interesting given the high rate of secondary depression in SAD.

Longitudinal links between expressive flexibility and friendship quality in adolescence: The moderating effect of social anxiety

INTRODUCTION

Expressive flexibility, or the ability to both up- and down-regulate emotional expressions in social interactions, is thought as an indicator and a consequence of healthy interpersonal relationships. The present longitudinal study examined bidirectional associations between expressive flexibility and friendship quality in early adolescence. Since prior research found inconsistent results regarding the adaptiveness of expressive flexibility, which indicated the necessity to consider individual variability in the process, we further tested the potential moderating effect of social anxiety in the links from expressive flexibility to friendship quality.

METHODS

Participants from two junior high schools in eastern China (N = 274; 50.4% female; M_age  = 13.56) were surveyed at three time points with 6-month intervals. Expressive flexibility, friendship quality, and social anxiety were all assessed via self-reported scales.

RESULTS

According to the cross-lagged model results, friendship quality significantly predicted increased expressive flexibility over time. Conversely, the longitudinal association from expressive flexibility to friendship quality was not significant, but the interaction between expressive flexibility and social anxiety significantly predicted later friendship quality. Further analyses via the Johnson-Neyman technique revealed that expressive flexibility only positively predicted friendship quality for adolescents with lower levels of social anxiety.

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest that expressive flexibility is not always socially adaptive, so practical interventions that aim to improve youths' social adjustment via expressive flexibility training might need to consider the role of individual characteristics.

Taking a Closer Look at Social Performance in Childhood Social Anxiety Disorder: Biopsychosocial Context Considerations and Effects of Cognitive Behavior Therapy

Models of social anxiety disorder (SAD) describe shortfalls in child social performance, whereas empirically, children often show a deficit only in subjective and not objective performance. We examined social performance in relation to possible changes (before and after cognitive behavior therapy [CBT] including social skills training) and to an objective parameter (vocal arousal). Children with SAD were expected to subjectively judge their behavior as less competent than healthy control (HC) children despite a lack of objective differences. Children receiving CBT were expected to show a change in subjective and objective social performance in comparison to children waiting for treatment. Exploratory correlation analyses were used to disentangle the relation between social performance and vocal arousal. One hundred and nineteen children (64 with and 55 without SAD; aged 9-13 years) completed a Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Children with SAD participated in a second TSST after CBT or waiting. Performance was assessed by self-report and by blinded observers. Vocal arousal was analyzed by audio recording. Children with SAD were objectively assessed as more socially competent than HC children; subjectively, children with SAD showed lower social performance. CBT showed no effect on subjective or objective performance ratings. Vocal arousal did not correlate with social performance. Results need to be considered carefully, as psychometric problems appeared that had not been considered in previous studies. The surprising lack of CBT effects suggests a need to focus on cognitions surrounding social performance. Further, social skills training should not be a standard SAD treatment component but used only if necessary.

Childhood Irritability: Predictive Validity and Mediators of Adolescent Psychopathology

Despite its transdiagnostic significance, there is modest evidence with respect to the predictive validity of childhood irritability, especially across developmental periods; similarly, little is known about explanatory factors underlying these predictions. This study had two goals: (1) to test the predictive validity of childhood irritability with respect to adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems, controlling for baseline ADHD and related psychopathology and (2) to test theoretically-derived family (i.e., parenting behavior, parenting stress) and social (i.e., peer status, social skills) constructs as explanatory factors of adolescent psychopathology. Two hundred thirty ethnically diverse (51.5% White) 5-10-year-old youth (32% female) with (n = 121) and without (n = 110) ADHD completed three separate laboratory-based assessments across six to seven years. Temporally-ordered predictors, putative mediators, and psychopathology outcomes were assessed using multiple informants (i.e., parent, teacher, youth) and methods (i.e., structured interviews, normed rating scales). Controlling for demographic factors, clinical correlates, and baseline psychopathology, childhood irritability uniquely predicted adolescent externalizing problems, but not internalizing problems. Next, analyses revealed that low social skills partially explained predictions of adolescent internalizing problems. However, family or social factors did not underlie predictions of adolescent externalizing problems. These preliminary findings support the predictive validity of childhood irritability with respect to early adolescent externalizing problems and implicate low social skills as a potentially unique mediator of internalizing outcomes. Intervention-induced improvements in social skills may minimize emergent psychopathology initiated by significant childhood irritability.

A Current Learning Theory Approach to the Etiology and Course of Anxiety and Related Disorders

The authors describe how contemporary learning theory and research provide the basis for models of the etiology and maintenance of anxiety and related disorders. They argue that contemporary learning theory accounts for much of the complexity associated with individual differences in the development and course of these disorders. These insights from modern research on learning overcome the limitations of earlier behavioral approaches, which were overly simplistic and have been justifiably criticized. The authors show how considerations of early learning histories and temperamental vulnerabilities affect the short- and long-term likelihood that experiences with stressful events will lead to the development of anxiety disorders. They also discuss how contextual variables during and after stressful learning experiences influence the maintenance of anxiety disorder symptoms. Thus, contemporary learning models provide a rich and nuanced understanding of the etiology and course of anxiety and related disorders. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, Volume 18 is May 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

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.

Prospective associations between social status and social anxiety in early adolescence

This study examined the transactional longitudinal association between social status (likeability and popularity) and social anxiety symptoms (fear of negative evaluation and social avoidance and distress), and explored gender differences in this association. Participants included 274 adolescents (136 boys, M_age = 12.55). Data were collected at two waves with a 6‐month interval. Likeability and popularity were measured with peer nominations and social anxiety symptoms with self‐reports. Autoregressive cross‐lagged path models showed relative stability of social status and social anxiety. Girls who were seen as less popular by their classmates avoided social situations more frequently and experienced more distress during such situations over time. These results highlight the importance of distinguishing between different social status components and social anxiety symptoms and to take gender into account. Early support for less popular girls seems important to prevent more severe consequences of avoidance and distress, such as social exclusion and victimization.

Mouse-tracking reveals cognitive conflict during negative impression formation in women with Borderline Personality Disorder or Social Anxiety Disorder

Individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) or Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) suffer from substantial interpersonal dysfunction and have difficulties establishing social bonds. A tendency to form negative first impressions of others could contribute to this by way of reducing approach behavior. We tested whether women with BPD or SAD would show negative impression formation compared to healthy women (HCs). We employed the Thin Slices paradigm and showed videos of 52 authentic target participants to 32 women with BPD, 29 women with SAD, and 37 HCs. We asked participants to evaluate whether different positive or negative adjectives described targets and expected BPD raters to provide the most negative ratings, followed by SAD and HC. BPD and SAD raters both agreed with negative adjectives more often than HCs (e.g., ‘Yes, the person is greedy’), and BPD raters rejected positive adjectives more often (e.g., ‘No, the person is not humble.’). However, BPD and SAD raters did not differ significantly from each other. Additionally, we used the novel process tracing method mouse-tracking to assess the cognitive conflict (via trajectory deviations) raters experienced during decision-making. We hypothesized that HCs would experience more conflict when making unfavorable (versus favorable) evaluations and that this pattern would flip in BPD and SAD. We quantified cognitive conflict via maximum absolute deviations (MADs) of the mouse-trajectories. As hypothesized, HCs showed more conflict when rejecting versus agreeing with positive adjectives. The pattern did not flip in BPD and SAD but was substantially reduced, such that BPD and SAD showed similar levels of conflict when rejecting and agreeing with positive adjectives. Contrary to the hypothesis for BPD and SAD, all three groups experienced substantial conflict when agreeing with negative adjectives. We discuss therapeutic implications of the combined choice and mouse-tracking results.

Internalizing Problems in Adolescence: Linking Loneliness, Social Anxiety Symptoms, and Depressive Symptoms Over Time

Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to experiencing loneliness, social anxiety symptoms, and depressive symptoms. These internalizing problems often co-occur but, until now, it remains unclear how they are associated over time. Insight in these temporal sequences is important to enhance our understanding of how internalizing problems arise and may reinforce each other over time. To examine these temporal sequences, three samples of adolescents were used: Sample 1 consisted of 1,116 adolescents (48.97% girls, M_age = 13.59), Sample 2 of 1,423 adolescents (52.42% girls, M_age = 13.79), and Sample 3 of 549 adolescents (62.66% girls, M_age = 14.82). Adolescents filled out well-established self-report measures of loneliness, social anxiety symptoms, and depressive symptoms during regular school hours at three measurement occasions with a 1-year interval. Meta-analytic techniques were used to estimate the average true effects across three-variable autoregressive cross-lagged models in the three samples. In addition, indirect effects and gender differences in the temporal associations were explored in all three samples. The results suggest that social anxiety symptoms play a crucial role as potential antecedent of emerging feelings of loneliness and depression in adolescence. In addition, in line with theoretical expectations, our results suggest the presence of a vicious cycle between adolescents' feelings of loneliness and social anxiety symptoms. The indirect effects were inconsistent across samples and no gender differences were found. These findings shed more light on the unique temporal relationships among different internalizing problems. Clinical interventions should target social anxiety symptoms to prevent feelings of loneliness and vice versa.

Frontal Brain Asymmetry and the Trajectory of Shyness Across the Early School Years

Although resting right frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry has been linked to avoidance and withdrawal-related behaviors such as shyness in previous cross-sectional studies, relatively little research has examined the influence of frontal brain electrical activity on the development of shyness in children using a prospective, longitudinal study design. Here, we tested whether resting frontal EEG asymmetry predicted the trajectory of children's shyness across five assessments. Children were enrolled in the study during the summer prior to grade 1 (N = 37; M_age = 6.39 years, S.D. = 0.15 years), at which time resting frontal EEG activity and maternal report of children's shyness were collected. Mothers then reported on their child's shyness over another four follow-up assessments, spanning 2 years (winter of grade 1, summer prior to grade 2 entry, winter of grade 2, and summer prior to grade 3). Growth curve analysis revealed that children displaying greater relative right frontal EEG activity had lower levels of shyness relative to children exhibiting greater relative left frontal EEG activity at study enrollment (i.e., age 6), but displayed statistically significant linear increases in shyness across time, with the highest levels of shyness by the summer prior to grade 3 (i.e., age 8). There was, however, no relation between left frontal EEG asymmetry and change in shyness across time. These preliminary findings suggest that right frontal EEG asymmetry may reflect a biological diathesis for the growth of shyness during the early school years.

Suicidal ideation among Lebanese adolescents: scale validation, prevalence and correlates

BACKGROUND

In addition to the unstable political situation, Lebanon had experienced a cycle of wars, local armed conflicts, terrorist attacks, and crises (lack of clean water, recurrent power failure, and waste mismanagement, in addition to the growing number of unemployed people, as the number of Syrian refugees has dramatically increased, and led to competition for jobs with locals. All these factors make the Lebanese population prone to mental disorders, particularly suicide, without clear management policies. This study aims to validate the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (CSSRS), and determine the prevalence of suicidal ideation and associated factors among a Lebanese nationally representative sample of adolescents from 9th to 12th grades.

METHODS

Participants were 1810 adolescents who enrolled in this cross-sectional study (January-May 2019), using a proportionate random sample of schools from all Lebanese Mohafazat. The Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale was used to screen for suicidal ideation.

RESULTS

The results showed that 28.9% had some type of suicidal ideation [95% CI 26.7-31.1%]. The CSSRS items converged on a one-factor solution, accounting for a total of 85.40% of the variance (α_Cronbach = 0.966). Higher psychological abuse (Beta = 0.041), child physical abuse (Beta = 0.030), alcohol dependence (Beta = 0.062), social fear (Beta = 0.028), victimization/bullying score (Beta = 0.028), impulsivity (Beta = 0.028) and internet addiction (Beta = 0.010) scores were significantly associated with higher suicidal ideation. Same applies to adolescents whose parents are separated compared to living together (Beta = 0.992) and in females compared to males (0.311). On another hand, a higher age (Beta = - 0.182) was significantly associated with lower suicidal ideation.

CONCLUSION

This study provides insights about suicidal ideation among Lebanese adolescents and related risk factors, such as child psychological and physical abuse, alcohol use disorders, social fear, bullying and victimization, impulsivity, and internet addiction.

Effects of a transdiagnostic cognitive behaviour therapy-based programme on the natural course of anxiety symptoms in adolescence

BACKGROUND

Anxiety disorders frequently have an onset during adolescence, which when left untreated could lead to a chronic course and outcome. This study aimed to examine the way in which a cognitive behaviour therapy-based programme (Super Skills for Life - adolescent version; SSL-A) could change the course of anxiety symptoms through adolescent's behavioural performance and cardiac function.

METHOD

Sixty-one adolescents at risk of developing an anxiety disorder (45.30% boys; M = 13.76 years, SD = 0.32) were randomly assigned to either an intervention (IG), placebo (PG), or a waitlist group (WG). Adolescents in the IG participated in SSL-A over an 8-week period. Adolescents in the PG participated in an 8-session school-work programme. Adolescents in the WG did not receive any intervention. Anxiety symptoms were assessed every six months, twice before the intervention, as well as at the post-intervention and six months after the intervention. Participants in the IG additionally underwent a stressful task to assess behavioural performance and cardiac adjustment.

RESULTS

Adolescents in the IG significantly reported lower levels of social phobia and generalised anxiety symptoms at the follow-up assessment compared to the adolescents in the PG and the WG. They also showed a significant improvement in vocal quality and lower discomfort during a stressful task at post-intervention, and showed attenuated cardiac recovery indexes, in terms of sample entropy.

LIMITATIONS

The study has a small sample size.

CONCLUSION

SSL-A changed the natural course of anxiety symptoms, as shown by a significant reduction in social phobia and generalised anxiety symptoms, and a significant improvement in behaviour and physiological (cardiac) function during a stressful situation.

Testing the vulnerability and scar model of the relationship between self-concept, social support and anxiety symptoms among children of HIV-infected parents in China: A 3-year longitudinal study

BACKGROUND

Mental illness is a great concern among children of HIV-infected parents (COHIP), who are at their crucial stage of psychosocial development. It has been shown that self-concept (SC) and social support (SS) are important correlates of anxiety symptoms (AS), however, nature of the causality remained unclear.

METHODS

A 3-year longitudinal study was conducted in rural Central China, where many people were infected with HIV through unhygienic blood donation. A total of 195 COHIP (mean age: 12.6 years, 49.2% male) completed the baseline assessment and were followed for three years. Cross-lagged structural equation modeling analyses were used to test competing theoretical models: vulnerability model (low SC/SS contributes to AS), scar model (AS erodes SC/SS) and reciprocity model (low SC/SS and AS predict each other).

RESULTS

At each wave, 104 (53.3%) and 67 (41.6%) participants presented with anxiety disorders respectively. Nested-model comparison supported the superiority of scar models wherein AS significantly predicted subsequent low SC (β=-0.24, p=0.013) and SS (β=-0.31, p= 0.033), controlling for synchronous and autoregressive effects of all measures. The most parsimonious multivariate model that included significant relations was finally identified with a good model fit.

LIMITATIONS

Findings might be subject to reporting bias; and could not inform the temporal relationship between SC and SS.

CONCLUSION

Prevalence of anxiety was high among Chinese COHIP. The present study provides empirical evidence for scarring effects of AS; thus, highlighted the importance of identifying and treating COHIP's anxiety to mitigate long-term negative impacts on their psychosocial development.

Examining the Relation Between Adolescent Social Anxiety and Positive Affect Regulation: Self-Report vs. Observation

Social anxiety symptomatology is associated with disruptions in positive affect, though no study has examined deficits in responses to positive affect related to adolescent social anxiety symptoms. The present study tested whether adolescents' self-reported and observed social anxiety symptoms were uniquely associated with specific responses to positive affect. Moreover, we examined whether adolescent gender moderated these relations. Ninety adolescents (ages 11 to 18, M_age = 14.26, SD = 2.03; girls = 62%; white = 79%) completed self-report measures, participated in a social stressor task, and engaged in two positively-valenced interaction tasks with their female caregivers. Adolescent self-reported social anxiety symptoms were not uniquely associated with responses to positive affect. However, observed social anxiety symptoms were uniquely related to greater self-reported inhibiting positive affect responses and fewer observed positive affect maximizing behaviors. These findings highlight the need to examine self-reported and observed social anxiety symptoms in understanding associated disruptions in positive affect regulation.

Overthinkers, attention-seekers and wallflowers: peer perceptions of clinical anxiety disorders in adolescence

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate peer perceptions and stereotypes towards adolescents with clinical anxiety disorders.

Design/methodology/approach

The study utilised an exploratory qualitative design, using short vignettes to investigate perceptions of three clinical anxiety disorders (panic disorder, generalised anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder) and a control scenario, situational stress. Responses were analysed using thematic analysis.

Findings

The results of the study suggest that previously established mental illness stereotypes (e.g. fear and dangerousness) may not be relevant to those with anxiety disorders, with perceptions of personal responsibility, weakness and social abnormality salient instead. These results suggest that stigma interventions should be tailored to disorder and age group.

Practical implications

Perceptions of weakness and blame have been associated with higher levels of discrimination, meaning people with anxiety disorders may be particularly vulnerable. Similarly, the negative social perceptions may be particularly damaging in adolescence, when successful peer relationships are vitally important. The results suggest specific stereotypes to target in stigma reduction campaigns for anxiety disorders, which may not being addressed by existing interventions.

Originality/value

There is a significant lack of research on both adolescent mental illness stigma in general, and anxiety stigma specifically. This study aimed to begin to address that gap, and found results that suggest, in line with previous work, that perceptions of blame may be more common for anxiety disorders, with negative social perceptions also reflecting the unique importance of peer relationships for adolescents. Further research should explore these stereotypes in more detail.

Evaluating social skill in individuals with schizophrenia with the brief impression questionnaire (BIQ)

Current social skill assessments for individuals with schizophrenia require extensive administration times, training, and coding procedures, thus limiting their clinical utility. The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Brief Impression Questionnaire (BIQ), a novel measure designed to utilize immediate impression formation in the assessment of social skill in schizophrenia. An exploratory factor analysis of the BIQ was conducted, and relationships between the extracted factors and measures of social cognition and functioning were assessed. Additionally, we assessed differences on the BIQ between individuals with schizophrenia and control participants. Twenty-two research assistants at three sites rated participants using the BIQ (154 control participants and 218 individuals with schizophrenia). The results revealed identical one-factor structures for both participant groups. For both groups, the BIQ total score was positively associated with performance on social cognitive and everyday functioning assessments. Further, control participants were rated more positively on all BIQ items and received higher BIQ total scores. In the schizophrenia sample, BIQ scores predicted performance on social functioning assessments while controlling for symptom severity. These results indicate that impression formation may be a viable and efficient tool to measure aspects of social cognition and functioning in people with schizophrenia.

Understanding Social Anxiety Disorder in Adolescents and Improving Treatment Outcomes: Applying the Cognitive Model of Clark and Wells (1995)

Social anxiety disorder is a condition characterised by a marked and persistent fear of being humiliated or scrutinised by others. Age-of-onset data point to adolescence as a developmentally sensitive period for the emergence of the condition, at a time when the peer group becomes increasingly important. Social anxiety in adolescence is associated with considerable impairment that persists through to adulthood. There are clear potential benefits to delivering effective interventions during adolescence. However, there is limited evidence on the specific efficacy of available therapies. This is in contrast to adults, for whom we have interventions with very specific treatment effects. One such treatment is individual cognitive therapy. Cognitive therapy is based on the cognitive model of social anxiety proposed by Clark and Wells (in: Heimberg, Leibowitz, Hope, Scheiber (eds) Social phobia: diagnosis, assessment and treatment, The Guilford Press, New York, 1995). The present review examines the potential application of this adult cognitive model to the understanding of adolescent social anxiety and considers additional adolescent-specific factors that need to be accommodated. It is suggested that a developmentally sensitive adoption of the cognitive model of social anxiety disorder (Clark and Wells 1995) for adolescents may lead to better treatment outcomes.

The Leiden Family Lab study on Social Anxiety Disorder: A multiplex, multigenerational family study on neurocognitive endophenotypes

OBJECTIVES

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a serious and prevalent psychiatric condition, with a heritable component. However, little is known about the characteristics that are associated with the genetic component of SAD, the so-called "endophenotypes". These endophenotypes could advance our insight in the genetic susceptibility to SAD, as they are on the pathway from genotype to phenotype. The Leiden Family Lab study on Social Anxiety Disorder (LFLSAD) is the first multiplex, multigenerational study aimed to identify neurocognitive endophenotypes of social anxiety.

METHODS

The LFLSAD is characterized by a multidisciplinary approach and encompasses a variety of measurements, including a clinical interview, functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging and an electroencephalography experiment. Participants are family members from 2 generations, from families genetically enriched for SAD.

RESULTS

The sample (n = 132 participants, from 9 families) was characterized by a high prevalence of SAD, in both generations (prevalence (sub)clinical SAD: 38.3%). Furthermore, (sub)clinical SAD was positively related to self-reported social anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, trait anxiety, behavioral inhibition, negative affect, and the level of depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

By the multidimensional character of the measurements and thorough characterization of the sample, the LFLSAD offers unique opportunities to investigate candidate neurocognitive endophenotypes of SAD.

Young people with higher social anxiety are less likely to adopt the perspective of another: Data from the Director task

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Young people with social anxiety display poor social functioning but it is unclear whether this is underscored by difficulties in key social cognitive abilities, such as perspective taking. Here, we examined whether increased social anxiety is associated with reduced accuracy on a perspective taking task and whether this relationship is stronger at particular periods within adolescence.

METHODS

Fifty-nine adolescents aged 11-19 years completed the computerised Director Task (DT) and the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescence. In the DT, participants virtually move objects by following either instructions given by the 'Director' (who can see only some objects), or a simple rule to ignore certain objects.

RESULTS

Participants who scored above the clinical cut-off for social anxiety (n = 17) were less accurate when they had to take the perspective of the Director into account than those scoring below cut-off, yet performed similarly on control trials. Preliminary analysis indicated that poorer performance was most strongly associated with social anxiety in mid-adolescence (14-16.5 years).

LIMITATIONS

The DT has been used previously to measure online perspective taking but the underlying cognitive mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. Extending these findings using additional measures of perspective taking would be valuable.

CONCLUSIONS

Adolescents with higher social anxiety were less accurate at taking the perspective of a computerised character, with some suggestion that this relationship is strongest during mid-adolescence. If replicated, these findings highlight the importance of addressing specific social cognitive abilities in the assessment and treatment of adolescent social anxiety.

The effects of social anxiety on alcohol and cigarette use across adolescence: Results from a longitudinal twin study in Finland

Conflicting reports exist on the direction of the relationship between social anxiety (SA) and alcohol/cigarette use (AU/CU) and alcohol/nicotine dependence (AD/ND), with both positive and negative associations reported. A prospective, longitudinal sample of Finnish twins (n = 1,906) was used to test potential explanations for these discrepancies. Specifically, this study used peer, parent, and teacher ratings of SA, and a clinical interview screening item for social anxiety disorder (SAD-Sc) to examine associations between SA and AU/CU and AD/ND from early adolescence into young adulthood. Peer-rated SA was negatively associated with AU, CU, and AD from age 14 through age 22, implying a protective effect (β = -0.01 to -.03). Teacher- and parent-rated SA associations were in the same directions but weaker or nonsignificant, indicating that aspects of SA that are recognizable by peers may be most relevant to AU/CU. Self-reported SAD-Sc was also negatively associated with AU, but positively associated with AD symptoms in young adulthood (β = 0.38). Our findings partially support the existence of different associations between SA and AU versus AD, but only in the context of SAD-Sc rather than trait SA. Neither trait SA nor SAD-Sc significantly predicted ND symptoms, although SAD-Sc was associated with both cigarette abstinence and daily smoking. These findings suggest that adolescent SA is modestly associated with lower AU/CU, although there may be some individuals with more severe SA who develop alcohol problems later in life. There was little evidence of a common underlying liability contributing to both SA and alcohol/cigarette use. (PsycINFO Database Record

Two dimensions of social anxiety disorder: a pilot study of the Questionnaire for Social Anxiety and Social Competence Deficits for Adolescents

BACKGROUND

The Questionnaire for Social Anxiety and Social Competence Deficits for Adolescents (SASKO-J) was developed as an instrument for clinical diagnostics of social anxiety disorder in youths by measuring social anxiety and social deficits in two separate dimensions. The study provides an initial assessment of the scale's psychometric properties in a clinical sample.

METHOD

The reliability and validity of the SASKO-J were assessed in a mixed clinical sample of 12- to 19-year-old German adolescents (N = 85; mean age 15.71 years; SD = 1.92; 62.4 % girls). In a second step, the diagnostic validity was evaluated in a clinical sample of 31 adolescent patients with social anxiety disorder (mean age 16.10 years; SD = 1.54; 74.2 % girls) and a sample of 115 German high school students (mean age 15.84 years; SD = 1.65; 60.9 % girls) via Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis.

RESULTS

The internal consistencies of the total scale and the subscales were good to excellent (0.80 ≤ α ≤ 0.96), and the results indicated a good convergent and divergent validity. The ROC analysis revealed a satisfying area under curve (AUC = 0.866), and a cutoff of 41.5 for the SASKO-J total score represented the best balance of sensitivity (0.806) and specificity (0.826).

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this pilot study provide initial support for the clinical use of the SASKO-J in the diagnostic process. Future research should address the question of psychometric properties in a social anxiety disorder sample as well as the questionnaire's sensitivity for detecting change in symptoms during therapy.

Social anxiety disorder in adolescence: How developmental cognitive neuroscience findings may shape understanding and interventions for psychopathology

Social anxiety disorder represents a debilitating condition that has large adverse effects on the quality of social connections, educational achievement and wellbeing. Age-of-onset data suggests that early adolescence is a developmentally sensitive juncture for the onset of social anxiety. In this review, we highlight the potential of using a developmental cognitive neuroscience approach to understand (i) why there are normative increases in social worries in adolescence and (ii) how adolescence-associated changes may 'bring out' neuro-cognitive risk factors for social anxiety in a subset of individuals during this developmental period. We also speculate on how changes that occur in learning and plasticity may allow for optimal acquisition of more adaptive neurocognitive strategies through external interventions. Hence, for the minority of individuals who require external interventions to target their social fears, this enhanced flexibility could result in more powerful and longer-lasting therapeutic effects. We will review two novel interventions that target information-processing biases and their neural substrates via cognitive training and visual feedback of neural activity measured through functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Social anxiety symptoms and suicidal ideation in a clinical sample of early adolescents: examining loneliness and social support as longitudinal mediators

Recent research has shown that social anxiety may be related to increased risk for suicidal ideation in teens, although this research largely has been cross-sectional and has not examined potential mediators of this relationship. A clinical sample of 144 early adolescents (72 % female; 12-15 years old) was assessed during psychiatric inpatient hospitalization and followed up at 9 and 18 months post-baseline. Symptoms of social anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, loneliness, and perceived social support were assessed via structured interviews and self-report instruments. Structural equation modeling revealed a significant direct relationship between social anxiety symptoms at baseline and suicidal ideation at 18 months post-baseline, even after controlling for baseline depressive symptoms and ideation. A second multiple mediation model revealed that baseline social anxiety had a significant indirect effect on suicidal ideation at 18 months post-baseline through loneliness at 9 months post-baseline. Social anxiety did not have a significant indirect effect on suicidal ideation through perceived social support from either parents or close friends. Findings suggest that loneliness may be particularly implicated in the relationship between social anxiety and suicidality in teens. Clinicians should assess and address feelings of loneliness when treating socially anxious adolescents.

Preschool predictors of childhood anxiety disorders: a prospective community study

BACKGROUND

Anxiety disorders are often present at preschool age. Research on older children and studies contrasting preschoolers with high versus low behavioral inhibition (BI) highlight several risk factors, but these have not been investigated in community samples of young children. Child, parent, and peer factors at age 4 were therefore examined as potential predictors of anxiety disorders at age 6.

METHODS

Two birth cohorts of 4-year olds living in the city of Trondheim, Norway, were screened for emotional and behavioral problems. A subsample oversampled for emotional and behavioral problems were drawn to take part in the study; 82.1% consented. Parents of 1000 children were interviewed with the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment and provided ratings of children's BI, victimization by peers and their own anxiety symptoms. Assessments of attachment and parent-child interaction were based on observation. Preschool teachers rated children's social competence. Children were reassessed after 2 years (N = 797).

RESULTS

High scores on BI, attention-deficient/hyperactivity disorder, parental anxiety, and peer victimization, along with low scores on social skills at age 4 collectively predicted anxiety disorders at age 6 after controlling for initial anxiety and other disorders. The effect of parental anxiety did only apply to children with high levels of BI. No effects of age-4 anxiety, gender, parenting, parental SES, divorce, peer acceptance, or attachment emerged.

CONCLUSIONS

Behavioral inhibition, parental anxiety, and peer victimization function as risk factors whereas high social competence may protect against anxiety disorders in young children.

Trajectories of social anxiety during adolescence and relations with cognition, social competence, and temperament

This cohort-sequential study examined developmental trajectories of social anxiety in a nonclinical sample (N = 331, 161 girls) aged 9 to 17 years at initial and 12 to 21 years at final assessment. We tested whether variables assessing cognition, social competence, and temperament discriminated between the trajectories. Variables were collected from different sources: participants, independent observers, parents, and teachers. Using Latent Class Growth Modeling (LCGM) we identified three distinct social anxiety trajectory groups: i) high and changing; ii) moderate and decreasing; and iii) low and decreasing. Multinomial regression analyses showed that the cognition variables, negative interpretations of ambiguous social situations and self-focused attention, differentiated between all three trajectories. A lack of social skills and having social problems at school were specifically related to the chance of following the high trajectory versus the moderate trajectory. Neuroticism differentiated between the low and moderate trajectories. Findings indicate that adolescents at risk of belonging to a high social anxiety trajectory can be discriminated from peers belonging to a less anxious trajectory using both cognition and social competence variables.

Safety behaviors, self-focused attention and negative thinking in children with social anxiety disorder, socially anxious and non-anxious children

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Cognitive behavioral models of social anxiety disorder (SAD) in adults suggest several mechanisms that maintain social anxiety. So far, little is known about the role of these processes in childhood social anxiety.

METHODS

In this study, 21 children with SAD, 21 children with high social anxiety and 21 non-anxious controls (age between 8 and 13 years) were asked about their use of safety behavior in anxiety producing situations. Furthermore, children were asked to indicate their levels of anxiety, self-focused attention and frequency of positive and negative cognitions while engaging in a performance task in front of two adults.

RESULTS

As expected, a significant group effect was found for all dependent variables, with children suffering from SAD reporting the most frequent use of safety behavior and highest levels of anxiety, self-focused attention and negative cognitions during the task, followed by socially anxious children and controls. Unexpectedly, only self-focused attention mediated the relationship between general social anxiety and state anxiety in response to the task.

LIMITATIONS

We assessed only the general use of safety behavior in social threatening situations and not with respect to the performance task.

CONCLUSIONS

The results provide important preliminary evidence for differences between clinical and non-clinical groups in childhood anxiety in maintaining variables as proposed from cognitive models in adults. In particular, self-focused attention seems to be relevant. Targeting the change of inappropriate attentional focus could be promising for treatment improvement in childhood social anxiety.

Assessment of social competence of boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: problematic peer entry, host responses, and evaluations

Anecdotally and empirically, there is clear evidence that children with the Combined subtype of Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) experience disturbed peer relations, yet the field has not clearly established the origin of these difficulties. This is the first known investigation to examine the role of peer entry as a means to determine the social competence of boys with ADHD as they joined lab-based games played by age-mates who were good friends but unfamiliar with entry boys. Observational data of entry boys and their hosts, plus coders' ratings, indicate that 7- to 12-year-old boys with and without ADHD did not differ in the use of competent entry strategies known to lead to acceptance from peers. However, boys with ADHD relied more heavily on incompetent entry strategies (e.g., disruptive attention-getting) known to exacerbate negative peer reputation. In addition, they failed to apply a frame-of-reference that was relevant to host boys' ongoing activity. As such, host boys considered boys with ADHD less likeable as they spent more time with them. This pattern of findings has theoretical implications and informs the foci of social skills interventions for children with ADHD.

Association of social skills with psychological distress among female nurses in Japan

Nursing is a highly stressful occupation. Because nursing work involves interaction with patients and colleagues, competence in social skills may be a key issue in stress management among nurses. However, there are very few studies among nurses focused on social skills together with social support, both of which are important aspects of job stress. The aim of this study was to examine the interrelationships between social skills and social support with job stressors, problem-solving coping, and psychological distress among Japanese nurses. Data from a self-administered questionnaire of 1,197 female nurses who worked for 5 general hospitals in Japan were analyzed. Covariance structure analysis with structural equation modeling techniques showed that social skills and social support were positively related to each other, while they were negatively associated with psychological distress and job stressors, and positively associated with problem-solving coping. Furthermore, the direct association between social skills and psychological distress was stronger than the association between social support and psychological distress. These findings suggested that improving not only social support at work but also individual social skills is important for nurses' mental health.

Negative Social Cognitions in Socially Anxious Youth: Distorted Reality or a Kernel of Truth?

We review studies that investigate negative social cognitions of socially anxious youth in relation to two specific domains: interpretation of ambiguous social situations and self-evaluation of social performance, including social skills and nervous behaviors. In this review, we address the question whether socially anxious youth's negative perceptions are distortions of reality or reflect a kernel of truth as compared to other sources of information including independent adult observers and age peers. Studies key to this question are those that investigate not only the social perceptions themselves but also the social behavior of socially anxious youth. Hence the selection of studies for the review was based on this criterion. From the relevant literature it is, as yet, unclear whether the negative interpretations of ambiguous social situations shown by socially anxious youth are distorted or a reflection of reality. Socially anxious youth's self-evaluations of social skills appear partly distorted and partly true, depending on the person judging the social skills. In contrast, self-evaluations of nervous behaviors appear distorted. The studies reviewed indicate that research would benefit from including a wider range of perceptions from persons relevant to the socially anxious youth's daily social environment, not only parents and teachers but also their age peers.