Friends also matter: Examining friendship adjustment indices as moderators of anxious-withdrawal and trajectories of change in psychological maladjustment

The significance of best friends' motivations for social withdrawal: Associations with socio-emotional adjustment in Chinese children and adolescents

This study applied the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) to simultaneously consider whether, and how, motivations for social withdrawal among Chinese children and adolescents (actor effects) and their best friends (partner effects) uniquely contributed to indices of socio-emotional adjustment. Participants were 101 same-gender best friend dyads (46 boys, Mage = 12.17 years, SD = 1.39) in mainland China. Among the results, actor effects were found such that youths' own shyness and unsociability were related uniquely to the socio-emotional adjustment outcomes. In addition, partner effects were found such that best friend's shyness and unsociability were related uniquely to youths' social preferences and depressive symptoms. These findings highlight the important role of best friends' motivations for social withdrawal in explaining variability in Chinese youths' socio-emotional adjustment and well-being.

Which personal and social resources help adolescents to recover from negative affect in daily life? An experience sampling study

Background: Reducing anxiety and depression in adolescents is a global health priority. Personal and social resources (e.g., hobbies and socialising) may reduce distress. Yet, there is insufficient understanding of how adolescents use such resources to reduce distress.Objective: To identify resources that reduced distress in the everyday lives of adolescents and whether resource use differed according to symptoms of anxiety and depression.Methods: The experience sampling method was used, a longitudinal method requiring participants to report on context and mood at randomly selected moments across a week. A total of 5 558 reports were contributed by 151 adolescents, including 90 with symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. The study was conducted in the poorest neighbourhoods of Bogotá, Buenos Aires, and Lima.Results: Multi-level modelling indicated that using resources was significantly associated with less nervousness and sadness. Adolescents with symptoms of anxiety and/or depression were less likely to use some resources (e.g., sport). Cross-level interactions showed the efficacy of resources differed according to the severity of symptomatology. For adolescents with symptoms of anxiety and depression, some resources (e.g., peer support) improved mood, while others (e.g., music listening) did not.Discussion: Personal and social resources are important for reducing distress in the everyday life of adolescents, giving insight into potential interventions to help mitigate symptoms of anxiety and depression before escalation. Further research could assess the quality of experiences (e.g., appraisal) to deepen understanding of how engagement promotes resilience.Conclusions: Care must be taken when recommending resource use, since some forms (e.g., music listening) may be unhelpful to adolescents with symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Bullying Victimization and Comorbid Patterns of PTSD and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents: Random Intercept Latent Transition Analysis

Many studies have examined post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depressive symptoms in adolescents under the background of school bullying, but not their comorbidities and changes over time. This study used random intercept latent transition analysis (RI-LTA) to examine the transitions in comorbid patterns of PTSD and depressive symptoms among 815 adolescents (45.0% boys; Mage-baseline = 13.69, SD = 1.60), who reported their symptoms in a 3-year longitudinal study. Three comorbid patterns were found: low symptoms, predominantly PTSD symptoms, and symptoms of comorbidity. Among these patterns, five trends were found through 3 years: stable low symptoms, stable PTSD symptoms, improving symptoms, worsening symptoms, and an inverted-U pattern. Age, time that parents spend with their child, being an only child, family income and experiencing relational bullying were predictors of these transitions. These suggest that patterns of PTSD and depressive symptoms are heterogeneous and may change over time since trauma events. Developing targeted interventions based on underlying factors through distinct patterns and transitions may help us better optimize and utilize intervention resources to alleviate symptoms from bullying victims.

Anxious-Withdrawal and Sleep Problems during Adolescence: The Moderating Role of Peer Difficulties

Anxious-withdrawal is a well-established individual risk factor for psychosocial difficulties during adolescence. It is unknown, however, whether it also places youth at increased risk for physical health problems, such as sleep difficulties. This study examines the concurrent and prospective associations between anxious-withdrawal and six types of sleep difficulties (i.e., sleeping too much, sleeping too little, talking/walking in sleep, being overtired, nightmares, and general trouble sleeping). We further evaluate whether these associations differ for adolescents who are high versus low in exclusion and victimization. The participants were 395 adolescents (Mage = 13.61 years; 35% ethnic minority) who completed peer nominations of anxious-withdrawal, exclusion, and victimization at Time 1 (T1). Their mothers completed reports of sleep difficulties at T1 and at Time 2 (T2). Path analyses revealed unique associations between anxious-withdrawal and several types of sleep difficulties (e.g., sleeping too much) at T1. Analyses also revealed a significant interaction effect between T1 anxious-withdrawal and exclusion/victimization such that anxious-withdrawal was prospectively associated with trouble sleeping only for those young adolescents who are highly excluded/victimized. Our findings are the first to link anxious-withdrawal to a physical health outcome in adolescence and point to the need for future research to not only examine anxious-withdrawal and physical health but also to include assessments of peer difficulties.

Contemporary Hermits: A Developmental Psychopathology Account of Extreme Social Withdrawal (Hikikomori) in Young People

Although it is widely accepted that human beings have an ingrained 'need to belong,' there seem to be a substantial subset of young people who seclude themselves for most of the time at home and no longer engage in education or work, ultimately withdrawing from participation in society. In Japan, this phenomenon has been labeled as 'hikikomori,' but given its global presence it may be preferable to use the term 'extreme social withdrawal' (ESW). In this qualitative review, we provide a description and definition of ESW, provide figures on its prevalence, and discuss a number of associated concepts, including loneliness and "aloneliness," school absenteeism and dropout, the 'new' developmental stage of adultolescence, and the labor force categories of freeter ('freelance arbeiter') and NEET (a young person not in employment, education, or training). The core of the paper is focused on the origins of ESW in young people and provides a narrative overview of relevant etiological factors, such as aberrant brain processes, unfavorable temperament, psychiatric conditions, adverse family processes including detrimental parenting, negative peer experiences, societal pressures, and excessive internet and digital media use, which are all placed within a comprehensive developmental psychopathology framework. We will close with a discussion of possible interventions for young people with ESW and formulate a guideline that describes (the temporal order of) various components that need to be included in such a treatment.

Bidirectional Associations Between Friend Overprotection and Psychosocial Adjustment During Adolescence

As friends increase in closeness and influence during adolescence, some friends may become overprotective, or excessively and intrusively protective. Engaging in overprotective behavior, and being the recipient of such behavior, may have positive and negative adjustment trade-offs. The current study examines, for the first time, bidirectional associations between friend overprotection and several adjustment trade-offs, including internalizing problems (i.e., depressive and anxiety symptoms), peer difficulties (i.e., rejection and physical and relational victimization), and positive friendship quality (i.e., closeness, help, and security) during early adolescence. Participants were 269 young adolescents (140 boys; M_age = 11.46, SD = 0.41) who completed self-report and peer nomination measures in their schools at two time points 4 months apart (Fall and Spring of the school year). Structural equation models revealed that being overprotected by a friend predicted decreases in friendship quality and was predicted by peer difficulties and internalizing problems (negatively). Being overprotective of friends predicted increases in internalizing symptoms and was predicted by peer difficulties. Findings are novel as they suggest that friend overprotection may be risky (and not beneficial) for both the overprotector and the overprotectee, setting the stage for future inquiry in this new area of peer relations research.

Academic performance and depression in Chinese children: Same-domain and cross-domain effects in friendships

This 1-year longitudinal study examined the effects of academic performance and depression in friendships among elementary school children in China. Participants included 1122 children (44% boys) within 561 stable friendship dyads initially in fourth and fifth grades (initial M_age  = 11 years). Data on academic performance, depression, and friendship were collected from multiple sources in the period of 2012 to 2014. Dyadic analysis using the actor-partner interdependence model showed that friends' academic performance significantly and positively predicted children's later academic performance, indicating same-domain effects, and significantly and negatively predicted children's later depression, indicating cross-domain effects, with a medium effect size (ε₃  = .70) for the effects of academic performance. The results help understand the role of friendship in children's development in the Chinese context.

Assessing Peer-Related Impairments Linked to Adolescent Social Anxiety: Strategic Selection of Informants Optimizes Prediction of Clinically Relevant Domains

Socially anxious adolescents commonly experience impaired interpersonal functioning with unfamiliar, same-age peers. Yet, we lack short screening tools for assessing peer-related impairments. Recent work revealed that a parent-reported, three-item screening tool produced scores that uniquely related to social anxiety concerns. However, this tool ought to go beyond linking impairments to service needs (i.e., social anxiety symptoms). This tool should also inform the goals of services, in particular by linking impairments to key domains relevant to therapeutically addressing adolescents' anxiety-related needs, such as social skills when interacting with unfamiliar peers. This requires an assessment approach that involves strategic selection of informants who vary in their expertise for observing anxiety-related needs, as well as the therapeutic goals for addressing anxiety-related impairments (e.g., social skills within peer interactions). We leveraged parents' reports to link impairments to social anxiety-related needs. To link impairments to social skills, we leveraged informants (i.e., unfamiliar untrained observers [UUOs]) who observed adolescents within tasks designed to simulate interactions with same-age, unfamiliar peers. We tested this approach using a mixed-clinical/community sample of 134 adolescents, ages 14- to 15 years old. We leveraged multi-informant survey reports to assess adolescent social anxiety, and trained independent observers rated adolescents' social skills within unfamiliar peer interactions. Parents' reports performed best when distinguishing adolescents on referral status and predicting survey-reported social anxiety, whereas only UUOs' reports predicted independent observers' social skills ratings. These findings inform the strategic selection of informants for assessing impairments that commonly prompt the need for adolescents to access mental health services for social anxiety.

Temporal approaches to the study of friendship: Understanding the developmental significance of friendship change during childhood and adolescence

With longitudinal studies and recently-developed analyses that can model change, it has become increasingly clear that many types of peer experiences during childhood and adolescence are not static. Instead, such experiences change in numerous ways over time, with significant developmental implications. Most of this recent work, however, has focused on change and stability in group-level peer experiences such as peer victimization, peer exclusion, and popularity. As a result, less is known about the extent to which change occurs, and the developmental significance of such changes, in youths' dyadic-level peer experiences and specifically their friendships. Thus, the goal of this chapter is to illustrate the importance of studying friendship change during childhood and adolescence. To do so, we first review the literature on friendship, in general, and then that pertaining to friendship instability and friendship loss, two related areas of friendship change research that have received some theoretical and empirical attention. We introduce a new friendship development model, and informed by this model, encourage peer relations researchers to consider other types of change in friendships. The concluding sections concentrate on the importance of learning more about friendship change for intervention and prevention efforts with youth.

Perspectives on Social Withdrawal in Childhood: Past, Present, and Prospects

In this article, we provide definitional clarity for the construct of social withdrawal as it was originally construed, and review the original theoretical and conceptual bases that led to the first research program dedicated to the developmental study of social withdrawal (the Waterloo Longitudinal Project). We also describe correlates (e.g., social and social-cognitive incompetence), precursors (e.g., dispositional characteristics, parenting, insecure attachment), and consequences (e.g., peer rejection and victimization, negative self-regard, anxiety) of social withdrawal, and discuss how the study of this type of withdrawal led to a novel intervention that targets risk factors that predict social withdrawal and its negative consequences.

The longitudinal role of early family risks and early social-emotional problems for friendship quality in preadolescence-A regression model

The quality of a best friendship provides information about how developmentally beneficial it is. However, little is known about possible early risk factors that influence later friendship quality. The present study examined the role of family risks and social-emotional problems (behavioral problems, peer problems, anxious, and depressive symptoms) in early childhood for positive (i.e., support and help) and negative (i.e., conflicts and betrayal) dimensions of friendship quality with their best friend in preadolescence. 293 children (47.9% female) aged 2–4, their parents and teachers participated in the study with three measurement occasions (T1; M_age = 2.81, T2; M_age = 3.76, T3; M_age = 9.69). The last measurement occasion was at the age of 9–11 years. Results of the longitudinal regression model showed that depressive symptoms in early childhood were associated with a lower positive dimension of friendship quality in preadolescence. In contrast, early anxious symptoms were related to a higher positive dimension of friendship quality six years later. Neither family risks, nor behavioral problems and peer problems in early childhood were linked to the positive dimension of friendship quality in preadolescence. No early predictors were found for the negative dimension of friendship quality. Possible reasons for the lack of associations are discussed. Findings suggest that children with early depressive symptoms at 3–5 years of age should be the targets of potential interventions to form high quality friendships in preadolescence. Possible interventions are mentioned.

Access to Epidemic Information and Life Satisfaction under the Period of COVID-19: the Mediating Role of Perceived Stress and the Moderating Role of Friendship Quality

The present study mainly focused on college students amidst the COVID-19 outbreak and aimed to develop and examine a moderated mediation model between access to epidemic information and life satisfaction. Friendship quality as a moderator, and perceived stress as a mediator. A sample of 1032 college students participated in this study and completed questionnaires regarding access to epidemic information, perceived stress, friendship quality, and life satisfaction. Findings indicated that 1) access to epidemic information was strongly related to life satisfaction; 2) perceived stress acts as a mediator in the positive relationship between access to epidemic information and life satisfaction; 3) friendship quality moderated the relationship between access to epidemic information and perceived stress as well as perceived stress and life satisfaction, and such that there was a stronger association between access to epidemic information and perceived stress for college students with high friendship quality. But the relationship between perceived stress and life satisfaction became weaker for college students with high friendship quality. The results illuminate the mechanism to theoretical and practical implications for improving college students' life satisfaction during the pandemic.

Shyness and Psychological Maladjustment in Chinese Adolescents: Selection and Influence Processes in Friendship Networks

Few studies have been conducted to examine the role shyness plays in friendship selection and influences processes, particularly how befriending shy peers affects individual's psychological adjustment. To address these gaps, this study investigated the selection, de-selection, same behavior influence effects of shyness in the friendship network in Chinese adolescents using the longitudinal social network analysis. It also explored the possible pathways that transmit indirect influences of friends' shyness to individual's psychological maladjustments (i.e., loneliness and depressive symptoms). A sample of adolescents (N = 1254, 48.4% girls, M_age = 13.20 years at Time 1) were followed for three years in middle schools. The results showed that adolescents tended to befriend those who had similar shyness level during T1-T2 interval, but the friendships between shy friends were more likely to terminate during T2-T3 interval. Moreover, adolescents were found to become more similar with their friends in shyness over time. The study also found that friends' shyness at T1 would influence individual's loneliness at T3 via 1) increasing friends' loneliness at T2 or 2) increasing individual's shyness level at T2. Those two pathways, however, were not found for depressive symptoms. These findings indicate that shyness plays an important role in the friendship formation and dissolution and befriending shy peers may have implications for adolescents' development of shyness and loneliness.

Intrapersonal Emotion Regulation Difficulties and Maladaptive Interpersonal Behavior in Adolescence

Although most research conceptualizes emotion regulation as an internal process (i.e., intrapersonal), emotions are frequently regulated in an interpersonal context. Adolescents may be particularly prone to turn to peers for assistance, given that honing emotion regulation abilities is a key task and peers become increasingly important at this stage. Adolescents each participated with a self-nominated same-gender friend (total N = 186; M age = 15.68 years). All participants provided self-reports of their own emotion regulation difficulties and their engagement in interpersonal behaviors (excessive reassurance seeking, negative feedback seeking, conversational self-focus, self-disclosure) as well as their perceptions of their friends' engagement in excessive reassurance seeking and conversational self-focus. Using a cross-lagged panel model design, the current study tested associations between adolescents' intrapersonal emotion regulation difficulties and engagement in self- and friend-reported interpersonal emotion regulation behaviors at 3 time points over 6 months. Gender and age group differences were considered. Results evidenced concurrent and longitudinal associations between emotion regulation difficulties and self-reported maladaptive (excessive reassurance seeking, conversational self-focus, negative feedback seeking), but not adaptive (self-disclosure), interpersonal regulatory behaviors. Friends' reports of adolescents' excessive reassurance seeking and conversational self-focus were associated concurrently, but not longitudinally, with self-reported emotion regulation difficulties. Implications for clinical intervention with adolescents struggling to regulate emotions are discussed.

A Dynamic Examination of the Associations between Shyness, Psychological Difficulties, and Stressful Life Events during Early Adolescence

Although numerous studies have established linkages between shyness and later psychological difficulties, most extant research did not examine variation in shyness over time in relation to variation in psychological difficulties over time or possible environmental factors of influence outside of the school context. The current study used multi-level modelling to simultaneously examine time-invariant and time-variant associations between shyness, the psychological difficulties of depressive symptoms and loneliness, and stressful life events at four waves across 1 year in a community sample of 271 young adolescents (51% boys; M_age = 11.83 years at W1). Results revealed significant time-variant and time-invariant effects when loneliness was examined as a predictor of shyness. In addition, a significant interaction effect indicated that shyness decreased over time for those young adolescents who experienced few stressful life events, highlighting an understudied moderator of risk. Overall, findings have important implications for understanding the psychological concomitants of shyness as well as etiological models of shyness.

Developmental Trajectories of Shyness-Sensitivity from Middle Childhood to Early Adolescence in China: Contributions of Peer Preference and Mutual Friendship

This study examined trajectories of shyness-sensitivity and the contributions of peer relationships to these trajectories in Chinese children. Participants were 1061 school-age children (537 boys), initially in fifth grade (M_age = 11 years), in China. Longitudinal data on shyness-sensitivity were collected from peer assessments once a year for four years. In addition, peer nomination data on peer acceptance-rejection and mutual friendship were collected in the initial study. Four distinct shyness-sensitivity trajectories were identified: Low-Stable, Low-Increasing, Moderate-Decreasing, and High-Stable. Children with high peer acceptance scores were more likely to be in the High-Stable and Moderate-Decreasing trajectories than in the Low-Stable and Low-Increasing trajectories. The analysis of predictors of the within-trajectory growth rate indicated that children who were more liked by peers increased their shyness-sensitivity more slowly within the Low-Increasing trajectory and that children with mutual friendship involvement decreased their shyness-sensitivity more slowly within the Moderate-Decreasing trajectory. The results suggested that positive relationships might serve to attenuate developmental changes of shyness-sensitivity within these trajectories. The results were discussed in the Chinese context.

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.

Social context and the real-world consequences of social anxiety

BACKGROUND

Social anxiety lies on a continuum, and young adults with elevated symptoms are at risk for developing a range of psychiatric disorders. Yet relatively little is known about the factors that govern the hour-by-hour experience and expression of social anxiety in the real world.

METHODS

Here we used smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to intensively sample emotional experience across different social contexts in the daily lives of 228 young adults selectively recruited to represent a broad spectrum of social anxiety symptoms.

RESULTS

Leveraging data from over 11 000 real-world assessments, our results highlight the central role of close friends, family members, and romantic partners. The presence of such close companions was associated with enhanced mood, yet socially anxious individuals had fewer confidants and spent less time with the close companions that they do have. Although higher levels of social anxiety were associated with a general worsening of mood, socially anxious individuals appear to derive larger benefits - lower levels of negative affect, anxiety, and depression - from their close companions. In contrast, variation in social anxiety was unrelated to the amount of time spent with strangers, co-workers, and acquaintances; and we uncovered no evidence of emotional hypersensitivity to these less-familiar individuals.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings provide a framework for understanding the deleterious consequences of social anxiety in emerging adulthood and set the stage for developing improved intervention strategies.

Receiving Prosocial Behavior: Examining the Reciprocal Associations between Positive Peer Treatment and Psychosocial and Behavioral Outcomes

This study investigates the prospective and reciprocal associations between positive peer treatment and psychosocial (popularity, preference, psychological distress) and behavioral (prosocial behavior) outcomes during early adolescence. Participants were 270 young adolescents (52% boys; M_age  = 11.84 years) who completed peer nomination and self-report measures as part of a 7-month longitudinal study (Wave 1; Feb. Grade 6; Wave 2: May, Grade 6; Wave 3: Sept., Grade 7). Cross-lagged autoregressive path models revealed reciprocal associations between positive peer treatment and prosocial behavior, such that Wave 1 positive peer treatment predicted increases in Wave 2 prosocial behavior and vice versa. Findings are novel, highlight the importance of considering positive peer treatment during adolescence, and set the stage for future work in this area.

Social connectedness, depression symptoms, and health service utilization: a longitudinal study of Veterans Health Administration patients

PURPOSE

Our study explored whether aspects of veterans' social connectedness (social support, interpersonal conflict, loneliness, social norms, number of confidants) are associated with change in their depression symptoms and health services utilization over 1 year.

METHODS

We conducted a prospective, longitudinal study of 262 military veterans who obtained primary care and other services at a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facility and screened positive for depression. Participants completed surveys at baseline and 12-month follow-up. We measured social connectedness variables using the NIH Toolbox Adult Social Relationship Scales. We used the Patient Health Questionnaire to assess depression symptoms and suicidal ideation and administrative medical record data for health services utilization. We calculated change scores to model outcomes over time using multivariable regressions.

RESULTS

We found that higher levels of baseline loneliness were associated with decreased depression severity over 1 year (B = - 1.55, 95% CI [- 2.53, - .56], p < .01). We found a similar association for suicidal ideation. In contrast, higher baseline number of confidants was associated with increased depression (B = .55, 95% CI [.18, .92], p < .01). Higher levels of emotional support were associated with decreased mental health visits (B = - 3.88, 95% CI [- 6.80, - .96], p < .01). No significant associations were found between social connectedness variables and primary care visits.

CONCLUSIONS

Emotional support may play an important role in reducing mental health treatment utilization among VHA-using veterans. Additional investigation as to how and why loneliness and number of confidants might be paradoxically associated with depression symptoms remains necessary.

Peer relationship profiles in rural Chinese adolescents: Longitudinal relations with subjective well-being

Using two waves of data, this study aimed to identify the peer relationship profiles of 1295 rural Chinese adolescents based on a person-centered approach and to examine the interactions among these profiles, left-behind status, and gender in predicting subsequent subjective well-being. Latent profile analyses identified four profiles: a socially competent profile, a socially accepted profile, an isolated profile, and a rejected profile. These profiles were linked to left-behind status (i.e. both-parent migration, father-only migration, mother-only migration, and non-parent migration) and gender. Moreover, left-behind status moderated the longitudinal relations between the peer relationship profiles and subjective well-being for boys and girls.

Evaluating Links Among Shyness, Peer Relations, and Internalizing Problems in Chinese Young Adolescents

This study evaluates a model linking shyness, aspects of peer relations, and internalizing problems among young adolescents in the People's Republic of China. Participants were 547 young adolescents from Shanghai, China (46% boys; M_age  = 10.35 years, SD = 0.77 years) who completed peer nominations of shyness, rejection, and victimization, and self-report measures of loneliness, depression, and friendship support. Analyses demonstrated that peer difficulties (rejection, victimization) mediated the associations between shyness and internalizing problems. However, moderated mediation analyses revealed a protective effect for highly supportive friendships, especially for boys. Findings highlight the importance of considering different types of peer experiences in studies of shy young adolescents and are discussed in terms of importance to theory and intervention in China and elsewhere.

Dispositional negativity, cognition, and anxiety disorders: An integrative translational neuroscience framework

When extreme, anxiety can become debilitating. Anxiety disorders, which often first emerge early in development, are common and challenging to treat, yet the underlying mechanisms have only recently begun to come into focus. Here, we review new insights into the nature and biological bases of dispositional negativity, a fundamental dimension of childhood temperament and adult personality and a prominent risk factor for the development of pediatric and adult anxiety disorders. Converging lines of epidemiological, neurobiological, and mechanistic evidence suggest that dispositional negativity increases the likelihood of psychopathology via specific neurocognitive mechanisms, including attentional biases to threat and deficits in executive control. Collectively, these observations provide an integrative translational framework for understanding the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders in adults and youth and set the stage for developing improved intervention strategies.

Prosocial Behavior and Friendship Quality as Moderators of the Association Between Anxious Withdrawal and Peer Experiences in Portuguese Young Adolescents

Anxious withdrawal has been associated consistently with adverse peer experiences. However, research has also shown that there is significant heterogeneity among anxiously withdrawn youth. Further, extant research has focused primarily on negative peer experiences and outcomes; little is known about the more successful social experiences of anxiously withdrawn youth. We explored the possibility that the association between anxious withdrawal and group-level peer outcomes (exclusion, victimization, and popularity) might be moderated by peer-valued behaviors (prosocial behavior), friendship relational attributes, and sex, even after accounting for the effects of being involved in a reciprocal best friendship. Peer nominations of psychosocial functioning, and self-reports of best friendships and friendship quality were collected in a community sample of 684 Portuguese young adolescents. Regression analyses revealed that more anxious withdrawn adolescents showed worst group-level peer outcomes, but that: (a) prosocial behavior buffered the positive association between anxious-withdrawal and peer exclusion, particularly for boys; (b) higher friendship quality was associated with lower risk of peer victimization for more anxious-withdrawn girls, but with a higher risk for more anxious withdrawn boys; and (c) higher friendship conflict buffered the positive association between anxious withdrawal and peer exclusion for boys. Results are discussed in terms of the implications of peer-valued characteristics on the peer group experiences of anxiously withdrawn young adolescents.

Persistent complex bereavement symptoms explain impairments above depression, posttraumatic stress, and separation anxiety: an incremental validity study

The present study examined the incremental validity of persistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD) symptoms using an on-line survey of 255 bereaved college students. A series of hierarchical multiple regression analyses examined the extent to which PCBD symptoms explained unique variance in different domains of life impairment, beyond symptoms of depression, posttraumatic stress, and separation anxiety. The results supported the incremental validity of PCBD symptoms for fear of future losses, sleep impairment, and work/social impairment. However, PCBD symptoms did not account for loneliness scores. These findings collectively support the validity and clinical utility of the DSM-5's PCBD construct.

An Examination of Reciprocal Associations Between Social Preference, Popularity, and Friendship during Early Adolescence

Getting along with peers becomes increasingly important to health and well-being during early adolescence (10-14 years). Young adolescents may succeed with peers when they are well-liked by and popular among the larger peer group (or at the group-level of social complexity). They might also fare well with peers when they are able to form numerous mutual and high quality friendships (at the dyadic-level of social complexity). Theory emphasizes the interrelatedness of different types of peer experiences, but few longitudinal studies have examined the interplay among and between group- and dyadic-level peer experiences in the same study. As a result, it is not known whether group-level peer experiences are predictors of dyadic-level peer experiences, and/or vice versa. To address this limitation, this study examined the prospective and reciprocal relations between four indices of peer experiences, preference (or being highly liked and not disliked by peers), popularity (or having a reputation as popular), friendship quantity (or having many mutual friends), and friendship or relationship quality, during early adolescence. Participants were 271 adolescents (49% girls; M_age = 11.52 years) who completed peer nominations of preference and popularity, a self-report measure of friendship quality, and nominated friends at two waves (Wave 1: November, Grade 6; Wave 2: October, Grade 7). Structural equation modeling indicated that friendship quantity predicted increases in preference and popularity and that friendship quality predicted increases in friendship quantity. Initial popularity was associated with decreases in preference. The importance of these findings for future research is discussed along with study limitations.

Still lonely: Social adjustment of youth with and without social anxiety disorder following cognitive behavioral therapy

Social experiences are an integral part of normative development for youth and social functioning difficulties are related to poor outcomes. Youth with anxiety disorders, and particularly social anxiety disorder, experience difficulties across many aspects of social functioning that may place them at risk for maladjustment. The goal of this paper was to compare social experiences of youth across anxiety diagnoses and examine whether treatment is helpful in improving social functioning. Ninety-two children (age 7-12 years; 58% male; 87.0% White) with a primary diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, and/or social anxiety disorder participated in cognitive behavioral therapy. At both pre- and post-treatment, children with social anxiety disorder self-reported greater loneliness than youth without social anxiety disorder, though levels of peer victimization and receipt of prosocial behavior were similar across groups. Parents reported greater social problems for youth with social anxiety disorder compared to those without social anxiety disorder. All youth experienced improved social functioning following treatment per child- and parent-reports. The results call for an increased focus on the social experiences of youth with anxiety disorders, and particularly loneliness, for children with social anxiety disorder. The results document ways that evidenced-based practice can improve social functioning for youth with anxiety disorders.