Is concentration an indirect link between social anxiety and educational achievement in adolescents?

Prevalence of social anxiety disorder and its associated factors among foreign-born undergraduate students in Türkiye: A cross-sectional study

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is prevalent among university students, yet data on its severity among foreign-born international undergraduate students in Türkiye remains limited. This study aims to determine the prevalence of SAD and its associated factors within this population. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a Google Form survey distributed across various universities from September 17, 2023, to February 1, 2024. The survey comprised two sections: sociodemographic information and 17 items of the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN), which measures the frequency and intensity of social anxiety symptoms. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and inferential analysis, multiple regression, and binomial logistic regression. Out of 506 participants, 455 were included in the study. Results revealed that 39.1% exhibited no or very mild symptoms of SAD, while 23.7% experienced mild symptoms, 21.3% faced moderate symptoms, and 11.6% and 4.2% presented with severe to very severe symptoms, respectively. Factors such as gender (p < 0.0001), previous academic failures (p = 0.013), family history of mental health issues (p = 0.009), exercise frequency (p < 0.0001), and perceptions of relationships with classmates (p < 0.0001) were significantly associated with SAD. Females showed a higher probability of SAD compared to males (OR = 1.976). Individuals engaging in over 90 minutes of exercise per week were less likely to have SAD (OR = 0.383), and occasional smokers had a lower risk of SAD compared to non-smokers (OR = 0.422). Our study uncovered a notably elevated prevalence of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) among foreign-born undergraduate students in Türkiye. Factors such as being female, having a family history of mental illnesses, studying in a stressful environment, experiencing academic failure, and engaging in less frequent exercise were associated with noticeable symptoms of SAD. These findings emphasize the urgent need for heightened efforts in recognizing and addressing SAD within this population.

Shyness and academic procrastination among Chinese adolescents: a moderated mediation model of self-regulation and self-focused attention

Academic procrastination is a common concern among adolescents, but the correlation between shyness and academic procrastination and the internal mechanisms have not yet been thoroughly investigated. Based on a questionnaire survey with 1,279 Chinese middle school students, this study examined the effect of shyness on academic procrastination and its underlying mechanism of self-regulation and self-focused attention. Results revealed that: (1) shyness significantly predicted academic procrastination. (2) Self-regulation mediated the relationship between shyness and academic procrastination. (3) Self-focused attention played a moderating role in the first half of this mediation process. Specifically, higher level of self-focused attention strengthened the predictive effect of shyness on self-regulation. These results underscored the latent risks and protective factors associated with shyness, self-regulation, and self-focused attention in adolescent academic procrastination. In future research and interventions, attention may be directed towards improving individual internal factors to assist adolescents in effectively addressing issues related to academic procrastination.

School completion and progression to higher education in adolescents with social anxiety: a linkage between Young-HUNT3 and national educational data (2008-2019), Norway

BACKGROUND

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) most commonly develops in adolescence-a period of life that includes a transition to upper secondary school. The aim of this study is to investigate the extent to which social anxiety in adolescence is associated with the completion of upper secondary school and progression to higher education.

METHODS

This longitudinal study includes 8,192 adolescents aged 13-19 years who participated in the Norwegian Young-HUNT 3 population-based study. Social anxiety is measured employing (1) diagnostic interview screening questions (interview) and (2) a self-reported symptom index (questionnaire). Notably, we define the cohorts based on these two methods. Using national educational data (2008-2019), we follow educational attainment among the cohorts until they turn 25 years of age.

RESULTS

We found that adolescents who screened positive (SP) for SAD had a predicted probability of upper secondary school completion at 21 years of age that was 14% points lower than those who screened negative (SN). Further, differences remained when looking at completion rates at age 25 years. Moreover, predicted probabilities for completion were inversely associated with increasing levels of self-reported social anxiety symptoms. Similarly, the proportion of the completers of an academic program in the SP group that were enrolled in higher education by 25 years of age, were lower than for the SN group (87 vs. 92%).

CONCLUSION

Social anxiety in adolescence, both self-reported symptoms and diagnostic screening, has long-term negative impact on upper secondary school completion and to some extent enrollment to higher education.

A bibliometric analysis on adolescent social anxiety and psychoeducational variables in Web of Science 2002-2021

The aim of this bibliometric analysis was to analyze the scientific output on adolescent social anxiety and its relationship with 15 psychoeducational variables in peer-reviewed journals during the period 2002-2021. The goal was to provide a comprehensive overview of the state of the art on adolescent social anxiety and academic/school achievement, performance, self-concept, self-esteem, self-efficacy, self-attributions, goals, attachment, adjustment, engagement, refusal, absenteeism, anxiety, learning strategies, and self-regulated learning. A search of scientific literature was conducted using Web of Science, and 157 empirical studies were identified. Analyses were conducted using bibliometrix 3.1 to avoid the risk of bias. The results suggested progressive growth in the scientific output on this research topic mainly in the USA, China, Spain, and Canada, and revealed trending issues and scientific interest regarding the relationship between adolescent social anxiety and academic/school achievement and performance. Other variables, such as academic/school attachment and self-regulated learning did not emerge. The results provide implications for practitioners (i.e., educators, clinical and educational psychologists, and psychiatrists), supporting emerging lines of research. Limitations include a lack of a review protocol and a lack of comparison with other international databases, such as PsychInfo, Scopus, PubMed, or ERIC.

Rethinking Learning Experience: How Generally Perceived Life Stress Influences Students' Course Perceptions in Different Learning Environments

Previous research work has already demonstrated that both the form of teaching as well as different teaching methods directly influence students' learning experience along with their psychobiological responses at the endocrine and autonomic level. Aiming to gain deeper insights into the constitution of the learning experience, this study examined the influence of external factors such as generally perceived life stress and self-efficacy on the immediate learning experience in different learning environments. Therefore, a randomized experimental field study was conducted in which both psychological constructs and physiological data (heart rate variability) were collected from healthy first-year medical students (n = 101) during the COVID-19 pandemic. In an effort to determine the consistency of the effects across various teaching formats, the same content of a practical histology course was carried out in a face-to-face setting as well as in passive and active online teaching. While self-efficacy was a strong predictor for positive course perceptions in all learning conditions (Pearson's r = 0.41-0.58), generally perceived worries correlated with higher anxiety during passive online learning and face-to-face learning (Pearson's r = 0.21-0.44), a finding supported by the negative correlation between the level of perceived life demands and enjoyment during the learning unit (Pearson's r = -0.40--0.43). Here, we additionally report initial evidence pointing towards the role of reduced general life stress as a resilience factor for the expression of physiological stress parameters in an academic context (small-sized effect; Pearson's r = 0.18). The data gathered in this study illustrate the relevance of emerging emotional manifestations-either aversive; negative effect or positive; protective effect-for the immediate learning process and thus establish a connection between medical education and the importance of mental health and wellbeing-especially discussed against the background of current social and political challenges in increasingly complex societal structures.

Development and Validation of a Prediction Model for Anxiety Improvement after Deep Brain Stimulation for Parkinson Disease

BACKGROUND

Parkinson's disease (PD) represents one of the most frequently seen neurodegenerative disorders, while anxiety accounts for its non-motor symptom (NMS), and it has greatly affected the life quality of PD cases. Bilateral subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) can effectively treat PD. This study aimed to develop a clinical prediction model for the anxiety improvement rate achieved in PD patients receiving STN-DBS.

METHODS

The present work retrospectively enrolled 103 PD cases undergoing STN-DBS. Patients were followed up for 1 year after surgery to analyze the improvement in HAMA scores. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were conducted to select factors affecting the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) improvement. A nomogram was established to predict the likelihood of achieving anxiety improvement. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, decision curve analysis (DCA), and calibration curve analysis were conducted to verify nomogram performance.

RESULTS

The mean improvement in HAMA score was 23.9% in 103 patients; among them, 68.9% had improved anxiety, 25.2% had worsened (Preop) anxiety, and 5.8% had no significant change in anxiety. Education years, UPDRS-III preoperative score, and HAMA preoperative score were independent risk factors for anxiety improvement. The nomogram-predicted values were consistent with real probabilities.

CONCLUSIONS

Collectively, a nomogram is built in the present work for predicting anxiety improvement probability in PD patients 1 year after STN-DBS. The model is valuable for determining expected anxiety improvement in PD patients undergoing STN-DBS.

Internet-delivered therapist-assisted cognitive therapy for adolescent social anxiety disorder (OSCA): a randomised controlled trial addressing preliminary efficacy and mechanisms of action

BACKGROUND

Cognitive therapy for SAD (CT-SAD) is a first-line recommended treatment for adult social anxiety disorder (SAD) and shows considerable promise for youth. However, the high prevalence of adolescent SAD and limited number of therapists presents an implementation challenge. Delivery of CT-SAD via the Internet may offer part of the solution.

METHOD

Forty-three youth (14-18 years) with SAD recruited through schools were randomly allocated to therapist-assisted Internet-delivered CT-SAD (called OSCA) or waitlist for 14 weeks (ISRCTN15079139).

RESULTS

OSCA outperformed waitlist on all measures and was associated with large effects that were maintained at 6-month follow-up. In the OSCA arm, 77% of adolescents lost their SAD diagnosis at post (vs. 14% in the waitlist arm), increasing to 91% at 6-months. Beneficial effects of OSCA were mediated through changes in cognitions and safety behaviours as predicted by cognitive models of SAD. OSCA was associated with high credibility and therapeutic alliance.

CONCLUSIONS

This preliminary trial suggests OSCA holds promise as an effective, accessible treatment for adolescent SAD. Future definitive trials could compare OSCA to active comparators to examine specificity of effects.

Measuring Mental Wellbeing of Children via Human-Robot Interaction: Challenges and Opportunities

During the last decade, children have shown an increasing need for mental wellbeing interventions due to their anxiety and depression issues, which the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated. Socially Assistive Robotics have been shown to have a great potential to support children with mental wellbeing-related issues. However, understanding how robots can be used to aid the measurement of these issues is still an open challenge. This paper presents a narrative review of child-robot interaction (cHRI) papers (IEEE ROMAN proceedings from 2016-2021 and keyword-based article search using Google Scholar) to investigate the open challenges and potential knowledge gaps in the evaluation of mental wellbeing or the assessment of factors affecting mental wellbeing in children. We exploited the SPIDER framework to search for the key elements for the inclusion of relevant studies. Findings from this work (10 screened papers in total) investigate the challenges in cHRI studies about mental wellbeing by categorising the current research in terms of robot-related factors (robot autonomy and type of robot), protocol-related factors (experiment purpose, tasks, participants and user sensing) and data related factors (analysis and findings). The main contribution of this work is to highlight the potential opportunities for cHRI researchers to carry out measurements concerning children's mental wellbeing.

The impact of social phobia on willingness to communicate in a second language: The mediation effect of ideal L2 self

In recent years, a greater focus has been placed on the influential power of domain-general psychological properties in second language acquisition and learning. The investigations of these properties, such as grit, academic procrastination and enjoyment etc. have been extensively conducted and are well-documented. Notwithstanding the surge of academic inquiry, the link between psychopathological notions and second language learning has not been adequately established and thoroughly scrutinized. The current study, therefore, aims to broaden the spectrum of second language research and explore the impact of social phobia on willingness to communicate in the second language context. Meanwhile, this research introduces the self-construct, particularly the ideal L2 self to further examine and elucidate the impact. 173 qualified Chinese speakers of L2 English participated in the study. By conducting correlation analysis, regression analysis and structural equation modelling analysis, it was revealed that social phobia had a significant negative impact on L2 willingness to communicate in social situations of meetings and public speaking. Ideal L2 self acted as a complete mediating role in the impact. Pedagogical implications and future directions were proposed and discussed.

Emotional intelligence as a mediator in the relationship between academic performance and burnout in high school students

Low performance of high school students and repeating a year are major problems in the education system. Low performance in the classroom generates negative emotions in young people and has been related to development of school burnout. The objective of this study was to analyze the repercussions of academic performance on burnout in high school students, and establish the role of emotional intelligence in this relationship. The sample was made up of 1287 high school students aged 14 to 18, who filled out questionnaires for evaluation of these variables. The results showed that youths who had failed a subject or had repeated a year showed more exhaustion and cynicism than their classmates with better performance and higher academic efficacy. A relationship was also found between school burnout and emotional intelligence in these adolescents, positive for self-efficacy and negative for cynicism and exhaustion. The model results showed that low academic performance affected burnout level, and that stress management and mood in emotional intelligence acted as a mediator in this relationship. In conclusion, development of emotional intelligence programs in the educational context is proposed as a measure for preventing burnout in the face of adverse high school academic events, such as failing or repeating a year.