Several studies have investigated the relationship between adolescents' responses to stress and general anxiety and depression, but only few studies addressed the relationship between responses to... Show moreSeveral studies have investigated the relationship between adolescents' responses to stress and general anxiety and depression, but only few studies addressed the relationship between responses to stress and social anxiety. The current three-wave longitudinal study, that covered a period of 5 years with a time interval of on average two years between waves, examined concurrent as well as prospective relations between adolescents' self-reported stress responses, including coping responses, and self-perceived social anxiety. Both the predictive power of social anxiety for different stress responses and, reversely, of stress responses for social anxiety were evaluated. Participants were 331 youth (170 boys) aged 9 to 17 years old at Wave 1. Self-report questionnaires were used to measure social anxiety, responses to social stress, and depressive symptoms. Results showed significant concurrent relations between social anxiety and maladaptive stress responses. Moreover, the study yielded evidence for social anxiety predicting stress responses across time as well as stress responses predicting social anxiety, although evidence for the former link is stronger. The findings suggest that a relative lack of adaptive stress responses may heighten social anxiety and social anxiety in turn may trigger maladaptive as well as adaptive responses to social problems. The relevance of these findings for social anxiety prevention and intervention purposes are discussed. Show less
As proposed in a prominent developmental model, social anxiety has different manifestations: social fear, shy temperament. anxious cognitions, and avoidance of social situations. Drawing from this... Show moreAs proposed in a prominent developmental model, social anxiety has different manifestations: social fear, shy temperament. anxious cognitions, and avoidance of social situations. Drawing from this model, we used the network approach to psychopathology to gain a detailed understanding of specific social anxiety components and their associations. The current article investigated (a) how social anxiety components are interconnected within a network, and (b) the consistency of the network over time, in a community sample of children and adolescents. Data from 3 waves of a longitudinal study were used. At Time 1 (T1) the total sample comprised 331 participants (M-age = 13.34 years); at Time 3 (T3) there were 236 participants (M-age = 17.48 years). Social anxiety components were assessed with self-report questionnaires. Networks of 15 nodes (i.e., components) were estimated. Network analysis of T1 components revealed 4 communities: cognitive, social-emotional. avoidance of performance, and avoidance of interaction situations. There were no direct connections between the cognitive and behavioral communities; social-emotional nodes appeared to act as bridge components between the 2 communities. A similar pattern of component associations and communities was found in the T2 and T3 networks. and the longitudinal network incorporating node change trajectories. Networks were estimated on group-level observational data and conclusions about cause-effect relationships are tentative. Although the sample size decreased across the 3 waves, the reliability of parameter estimates were minimally affected. Findings attest to the potential value of applying the network approach to investigate the pattern of associations among social anxiety components in youth. Show less
Blöte, A.W.; Miers, A.C.; Van den Bos, E.; Westenberg, P.M. 2019
This three-wave longitudinal study spanning five years evaluated the mediating roles of negative social self-perception and social interpretation bias in the link between adolescent shyness and... Show moreThis three-wave longitudinal study spanning five years evaluated the mediating roles of negative social self-perception and social interpretation bias in the link between adolescent shyness and social anxiety. Participants were 331 (pre-)adolescents aged 9 to 17 years old at Wave 1, with data from 261 participants available for the main analyses. The study used a parent-reported measure of shyness. Social anxiety and the mediator variables were self-reported. Results showed that shyness predicted a relative increase in social anxiety over time. Negative social self-perception mediated the shyness social anxiety link, but social interpretation bias did not. The results suggest that shy adolescents who think negatively about their social performance may become socially anxious. Boosting the social self-perception of shy (pre-)adolescents may help to prevent the development of social anxiety. Show less
Blöte, A.W.; Miers, A.C.; Van den Bos, E.; Westenberg, P.M. 2019
Background: Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has relatively poor outcomes for youth with social anxiety, possibly because broad-based CBT is not tailored to their specific needs. Treatment of... Show moreBackground: Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has relatively poor outcomes for youth with social anxiety, possibly because broad-based CBT is not tailored to their specific needs. Treatment of social anxiety in youth may need to pay more attention to negative social cognitions that are considered a key factor in social anxiety development and maintenance. Aims: The aim of the present study was to learn more about the role of performance quality in adolescents’ cognitions about their social performance and, in particular, the moderating role social anxiety plays in the relationship between performance quality and self-cognitions. Method: A community sample of 229 participants, aged 11 to 18 years, gave a speech and filled in questionnaires addressing social anxiety, depression, expected and self-evaluated performance, and post-event rumination. Independent observers rated the quality of the speech. The data were analysed using moderated mediation analysis. Results: Performance quality mediated the link between expected and self-evaluated performance in adolescents with low and medium levels of social anxiety. For adolescents with high levels of social anxiety, only a direct link between expected and self-evaluated performance was found. Their self-evaluation was not related to the quality of their performance. Performance quality also mediated the link between expected performance and rumination, but social anxiety did not moderate this mediation effect. Conclusions: Results suggest that a good performance does not help socially anxious adolescents to replace their negative self-evaluations with more realistic ones. Specific cognitive intervention strategies should be tailored to the needs of socially anxious adolescents who perform well. Show less
This study addressed the role of social performance and physical attractiveness in the link between social anxiety and peer rejection in first-time social situations. Recordings of 20 high and 20... Show moreThis study addressed the role of social performance and physical attractiveness in the link between social anxiety and peer rejection in first-time social situations. Recordings of 20 high and 20 low socially anxious adolescents giving a speech were rated by unfamiliar peers (N =534) with regard to desire for future interaction (lower scores indicating rejection), social performance, and physical attractiveness; trained adult raters also evaluated social performance. Findings showed high interrelations between the different peer ratings and moderate correlations between adult and peer ratings. High socially anxious students were more rejected and social performance and physical attractiveness partly mediated the link between social anxiety and rejection. The findings may have important implications for socially anxious youth entering new social situations. Show less
This study describes the development of the SPOSY, an observation scale for speech performance of socially anxious youth. The scale was designed as a research tool to address specific behaviors... Show moreThis study describes the development of the SPOSY, an observation scale for speech performance of socially anxious youth. The scale was designed as a research tool to address specific behaviors that are readily noticed by non-expert others and might explain why socially anxious youth are rejected by peers. In Phase 1 of the study, items for the scale were generated based on “free” observations by naive observers. In Phase 2, the psychometric properties of the scale were evaluated using a sample of 218 speakers aged between 9 and 16 years. PCA with oblimin rotation yielded three reliable and stable factors, Expressiveness, Lack of confidence, and Agitation. Expressiveness was negatively related to Lack of confidence. Importantly, socially anxious youth were rated as less expressive and confident but not as more agitated in their behavior as compared to non- socially anxious youth. Low expressiveness seems related to safety behaviors and may play a significant role in peer rejection. Show less
