A longitudinal study of prevalence and predictors of incidence and persistence of sub-diagnostic social anxiety among Swedish adolescents
Author(s)
Mörtberg, Ewa
Jansson Fröjmark, Markus
Van Zalk, Nejra
Tillfors, Maria
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
This longitudinal study aimed to examine the 1-year prevalence, incidence and persistence of sub-diagnostic social anxiety (SSA) as well as general risk factors for the incidence and persistence of SSA during early and mid-adolescence. A Swedish sample of adolescents (N = 2,523) aged 13–14 years at Time 1 and 14–15 years at Time 2 completed measures of anxiety, depressive symptoms, stressors and emotion regulation strategies across the two timepoints. SSA was defined and assessed by the Social Phobia Screening Questionnaire for Children. The prevalence of SSA was 16%, the incidence 12%, and the persistence 53% over time. Symptoms of depression and general anxiety, various stressors and emotion regulation strategies were overall significantly related to SSA. Predictors for the incidence of SSA were lower age, female gender and elevated general anxiety and behavioral avoidance (i.e. being afraid of new activities when there is uncertainty about the outcome). Predictors for persistent SSA were female gender and increased behavioral avoidance. In conclusion, SSA is very common among young individuals, and behavioral avoidance appears particularly important for understanding the development and persistence of SSA in adolescence.
Date Issued
2021-07-05
Date Acceptance
2021-06-08
Citation
Nordic Psychology, 2021, 74 (3), pp.152-170
ISSN
1901-2276
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Start Page
152
End Page
170
Journal / Book Title
Nordic Psychology
Volume
74
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.
Identifier
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19012276.2021.1943498
Subjects
Clinical Psychology
1701 Psychology
1702 Cognitive Sciences
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2021-07-05