Social anxiety and self-concept in adolescence

This study analyzes the relationships between social anxiety and dimensions of self-concept in a sample of 2022 (50.1% males) Spanish adolescents, ranging in age from 12 to 16 year-olds. The social anxiety was assessed by the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI), and self-concept was measured with the Self-Description Questionnaire II (SDQ-II). Logistic regression analyses show that adolescents with social anxiety are more likely to negatively perceive their relationship with opposite sex peers and have lower scores in self-esteem than students without social anxiety. Furthermore, in most logistic models, students with social anxiety also show a higher probability of perceiving their relation with peers of the same sex in a negative way, considering worse student, less attractive and athletic, and more emotional instable than students without social anxiety. The relevance of sex and grade in the relationship between social anxiety and self-concept in adolescence is discussed.

Este estudio analiza las relaciones entre ansiedad social y las dimensiones del autoconcepto en una muestra de 2.022 (51.1% varones) estudiantes españoles de 12 a 16 años. La ansiedad social fue evaluada a través del Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI) y el autoconcepto mediante el Self-Description Questionnaire (SDQ-II). Los análisis de regresión logística revelan que los adolescentes con ansiedad social presentan mayor probabilidad de percibir negativamente sus relaciones con compañeros de distinto sexo y de tener una autoestima baja. Además, en la mayoría de modelos logísticos, los estudiantes con ansiedad social muestran mayor probabilidad de percibir de forma negativa la relación con iguales del mismo sexo, de considerarse peores estudiantes, menos atractivos y atléticos y de ser emocionalmente más inestables que los estudiantes sin ansiedad social. Se discute la implicación del sexo y el curso en la relación entre la ansiedad social y el autoconcepto durante la adolescencia.

This research was supported by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (No. SEJ2004-07311/EDUC) to the second author.