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Environmental Influences of Anxiety

NOTES – Environmental Factors of Anxiety:

 

Understanding Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD)

 

  • Definition: Persistent fear of social situations due to potential scrutiny or fear of acting in an embarrassing way.

  • Symptoms: Include intense anxiety, avoidance of situations, and distress that lasts 6+ months.

  • Prevalence: Increases with age (4.7% in children, 8.3% in adolescents, 17% in youth).

  • Risk Factors:

    • Genetic: ~30% heritability; polygenic influences with small effects.

    • Environmental: Greater emphasis on non-shared environmental factors (make siblings in the same family different).

 

Etiological Model by Spence & Rapee (2016)

 

  • Principles:

    • Equifinality: Multiple pathways can lead to SAD.

    • Multifinality: Single risk factors can lead to varied outcomes.

    • Reciprocal Risk Factors: E.g., socially anxious behaviours may lead to peer victimization, amplifying anxiety.

 

Environmental Factors

 

1.    Aversive Social Outcomes:

o   Experiences like teasing, bullying, rejection, and exclusion are strongly associated with SAD.

o   Socially anxious children tend to have fewer, lower-quality friendships and poorer peer evaluations.

 

2.    Peer Influences:

o   Victimization (both overt and relational) increases the risk for SAD.

o   Studies show that social anxiety also increases the likelihood of victimization.

 

3.    Trauma and Life Events:

o   Trauma, such as maltreatment or witnessing victimization, doubles the likelihood of SAD development.

o   Protective Factors: Social support can mitigate SAD symptoms in those experiencing negative life events (NLEs).

 

4.    Cultural Factors:

o   SAD varies by cultural context. For example:

§  Collectivist cultures (e.g., East Asian) might view social reticence positively.

§  Individualistic cultures (e.g., Western) view social withdrawal negatively, leading to higher prevalence.

 

Empirical Evidence

 

1.    Aversive Social Experiences:

o   Study by Blote et al. (2015): High social anxiety (HSA) adolescents faced higher rejection rates, partly due to poor social skills and perceived attractiveness.

 

2.    Bullying and Social Anxiety:

o   Pabian & Vandebosch (2015): Social anxiety predicts victimization in traditional and cyberbullying but not vice versa.

 

3.    Trauma Studies:

o   Gren-Landell et al. (2011): Prior victimization increases SAD prevalence.

o   Aune et al. (2021): High social support moderates the impact of NLEs on SAD.

 

Critical Considerations in Research

 

  • Generalizability: Many studies use limited demographics (e.g., White, middle-class samples).

  • Methodological Issues:

    • Reliance on self-reports increases risk of shared method bias.

    • Many studies do not assess outcomes beyond SAD (e.g., depression or loneliness).

  • Cultural Sensitivity: More research is needed to explore the role of cultural norms in SAD development.

Environmental Influences of Anxiety

NOTES – Environmental Factors of Anxiety:

 

Understanding Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD)

 

  • Definition: Persistent fear of social situations due to potential scrutiny or fear of acting in an embarrassing way.

  • Symptoms: Include intense anxiety, avoidance of situations, and distress that lasts 6+ months.

  • Prevalence: Increases with age (4.7% in children, 8.3% in adolescents, 17% in youth).

  • Risk Factors:

    • Genetic: ~30% heritability; polygenic influences with small effects.

    • Environmental: Greater emphasis on non-shared environmental factors (make siblings in the same family different).

 

Etiological Model by Spence & Rapee (2016)

 

  • Principles:

    • Equifinality: Multiple pathways can lead to SAD.

    • Multifinality: Single risk factors can lead to varied outcomes.

    • Reciprocal Risk Factors: E.g., socially anxious behaviours may lead to peer victimization, amplifying anxiety.

 

Environmental Factors

 

1.    Aversive Social Outcomes:

o   Experiences like teasing, bullying, rejection, and exclusion are strongly associated with SAD.

o   Socially anxious children tend to have fewer, lower-quality friendships and poorer peer evaluations.

 

2.    Peer Influences:

o   Victimization (both overt and relational) increases the risk for SAD.

o   Studies show that social anxiety also increases the likelihood of victimization.

 

3.    Trauma and Life Events:

o   Trauma, such as maltreatment or witnessing victimization, doubles the likelihood of SAD development.

o   Protective Factors: Social support can mitigate SAD symptoms in those experiencing negative life events (NLEs).

 

4.    Cultural Factors:

o   SAD varies by cultural context. For example:

§  Collectivist cultures (e.g., East Asian) might view social reticence positively.

§  Individualistic cultures (e.g., Western) view social withdrawal negatively, leading to higher prevalence.

 

Empirical Evidence

 

1.    Aversive Social Experiences:

o   Study by Blote et al. (2015): High social anxiety (HSA) adolescents faced higher rejection rates, partly due to poor social skills and perceived attractiveness.

 

2.    Bullying and Social Anxiety:

o   Pabian & Vandebosch (2015): Social anxiety predicts victimization in traditional and cyberbullying but not vice versa.

 

3.    Trauma Studies:

o   Gren-Landell et al. (2011): Prior victimization increases SAD prevalence.

o   Aune et al. (2021): High social support moderates the impact of NLEs on SAD.

 

Critical Considerations in Research

 

  • Generalizability: Many studies use limited demographics (e.g., White, middle-class samples).

  • Methodological Issues:

    • Reliance on self-reports increases risk of shared method bias.

    • Many studies do not assess outcomes beyond SAD (e.g., depression or loneliness).

  • Cultural Sensitivity: More research is needed to explore the role of cultural norms in SAD development.

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