Social anxiety is a risk factor for suicidal ideation in adolescents: research

Adolescents with social anxiety disorder are at greater risk for depression and suicidal thoughts two years after they first develop symptoms of social anxiety, according to a study published in JCPP progress.

“Social anxiety disorder typically develops in adolescence and is associated with multiple adverse outcomes during adolescence, such as poorer social functioning, poorer academic performance, suicidal ideation and depressive symptoms,” said lead author Kenny Chiu, Clinical Lecturer at UEA’s Department of Clinical Psychology . and psychological therapies, and colleagues wrote in the study. “Social relationships are very rewarding during adolescence. However, social anxiety can cause adolescents to avoid social situations. Even if they do engage socially, their social anxiety may impact their performance due to the unintended effects of safety behaviors, making them more susceptible to receiving negative feedback from peers or experiencing rejection from peers.”

“These negative interpersonal outcomes can create a feeling of worthlessness (e.g. “I am a failure“, “Nobody wants me around“) and hopelessness (e.g. “I will always be alone“, “I will never be good enough for anything or anyone“), thereby reducing their sense of achievement, connection, and pleasure and promoting avoidance. These depressive symptoms can not only perpetuate their social anxiety, but also lead them to believe that they will never fit in and that they are a burden to others,” the authors said. “These beliefs around thwarted belonging and perceived burdens can lead to suicidal thoughts, because suicide seems to be the only way. Furthermore, these depressive symptoms can persist for years, especially when young people harbor strong negative social anxiety and avoid social situations.”

To investigate how social anxiety might contribute to adolescents’ worsening mental health, the researchers recruited 2,397 young people in the United Kingdom who were between the ages of 14 and 24. The researchers contacted study participants between 2012 and 2017 through fifty GP clinics and schools in Cambridgeshire, London and nearby areas.

Each participant had completed questionnaires that addressed their mental health and whether they were experiencing symptoms of depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, social anxiety symptoms, or generalized anxiety. Some examples of the questions participants had to answer were: “I worry about what other people think of me,” “I feel like others don’t like the way I do things,” and “I worry about what my parents will say to me’. ‘ and ‘I feel like someone is going to tell me I’m doing things the wrong way.’

The researchers then conducted two-year follow-ups with the study participants. They found that social anxiety was a “significant predictor” of suicidal thoughts within a two-year time frame.

In a press release, the study’s second author, Argyris Stringaris, professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at University College London, said: “Our findings suggest that addressing social anxiety early may be crucial in preventing the development of suicidal thoughts and other depressive disorders. feelings. symptoms.”