Cited by 155Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentBullying, Victimization, and AggressionAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes

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Prospective associations between peer functioning and social anxiety in adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis

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Chiu, Kenny, Clark, David M., Leigh, Eleanor·2021·Journal of Affective Disorders

DOI 10.1016/j.jad.2020.10.055PMC PMC7758784

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: During adolescence, peer relationships take precedence and there is a normative increase in social anxiety. Although prospective studies have suggested peer functioning and social anxiety can influence each other, their findings have not been examined systematically. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies to examine the bidirectional relationship between peer functioning and social anxiety in adolescence. METHODS: EMBASE, PsycINFO, Medline, and PubMed were searched to identify relevant articles. Meta-analysis was conducted to examine the mean effect sizes of prospective associations between social anxiety and four dimensions of peer functioning. Moderator analysis was performed, with age, gender, time interval between baseline and follow-up assessment, and publication year as moderators. RESULTS: Meta-analyses of 23 studies showed that friendship quality (r =-.11), peer rejection (r =-.06), and peer victimization (r =.23) were each associated with later social anxiety, but peer acceptance was not (r =-.11). Social anxiety at baseline was associated with prospective levels of friendship quality (r =-.11), peer rejection (r=.09), and peer victimization (r =.17), but not peer acceptance (r =-.14). Age moderated the association between friendship quality and prospective social anxiety. Other moderator effects were statistically non-significant. LIMITATIONS: Limitations include different classifications of peer functioning, the use of self-report measures, heterogeneity between studies, and underrepresentation of clinical samples. CONCLUSIONS: A significant bidirectional association was found with social anxiety across three dimensions of peer functioning. Psychological prevention and intervention targeting peer functioning and social anxiety are indicated.

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Figure 1 PRISMA DiagramCC BY · PubMed Central

Figure 2 Forest Plot of Correlations between T1 Friendship Quality and T2 Social Anxiety and 95% Confidence Interval for Random Effects ModelCC BY · PubMed Central

Figure 3 Forest Plot of Correlations between T1 Positive Friendship Quality and T2 Social Anxiety and 95% Confidence Interval for Random Effects ModelCC BY · PubMed Central

Figure 4 Forest Plot of Correlations between T1 Peer Acceptance and T2 Social Anxiety and 95% Confidence Interval for Random Effects ModelCC BY · PubMed Central

Figure 5 Forest Plot of Correlations between T1 Peer Rejection and T2 Social Anxiety and 95% Confidence Interval for Random Effects ModelCC BY · PubMed Central

Figure 6 Forest Plot of Correlations between T1 Peer Victimization and T2 Social Anxiety and 95% Confidence Interval for Random Effects ModelCC BY · PubMed Central

Figure 7 Forest Plot of Correlations between T1 Social Anxiety and T2 Friendship Quality and 95% Confidence Interval for Random Effects ModelCC BY · PubMed Central

Figure 8 Forest Plot of Correlations between T1 Social Anxiety and T2 Positive Friendship Quality and 95% Confidence Interval for Random Effects ModelCC BY · PubMed Central

Figure 9 Forest Plot of Correlations between T1 Social Anxiety and T2 Peer Acceptance and 95% Confidence Interval for Random Effects ModelCC BY · PubMed Central

Figure 10 Forest Plot of Correlations between T1 Social Anxiety and T2 Peer Rejection and 95% Confidence Interval for Random Effects ModelCC BY · PubMed Central

Figure 11 Forest Plot of Correlations between T1 Social Anxiety and T2 Peer Victimization and 95% Confidence Interval for Random Effects Meta-Analysis ModelCC BY · PubMed Central

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“Social anxiety disorder is one of the most prevalent childhood psychiatric disorders and tends to be a chronic, stable condition that severely disrupts social and academic functioning (Lijster et al., 2018; Chiu et al., 2021).”
Background
Development and Initial Validation of the Neglectful Experiences and Deprivation Scale
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“The current study’s results are inconsistent with previous literature that suggests impaired peer relationships among those with anxiety disorders (Albano et al., 2003; Chansky & Kendall, 1997; Chiu et al., 2020; Kingery et al., 2010; Motoca et al., 2012; Scharfstein et al., 2011; Tan et al., 2020) and those with over…”
BackgroundResult
Círculo de cultura no suporte ao processo identitário de adolescentes: uma pesquisa-ação
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“Taking a positive attitude to life and realizing its meaningfulness is difficult in the study environment, which is largely characterized by ostracism (Mlika et al., 2017), anxiety (Chiu et al., 2020), digital transformation (Serditova & Belotserkovsky, 2020), and others.”
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Authors: Chiu, K., Clark, D. M., & Leigh, E.
Affiliations: King's College London (GB)
University of Oxford (GB)
Corresponding author: Leigh, Eleanor
ORCID: Chiu, Kenny
Clark, David M.
Leigh, Eleanor
Venue: Journal of Affective Disorders
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Published: 2021-01
Volume: 279
Pages: 650-661
ISSN: 0165-0327 (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.10.055
PMC: PMC7758784
OpenAlex: W3095027428
Cited by: 155
References: 97
Citations by year: 2026: 40 · 2025: 38 · 2024: 26 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 8
FWCI: 1.01
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: hybrid
doi.org
Licence: cc-by
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
www.elsevier.com/legal/tdmrep-license (tdm)
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (vor)
Locations: Journal of Affective Disorders (publishedVersion, cc-by)
Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Research Portal (King's College London) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
UEA Digital Repository (University of East Anglia) (submittedVersion)
Funders: King's College London
Wellcome Trust (102176/Z/13/Z, WT069777)
National Institute for Health and Care Research (NF-SI-0512-10132)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
Keywords: social anxiety, peer functioning, adolescents, friendship quality, peer rejection, peer victimization, peer acceptance, bidirectional relationship, prospective associations, age moderation
MeSH terms: Adolescent, Anxiety, Humans, Peer Group, Prospective Studies, Crime Victims, Bullying

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Prospective associations between peer functioning and social anxiety in adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis

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