Title

Children with Generalized Anxiety Disorder Do Not Have Peer Problems, Just Fewer Friends

Authors

Authors

L. Scharfstein; C. Alfano; D. Beidel;N. N. Wong

Comments

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Abbreviated Journal Title

Child Psychiat. Hum. Dev.

Keywords

Generalized anxiety disorder; Peer relations; Social competence; Social; anxiety disorder; CHILDHOOD SOCIAL PHOBIA; OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER; TERM-FOLLOW-UP; EARLY ADOLESCENCE; MIDDLE CHILDHOOD; PSYCHOPATHOLOGY; PERCEPTIONS; RELIABILITY; ACCEPTANCE; WITHDRAWAL; Psychology, Developmental; Pediatrics; Psychiatry

Abstract

A common assumption is that all youth with anxiety disorders (AD) experience impaired peer relationships relative to healthy control children. Social impairments have been identified among youth with certain AD (e.g., social anxiety disorder; SAD), but less is known about the peer relationships of children with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). We therefore compared the interpersonal functioning of youth with GAD, SAD, and controls (6-13 years). Despite having relatively fewer friends overall, children with GAD did not differ from controls in terms of the likelihood of having a best friend, participation in groups/clubs, and parent ratings of social competence. In comparison, youth with SAD were less socially competent, had fewer friends and difficulty making new friends compared to controls. Findings suggest that peer difficulties are not a universal feature of all childhood AD and highlight a need to better understand the social experiences and functioning of children with GAD.

Journal Title

Child Psychiatry & Human Development

Volume

42

Issue/Number

6

Publication Date

1-1-2011

Document Type

Article

Language

English

First Page

712

Last Page

723

WOS Identifier

WOS:000296879200007

ISSN

0009-398X

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