Keywords

Social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social skills, peer relations, vocal characteristics, child anxiety

Abstract

The present study examined the social skills and social acceptance of children with SAD (n=20), children with GAD (n=18), and typically developing (TD) children (n=20). A multimodal assessment paradigm was employed to address three study objectives: (a) to determine whether social skills deficits are unique to children with SAD or extend to children with GAD, (b) to assess whether skills vary as a function of social context (in vivo peer interaction Wii Task versus hypothetical Social Vignette Task) and (c) to examine the relationship between anxiety diagnosis and social acceptance. Parent questionnaire data indicated that both youth with SAD and GAD experienced difficulties with assertiveness, whereas children with SAD experienced a broader range of social skills difficulties. Blinded observers’ ratings during the behavioral assessment social tasks indicated that compared to children with GAD and TD children, children with SAD have deficits in social behaviors and social knowledge across settings, including speech latency, a paucity of speech, few spontaneous comments, questions and exclamations, and ineffective social responses. In addition, vocal analysis revealed that children with SAD were characterized by anxious speech patterns. By comparison, children with GAD exhibited non-anxious speech patterns and did not differ significantly from TD youth on social behaviors, with the exception of fewer spontaneous comments and questions. Lastly, children with SAD were perceived as less likeable and less socially desirable by their peers than both children with GAD and TD children. Clinical implications of these findings are discussed

Notes

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Graduation Date

2013

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Beidel, Deborah

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Psychology

Degree Program

Psychology; Clinical Psychology

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0004932

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0004932

Language

English

Release Date

August 2018

Length of Campus-only Access

5 years

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Sciences, Sciences -- Dissertations, Academic

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