title: Developmental Differences in Functioning in Youth With Social Phobia.
abstract: Social phobia (SoP) in youth may manifest differently across development as parent involvement in their social lives changes and social and academic expectations increase. This cross-sectional study investigated whether self-reported and parent-reported functioning in youth with SoP changes with age in social, academic, and home/family domains. Baseline anxiety impairment data from 488 treatment-seeking anxiety-disordered youth (ages 7-17, N = 400 with a SoP diagnosis) and their parents were gathered using the Child Anxiety Impact Scale and were analyzed using generalized estimating equations. According to youth with SoP and their parents, overall difficulties, social difficulties, and academic difficulties increased with age, even when controlling for SoP severity. These effects significantly differed for youth with anxiety disorders other than SoP. Adolescents may avoid social situations as parental involvement in their social lives decreases, and their withdrawn behavior may result in increasing difficulty in the social domain. Their avoidance of class participation and oral presentations may increasingly impact their academic performance as school becomes more demanding. Implications are discussed for the early detection and intervention of SoP to prevent increased impairment over the course of development.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Temple University.
authors.forename: Alexandra L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Hoff
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Temple University.
authors.forename: Philip C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Kendall
authors.affiliation: b Department of Psychiatry , University of California , Los Angeles.
authors.forename: Audra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Langley
authors.affiliation: c Department of Psychiatry , University of Connecticut School of Medicine.
authors.forename: Golda
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ginsburg
authors.affiliation: d Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences , Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
authors.forename: Courtney
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Keeton
authors.affiliation: e Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science , Duke University Medical Center.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Compton
authors.affiliation: f National Institute of Mental Health.
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sherrill
authors.affiliation: g Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry , Weill Cornell Medical College.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Walkup
authors.affiliation: h Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic , University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Birmaher
authors.affiliation: i Department of Psychiatry , Columbia University.
authors.forename: Anne Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Albano
authors.affiliation: j Department of Psychology , University of Georgia.
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Suveg
authors.affiliation: b Department of Psychiatry , University of California , Los Angeles.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Piacentini
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000072861:Phobia, Social / Q000503:physiopathology*