Longitudinal Links Between Adolescent Social Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms: Testing the Mediational Effects of Cybervictimization

• Published in: Child psychiatry and human development Vol. 50; no. 2; pp. 186 - 197
• Main Authors: Van Zalk, Nejra, Van Zalk, Maarten
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.04.2019; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescent girls; Adolescents; Anxiety; Anxiety - diagnosis; Anxiety - psychology; Anxiety disorders; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Child & adolescent psychiatry; Child and School Psychology; Crime Victims - psychology; Cyberbullying; Cyberbullying - psychology; Depression - diagnosis; Depression - psychology; Female; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Mental depression; Original; Original Article; Prognosis; Psychiatry; Psychology; Shyness; Social anxiety; Test anxiety; Twins; Victimization; Depressive symptoms; Cybervictimization; Early adolescence; Comorbidity; Social anxiety
• ISSN: 0009-398X; 1573-3327
• DOI: 10.1007/s10578-018-0829-1

This study focuses on the temporal sequence between social anxiety and depressive symptoms, and whether cybervictimization might mediate these links. We used a longitudinal sample of 501 early adolescents (51.9% girls; M age  = 13.96) followed at three time points. Using a cross-lagged path model in MPlus, we found that social anxiety predicted depressive symptoms over time, but not the other way around. Time-1 depressive symptoms also predicted cybervictimization, but only for boys and not for girls. No mediating effects of cybervictimization emerged; however, Time-2 social anxiety was a significant mediator between Time-1 social anxiety and depressive symptoms, whereas Time-2 depressive symptoms significantly mediated the link between Time-1 social anxiety and Time-3 depressive symptoms. In sum, social anxiety was a strong predictor of depressive symptoms over time but not vice versa—irrespective of cybervictimization.