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Social Functioning in Youth with Anxiety Disorders: Association with Anxiety Severity and Outcomes from Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

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Abstract

Social functioning was assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist and Teacher Report Form for children with anxiety disorders who participated in a randomized clinical trial (N = 161, aged 7–14). Significant relationships were found between severity of children’s principal anxiety disorder and most measures of social functioning, such that poorer social functioning was associated with more severe anxiety. Among youth who received cognitive-behavioral therapy (n = 111), significant associations were found between parent-reported social competence and both absence of principal anxiety disorder and lower anxiety severity at posttreatment and 1-year follow-up, controlling for the severity of the child’s principal anxiety disorder at pretreatment. Findings support a relationship between anxiety severity and social difficulties, and suggest the importance of social competence for a favorable treatment response.

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Notes

  1. Changes in social problems and social competence across time points were explored using paired samples t-tests. Social competence at pretreatment did not significantly differ from social competence at posttreatment or 1-year follow-up based on both mother and father report, ps > .05. However, significant reductions did occur in social problems from pretreatment to posttreatment and pretreatment to 1-year follow-up, based on both mother and father report, ps < .05. This suggests that social problems decreased for some youth as a result of the intervention, but not in a way that predicted treatment response, whereas social competence was not significantly affected by the intervention.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by National Institute of Mental Health Grants (MH59087; MH063747; MH086438) awarded to Philip C. Kendall. We would like to thank Jasmine S. Santi and Ariel S. Mydlo for their help with this project.

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  1. Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 N. 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA

    Cara A. Settipani & Philip C. Kendall

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  1. Cara A. Settipani
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Correspondence to Cara A. Settipani.

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Settipani, C.A., Kendall, P.C. Social Functioning in Youth with Anxiety Disorders: Association with Anxiety Severity and Outcomes from Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 44, 1–18 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-012-0307-0

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