SOCIAL ANXIETY IN CHILDREN WITH ANXIETY DISORDERS - RELATION WITH SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL FUNCTIONING

Investigated the psychometric properties of the Social Anxiety Scale f or children-Revised (SASC-R) as well as relations between social anxie ty and children's social and emotional functioning. Participants were a clinic sample of children, ages 6-11 with anxiety disorders (N = 154 ) who completed the SASC-R. For a subset of these children, parent rat ings of social skills, and self-ratings of perceived competence and pe er interactions were also obtained. Factor analysis of the SASC-R supp orted the original three-factor solution and internal consistencies we re in the acceptable range. Among children with simple phobia, scores on the SASC-R differentiated those with and without a comorbid social- based anxiety disorder. Social anxiety was also associated with impair ments in social and emotional functioning. Specifically, highly social ly anxious children reported low levels of social acceptance and globa l self-esteem and more negative peer interactions. Girls with high lev els of social anxiety were also rated by parents as having poor social skills, particularly in the areas of assertive and responsible social behavior.