Few shy teens may have social phobia: Study

Updated on: Friday, October 21, 2011

A small portion of shy teenagers may actually have social phobia, says a new study, suggesting that the psychiatric condition is not simply the shyness and needs medical attention.

Social phobia a persistent and debilitating fear of situations that could involve scrutiny and judgement is somewhat controversial diagnosis in children and teens, with critics arguing that the diagnosis turns normal shyness into a medical condition.

But the new study found that teens who meet the criteria for social phobia are also tend to struggle with depression, anxiety, substance disorders and other problems, LiveScience reported.

According to the researchers, the findings suggest that "social phobia is not simply shyness".

"In contrast to the high frequency of shyness observed among US adolescents, social phobia affected a minority of youth," they wrote in the journal Pediatrics.

To uncover the overlap between shyness and social phobia, the researchers drew from a nationally representative survey of 10,123 American teenagers and 6,483 of their parents.

In face-to-face sessions, the teens answered questions about their level of shyness, anxiety and prescription medication use. They were also evaluated for social phobia.

Parents were more likely to rate their teens as shy than the teens themselves, with 62.4 per cent of parents saying their teens were shy while only 46.7 per cent of teens described themselves that way.

Of the students who called themselves shy, 12.4 per cent actually met the criteria to be diagnosed with social phobia. Of the teens described as shy by their parents, 10.6 per cent met the criteria for social phobia, the researchers found.

Of teens not identified as shy, about 5 per cent met the social phobia criteria, they said.

More tellingly, the researchers reported, teenagers who met the criteria for social phobia reported more social struggles and more additional psychological disorders than the teens who were simply shy.

Despite these troubles, the socially phobic teens were no more likely than their counterparts to be taking medication.

The implication, the researchers wrote, is that social phobia should be taken seriously in young people.

"Although many adolescents with social phobia demonstrate marked impairment, results suggest that few ever seek or obtain professional help," the researchers wrote.

"Persistent claims that dispute the severity of this condition among youth likely will do little to alter their course."

Few shy teens may have social phobia: Study

More Education news