Longitudinal relation of family dysfunction to young adults' social anxiety: Sex and baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia matter.

The aim of the study was to examine the longitudinal association between family dysfunction and young adults' social anxiety two years later, and the moderating roles of participant sex and baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (Baseline RSA). 109 Chinese college students (M = 18.94 years old, SD = 0.92; 69 males) participated in two waves of data collection two years apart. Participants reported their perceived family dysfunction and social anxiety, and physiological data were collected to capture their baseline RSA. Results indicated family dysfunction, baseline RSA, and participant sex interactively predicted college students' later social anxiety. Specifically, for females, poorer T1 family dysfunction was associated with severer T2 social anxiety symptoms only among those with low (but not high) levels of baseline RSA at Time 1. Nonetheless, no significant associations were found for males. Findings underscore the importance of simultaneous consideration of individual and contextual factors in understanding young adults' social adjustment.