Social fears during adolescence: is there an increase in distress and avoidance?

Mid-adolescence is considered as the time of onset for social phobia and is assumed to be related to a normative increase of social fears. People diagnosed with social phobia, however, do not only experience high levels of fear or distress, but also report avoidance behavior. Little attention has been paid to the development of avoidance behavior during adolescence. In the current study, a community sample with 9-17 year olds (n=260) completed a questionnaire derived from the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for Children (ADIS-C) [Silverman, W. K., & Albano, A. M. (1996). Anxiety disorders interview schedule for DSM-IV child version, child interview schedule. San Antonio: The Psychological Corporation]. They rated their levels of distress and avoidance in a variety of social situations. The results showed an age related increase for formal speaking and interaction situations in both avoidance and distress, with a stronger increase in avoidance than in distress. The same pattern was found for girls for situations regarding observation by others. No effects were observed for informal speaking and interaction situations.