Graham Belinda, Bowes Lucy, Ehlers Anke
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Clin Psychol Eur. 2022 Jun 30;4(2):e3809. doi: 10.32872/cpe.3809. eCollection 2022 Jun.
Elevated social anxiety is more likely among bullied children than those who have not been bullied but it is not inevitable and may be influenced by cognitive factors. Lower self-esteem and more external locus of control are associated with bullying and social anxiety but the impact of these factors over time among bullied children is less clear.
Children from the UK Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) reported bullying experiences at age 8 (n = 6,704) and were categorized according to level of bullying exposure. The impact of self-esteem and locus of control on social anxiety was assessed up to age 13 across the bullying exposure groups using multi-group latent growth curve analysis. Complete data was available for 3,333 participants.
More external locus of control was associated with a steeper increase in social anxiety among severely bullied children [B = .249, p = .025]. Although self-esteem at age 8 was associated with existing social anxiety it did not predict later increases in social anxiety.
These results indicate that beliefs about lack of personal control among severely bullied children may contribute to increasing social anxiety over time. Exploring related cognitions may be helpful in this potentially vulnerable group.
受欺凌的儿童比未受欺凌的儿童更易出现社交焦虑加剧的情况，但这并非不可避免，且可能受认知因素影响。自尊水平较低和更多的外部控制点与欺凌行为及社交焦虑相关，但这些因素在受欺凌儿童随时间推移过程中的影响尚不清楚。
来自英国埃文父母与儿童纵向研究（ALSPAC）的儿童在8岁时报告了欺凌经历（n = 6704），并根据受欺凌程度进行分类。使用多组潜在增长曲线分析，评估了自尊和控制点对13岁前各欺凌暴露组社交焦虑的影响。3333名参与者有完整数据。
在受严重欺凌的儿童中，更多的外部控制点与社交焦虑的更急剧增加相关[B = 0.249，p = 0.025]。虽然8岁时的自尊与现有的社交焦虑相关，但它并不能预测后来社交焦虑的增加。
这些结果表明，受严重欺凌儿童中关于缺乏个人控制的信念可能会导致社交焦虑随时间增加。探索相关认知可能对这个潜在弱势群体有所帮助。
