Citation

Crawford AM, Manassis K. J. Anxiety Disord. 2011; 25(7): 924-931.

Affiliation

Department of Human Development and Applied Psychology, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 252 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1V6, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.janxdis.2011.05.005

PMID

21676586

Abstract

This cross-sectional study investigated whether anxiety and social functioning interact in their prediction of peer victimization. A structural equation model linking anxiety, social skills, and friendship quality to victimization was tested separately for children with anxiety disorders and normal comparison children to explore whether the processes involved in victimization differ for these groups. Participants were 8-14 year old children: 55 (34 boys, 21 girls) diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and 85 (37 boys, 48 girls) normal comparison children. The final models for both groups yielded two independent pathways to victimization: (a) anxiety independently predicted being victimized; and (b) poor social skills predicted lower friendship quality, which in turn, placed a child at risk for victimization. These findings have important implications for the treatment of childhood anxiety disorders and for school-based anti-bullying interventions, but replication with larger samples is indicated.

Language: en