The examination of the relationships among digital addiction, loneliness, shyness, and social anxiety in adolescents / El examen de las relaciones entre adicción digital, soledad, timidez y ansiedad social en adolescentes

La adicción digital, que se determina como un problema común entre los adolescentes en los últimos años, afecta negativamente la vida de los adolescentes en muchos aspectos. El objetivo del estudio es examinar las relaciones entre la adicción digital, la soledad, la timidez y la ansiedad social de los adolescentes. Gate se reunió con adolescentes que completaron la Escala de adicción digital, la versión corta de la Escala de soledad de UCLA, la Escala de timidez y la Escala de gravedad del trastorno de ansiedad social DSM-5 - Formulario infantil. Las hipótesis sugeridas se han probado utilizando los datos recopilados de 991 adolescentes y un análisis de regresión jerárquica. Los resultados de la investigación encontraron una relación positiva y significativa entre la adicción digital, la soledad, la timidez y la ansiedad social entre los adolescentes. Además, los hallazgos muestran que la adicción digital, la soledad y la timidez predicen la ansiedad social. Los resultados obtenidos demuestran que la adicción digital, la soledad y la timidez tienen efecto sobre la ansiedad social. Según los hallazgos, se sugiere aplicar diversas intervenciones educativas por parte de profesionales de la salud mental a adolescentes que presenten signos de adicción digital, soledad, timidez y ansiedad social.(AU)

Digital addiction, which is determined as a common problem among adolescents in the last years, affects the lives of adolescents nega-tively in terms of many aspects. The aim of the study is to examine the re-lationships between adolescents' digital addiction, loneliness, shyness and social anxiety. Gate gathered from adolescents who completed Digital Ad-diction Scale, Short Form of UCLA Loneliness Scale, Shyness Scale, and DSM-5 Social Anxiety Disorder Severity Scale -Child Form. The suggest-ed hypotheses have been tested using the data gathered from 991 adoles-cents and hierarchical regression analysis. The research findings found a positive and significant relationship between digital addiction, loneliness, shyness and social anxiety among adolescents. Furthermore, the findings show that digital addiction, loneliness, and shyness predict social anxiety. The results obtained prove that digital addiction, loneliness and shyness have an effect on social anxiety. According to the findings, it is suggested to applyvarious educational interventions by mental health professionals to adolescents who show signs of digital addiction, loneliness, shyness, and social anxiety.(AU)

Problematic internet use and shyness among Chinese adolescents: a moderated mediation model.

The potential adverse effects of problematic internet use (PIU) on individuals' offline personalities have been a significant concern in internet psychology. This study aimed to investigate the negative effects of PIU on shyness and the mediating role of self-regulation, as well as the moderating role of social comparison orientation. A total of 1,322 adolescents from China participated in the survey. The results indicated that: (1) PIU positively predicted shyness; (2) self-regulation partially mediated the relationship between PIU and shyness; (3) social comparison orientation moderated the mediation effect, specifically buffering the negative prediction of PIU on self-regulation, but exacerbating the negative predictive effect of self-regulation on shyness. The findings explored and verified the psychosocial effects of the internet, contributing to a deeper understanding of how PIU affects individual personality traits and offering insights into its role in broader social behavior patterns.

Temperamental Shyness, Peer Competence, and Loneliness in Middle Childhood: The Role of Positive Emotion.

Guided by the conceptual frameworks of social withdrawal (Rubin, K. H., & Chronis-Tuscano, A. (2021). Perspectives on social withdrawal in childhood: Past, present, and prospects. Child Development Perspectives, 15(3), 160-167.) and emotion socialization (Eisenberg, N., Cumberland, A., & Spinrad, T. L. (1998). Parental socialization of emotion. Psychological Inquiry, 9, 241-273.; Morris, (A) S., Criss, M. M., Silk, J. S., & Houltberg, (B) J. (2017). The impact of parenting on emotion regulation during childhood and adolescence. Child Development Perspectives, 11(4), 233-238.), the current study examined multifaceted relations among temperamental shyness, peer competence, and loneliness and focused on the role of socializing and expressing positive emotion in middle childhood. Participants included 1,364 families, among whom mothers reported children's temperament when children were 4.5 years old. Mothers and alternative caregivers (usually fathers) independently rated family expressiveness when children were 8-9 years old. Mothers rated their children's peer competence, and children's positive affect with peers were observed when children were ages 8-9 and 10-11. Children self-rated their loneliness levels at ages 10-11. A path model revealed a moderated mediation effect, such that family positive expressiveness moderated the sequential mediation pathway from child temperamental shyness through child peer competence at ages 8-9 and positive affect with peers at ages 10-11 to loneliness at ages 10-11. This sequential mediation was significant only under low but not high levels of family positive expressiveness. Findings support the importance of socializing positive emotion in the context of temperamental shyness and have implications for family-based intervention strategies aimed at children exhibiting high temperamental shyness.

A dyadic investigation of shy children's behavioral and affective responses to delivering a speech.

Shyness is typically associated with avoidant social behavior and restricted affect in new social situations. However, we know considerably less about how one child's shyness influences another child's behavior and affect in new social situations. Children's shyness was parent-reported when children were age 3 (N = 105, 52 girls, Mage = 3.50 years), and children were tested approximately 1 year later (Mage = 4.76 years) in same-gender dyads where they were asked to give an impromptu speech about their most recent birthday in front of an experimenter and the other member of the dyad. We examined whether children's shyness and speech order influenced their own and their social partner's observed behavior and affect during the speech. Regardless of speech order, children's own shyness was positively associated with their own avoidant social behavior and gaze aversion. Regardless of shyness, children who gave their speech second averted their gaze more than children who gave their speech first. We also found that children who gave their speech second displayed less positive affect if their social partner who they watched give the speech first was shyer. We speculate that some 4-year-old children may be sensitive to the avoidant behaviors of their shy peers and, in turn, respond with less animation when it is their turn to participate in the same activity. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: We examined whether preschool children's shyness and speech order influenced their own and their social partner's observed behavior and affect during a dyadic speech task Children's own shyness was positively associated with their own avoidant social behavior and gaze aversion Children who gave their speech second averted their gaze more than children who gave their speech first. Children who gave their speech second displayed less positive affect if their social partner who they watched give a speech first was shyer These findings suggest that preschool-aged children are sensitive to learning about their environment indirectly through social observation.

The Moderating Role of Emotion Regulation on Shyness and Internalizing Behavior of Turkish Preschool Children.

The present study examined the moderating effect of children's emotion regulation on the relations between shyness and internalizing behavior in Turkish preschool children. Participants were N = 222 children (M = 58.20 months, SD = 11.24, 116 girls, 106 boys) attending five public kindergartens in Turkey. Mothers provided ratings of children's shyness and emotion regulation; teachers assessed children's internalizing behavior. Results indicated that shyness was positively associated with internalizing behavior and negatively associated with emotion regulation among Turkish preschool children. Moreover, children's emotion regulation significantly moderated the relationship between shyness and internalizing behavior. Specifically, among children with lower levels of emotion regulation, shyness was significantly and positively associated with internalizing behaviors while among children with higher levels of emotion regulation, shyness was not associated with internalizing behaviors. The current findings inform that the importance of improving children's emotional regulation to buffer the internalizing behaviors among Turkish shyness young children. The findings also highlight the importance of considering the meaning and implication of shyness for preschool children.

Shyness, Sport Engagement, and Internalizing Problems in Chinese Children: The Moderating Role of Class Sport Participation in a Multi-Level Model.

The relations between shyness and internalizing problems have been mainly explored at the individual level, with little known about its dynamics at the group level. This study aims to examine the mediating effect of individual-level sport engagement and the moderating effect of class-level sport participation in the relations between shyness and internalizing problems. The participants were 951 children attending primary and middle school from grade 3 to grade 7 (Mage = 11 years, 509 boys) in urban areas of China. Cross-sectional data were collected using self-report assessments. Multi-level analysis indicated that (1) shyness was positively associated with internalizing problems; (2) sport engagement partially mediated the relations between shyness and internalizing problems; and (3) class sport participation was a cross-level moderator in the mediating relations between shyness, sport engagement, and internalizing problems. Shy children in classes with a higher level of sport participation tend to have less sport engagement and more internalizing problems than those in classes with a lower level of sport participation. These findings illuminate implications from a multi-level perspective for shy children's adjustment in a Chinese context. The well-being of shy children could be improved by intervening in sport activity, addressing both individual engagement and group dynamics, such as class participation.

Shyness and self-consistency and congruence among Chinese adolescents: mediating role of social comparison orientation and moderating role of self-focused attention.

During the critical period of personality shaping and self-development, adolescents face unique challenges and opportunities. This study, based on Cognitive-Behavioral Theory, explored the relationship between shyness and self-consistency and congruence (hereinafter referred to as SCC), as well as its underlying mechanisms. Through a questionnaire survey on shyness, social comparison orientation, self-focused attention, and SCC among 984 adolescents, the results revealed that (1) Adolescent shyness negatively predicted SCC. (2) Social comparison orientation partially mediated the relationship between shyness and SCC. (3) Self-focused attention moderated the direct pathway of this mediation process, where a high level of self-focused attention exacerbated the negative impact of shyness on SCC. These findings offered a new perspective on understanding SCC and underscored the importance of addressing the information processing mechanisms of social comparison orientation and self-focused attention among shy adolescents in interventions aimed at promoting their psychological harmony and healthy growth.

Shyness and risk-taking during peer observation in children and adolescents.

Although temperamental shyness is conceptualized as a trait marked by cautiousness, we know relatively little about its relation to risk-taking. We examined how shyness was related to opportunities for risk-taking while considering how social context (i.e., presence of peers) and developmental stage (i.e., children and adolescents) might influence this relation. In the current study, 198 children (Mage = 10.17 years) and 221 adolescents (Mage = 13.46 years) completed the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) alone or during a peer observation manipulation. For children and adolescents, shyness was related to physiological arousal and self-reporting feeling anxious during the peer condition. However, peer observation did not influence the relation between shyness and behavioral responses during the BART. Across both alone and peer conditions, shyness was related to a longer response time for children and adolescents, which may reflect decisional conflict during risk-taking opportunities. Furthermore, shyness in children (but not in adolescents) was related to poorer performance (i.e., fewer points), whereas shyness was unrelated to risk-taking propensity (i.e., number of pumps) for both children and adolescents. Overall, although the presence of peers may induce anxiety during a risk-taking opportunity for children and adolescents higher in shyness, this does not appear to modify their risk-taking behaviors. Instead, shyer children and adolescents in general may take a longer time to decide whether to act in a risky manner, whereas shy children in particular may show poorer performance in obtaining a reward on a risk-taking task.

Is shyness related to depression and suicide risk?

INTRODUCTION: Suicidal behavior is an important health issue, representing a leading cause of mortality, particularly among young adults. Depression was found to be predictive of suicide risk and predicted by shyness. Consequently, we tested a model wherein shyness leads to depression, which in turn leads to suicide risk. Moreover, we expected gender to moderate the effect of shyness on depression and suicide risk. METHODS: A convenience sample of 478 first-year college students (51% women, Age: M = 25.42, SD = 3.61) completed online self-report questionnaires assessing suicide risk, depression, shyness, and demographic variables. RESULTS: As expected, shyness was significantly correlated with depression (r = 0.40) and suicide risk (r = 0.24), and depression and suicide risk were also correlated with each other (r = 0.57). Depression statistically mediated the relationship between shyness and suicide risk (indirect effect for women = 0.92, SE = 0.16; for men = 0.72, SE = 0.17). Gender did not moderate the mediation effect. However, a direct link between shyness and suicide risk was found only among men (direct effect = 0.52, SE = 0.21). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that shyness may be a significant factor in the development of depression and suicide risk, potentially serving as a valuable marker for identifying at-risk individuals. Moreover, clinicians should be aware of these associations, particularly among men, in order to maintain and support mental health as well as reduce suicidality.

The relationship between social media usage and loneliness among younger and older adults: the moderating effect of shyness.

Does social media alleviate or exacerbate loneliness? Past research has shown mixed results regarding the relationship between social media usage and loneliness among younger and older adults. Unlike younger individuals, older adults may decrease their loneliness through social media interactions. Additionally, previous research has indicated that the link between social media use and loneliness can vary depending on one's shy tendency. Therefore, this study aims to explore the relationship between individuals' social media use and loneliness while considering age and shyness tendency as moderating variables. The study employed a questionnaire survey conducted through convenience sampling, resulting in 234 valid responses from participants in Northern Taiwan. Among them, 113 were college students (aged 18 to 25, average age 19.40), and 121 were older adults (aged 50 to 82, average age 60.81). Using hierarchical regression analysis, results indicated that (1) age moderates the relationship between personal social media use and loneliness. Minimal differences were observed among younger individuals, but among older adults, increased social media usage time was associated with a significant reduction in loneliness. (2) Shyness tendency moderate the relationship between personal social media use and loneliness. Individuals with higher shyness tendency experience an increase in loneliness as their social media usage time lengthens.

Effect of Population Density on Personality of Crayfish (Procambarus clarkii).

Personality is widely observed in animals and has important ecological and evolutionary implications. In addition to being heritable, personality traits are also influenced by the environment. Population density commonly affects animal behavior, but the way in which it shapes animal personality remains largely unknown. In this study, we reared juvenile crayfish at different population densities and measured their personality traits (shyness, exploration, and aggression) after reaching sexual maturity. Our results showed repeatability for each behavior in all treatments, except for the shyness of females at medium density. There was a negative correlation between shyness and exploration in each treatment, and aggression and exploration were positively correlated in medium- and high-density females. These indicate the presence of a behavior syndrome. On average, the crayfish raised at higher population densities were less shy, more exploratory, and more aggressive. We found no behavioral differences between the sexes in crayfish. These results suggested that population density may affect the average values of behavioral traits rather than the occurrence of personality traits. Our study highlights the importance of considering population density as a factor influencing personality traits in animals and, therefore, might help us to understand animal personality development.

Shyness and academic procrastination among Chinese adolescents: a moderated mediation model of self-regulation and self-focused attention.

Academic procrastination is a common concern among adolescents, but the correlation between shyness and academic procrastination and the internal mechanisms have not yet been thoroughly investigated. Based on a questionnaire survey with 1,279 Chinese middle school students, this study examined the effect of shyness on academic procrastination and its underlying mechanism of self-regulation and self-focused attention. Results revealed that: (1) shyness significantly predicted academic procrastination. (2) Self-regulation mediated the relationship between shyness and academic procrastination. (3) Self-focused attention played a moderating role in the first half of this mediation process. Specifically, higher level of self-focused attention strengthened the predictive effect of shyness on self-regulation. These results underscored the latent risks and protective factors associated with shyness, self-regulation, and self-focused attention in adolescent academic procrastination. In future research and interventions, attention may be directed towards improving individual internal factors to assist adolescents in effectively addressing issues related to academic procrastination.

Children's shyness and early stages of emotional face processing.

The ability to detect and recognize facial emotions emerges in childhood and is important for understanding social cues, but we know relatively little about how individual differences in temperament may influence early emotional face processing. We used a sample of 419 children (Mage = 10.57 years, SD = 1.75; 48% female; 77% White) to examine the relation between temperamental shyness and early stages of emotional face processing (assessed using the P100 and N170 event-related potentials) during different facial expressions (neutral, anger, fear, and happy). We found that higher temperamental shyness was related to greater P100 activation to faces expressing anger and fear relative to neutral faces. Further, lower temperamental shyness was related to greater N170 activation to faces expressing anger and fear relative to neutral faces. There were no relations between temperamental shyness and neural activation to happy faces relative to neutral faces for P100 or N170, suggesting specificity to faces signaling threat. We discuss findings in the context of understanding the early processing of facial emotional display of threat among shy children.

May I come in? A probe into the contributions of self-esteem, teacher support, and critical thinking to anxiety and shyness in language classes.

Many students feel uncomfortable when obliged to communicate in English. Students' fear of speaking English is influenced by psychological reasons such as the fear of failing, being misunderstood, and making grammatical errors. Students' active participation in English class discussions might be hindered by shyness, nervousness, lack of confidence, and motivation. Helping these reserved students gain self-assurance and perfect their spoken English is a top priority for all English language instructors. In the classroom, teachers may use some simple methods to encourage their reserved students to open up and speak English with more ease and confidence. The existing literature on students' shyness shows that the gap in this realm is great and a critical look is needed. To this end, the current research intended to gauge the effects of self-esteem, teacher support, and critical thinking on anxiety and shyness in language classes. 385 language learners attending English language institutions took part in this research. They were at intermediate and upper intermediate levels. The findings of both confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) point to the fact that improving students' self-esteem, teacher support, and critical thinking may have a moderating effect on students 'anxiety and shyness in language learning. The implications of this inquiry may be advantageous for language learners, language instructors, as well as policymakers.

Associations between Shyness and Victimization with Substance Use Outcomes in the National Comorbidity and Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiological Surveys.

Background: There is a lack of consensus among researchers on the association between shyness and substance use. This may be due to unexamined modifiers of this association, such as childhood victimization. Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine if experiencing different types of victimization (emotional, physical, sexual, and poly-victimization) modifies the association between shyness and substance use outcomes in adults. In this study, we performed moderation analyses to investigate whether victimization moderates the association between shyness and substance use/abuse. Data came from the National Comorbidity Survey Baseline (NCS-1; 1990-1992) and the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiological Surveys (CPES; 2001-2003). Substance use outcomes included were binge drinking, tobacco use, other drug use, and DSM-III-R (NCS-1)/DSM-IV (CPES) classifications of alcohol and drug abuse. Results: Results from NCS-1 supported a moderating role of childhood victimization on the relationship between shyness and tobacco use only, specifically for emotional (p = .031) and physical (p < .001) victimization, and poly-victimization (p < .001). Results from CPES showed a moderating role of lifetime sexual abuse for binge drinking (p = .017), other drug use (p = .028), and alcohol abuse (p = .004). For both datasets, the associations between shyness and substance use outcomes were stronger when there were no victimization histories. Conclusion: These findings give insight on the complexity of the interaction between shyness and victimization. Future research could focus on mechanisms, such as cognitive processes, that may contribute to interactions between shyness and victimization history on substance outcomes.

Effects of smartphone-based hypnotic intervention for undergraduate students' shyness during the COVID-19 pandemic: A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, university students have been exposed to a heightened vulnerability towards developing psychological issues, such as psychological distress and shyness. Internet-based interventions offer a convenient avenue for scalability, thus prompting the development of a smartphone-based hypnotic intervention aimed at addressing shyness among university students. OBJECTIVE: We devised an innovative smartphone-based hypnotic intervention called mHypnosis to examine its impact on shyness among undergraduate students. Furthermore, we aimed to investigate whether the apprehension of negative evaluations before treatment could serve as a predictor for the effectiveness of the intervention on shyness. METHODS: Eighty students with high shyness scores were randomly assigned to the experimental group and the control group. Another 40 participants with low shyness score were selected as the baseline group. The Shyness Scale (SS), Fear of Negative evaluation scale (FNE), Self-Acceptance Questionnaire (SAQ), and Self-Esteem Scale (SES) were used to evaluate the effect of hypnotic intervention. RESULTS: Before the intervention, the scores of the experimental and control groups on the SS, FNE, SAQ, and SES were higher than those in the baseline group (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in scores between the experimental and control group (p > 0.05). After the intervention, the scores of the SS, FNE, SAQ, and SES were significantly lower in the experimental group than those in the control group (p < 0.05). The pretest score of FNE could predict the shyness score after hypnotic intervention (B = 0.35, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Smartphone-based hypnotic intervention had a significant effect on ameliorating shyness during the COVID-19 pandemic; fear of negative evaluation can be a target for treating shyness.

Shyness and self-esteem in women. The role of likeability, personal power, lovability, and self-worth conditioned by others' approval.

BACKGROUND: The relation between shyness and self-esteem in women has not been fully elucidated. Shyness is a source of many problems in social interactions, although it may be positively evaluated by women as a stereotypically female trait. The aim of the study was to examine relations between shyness, self-esteem, its dimensions, and contingencies of self-worth in women. It also compared the self-esteem and contingencies of self-worth in shy and bold women. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE: The study was conducted in a sample of 1020 Polish women, aged 18-73. The Revised Cheek and Buss Shyness Scale, the Multidimensional Self-Esteem Inventory, and the Contingencies of Self-Worth Scale were used. RESULTS: The results of linear multiple regression showed that predictors of shyness were dimensions of self-esteem related to likeability, personal power, lovability, body functioning, academic/professional competences, and self-worth conditioned by others' approval and God's love. Shy women had significantly lower global self-esteem in comparison to bold women. Shy women evaluated themselves lower than bold women did, in all the dimensions of self-esteem. Both shy and bold women find family support and academic/professional competencies the main contingencies of self-worth, and God's love was indicated the least. CONCLUSIONS: The results illustrated the importance of shyness for women's self-esteem, and also have implications for understanding how shy and bold women may express themselves in social life.

Visual Functional-Structural Plant Modeling Innovatively as a Compound Eye: Opening a New Way for Advancing the Scientific Cognition of Plant Vision.

Plant vision is an interesting interdisciplinary branch of botany and vision science, and its emerging studies have composed an epic journey of discovery. However, there are few endeavors on modeling how a plant as an integrity sees. Inspired by the similarity between those discovered laws of plant vision and the visual performance of some insect species with compound eyes, the visual functional-structural plant modeling as a compound eye is innovatively proposed. Using this adapted basic-pattern-oriented modeling, we tried to validate its feasibility in terms of the structural support, visual pathway, and functional performance. First, for a diversity of woody plants, their crowns proved to show self-similar profiles, which render the omnidirectional surfaces for structurally supporting the proposed model. Second, for many plant species, their branching proved to abide by the Pareto front, which ensures the optimality of assuming the visual pathway along the branching network. Third, in canopies the varying, but existing horizontal and vertical modes of crown shyness are detected, which in functional performance accords with the panoramic visibility of the proposed model. Overall, the feasibility of compound eye modeling is validated preliminarily, with the implication of opening a way for advancing the scientific cognition of plant vision.

Shyness and Socio-Emotional Adjustment among Young Chinese Children: The Moderating Role of Screen Time.

The primary aim of the present study was to examine the potential moderating role of screen time in the links between shyness and indices of socio-emotional adjustment in young Chinese children. Participants were N = 211 children (112 boys, 99 girls) ages 43-66 months (M = 58.84 months, SD = 5.32) recruited from two public kindergartens in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. Mothers completed assessments of children's shyness and screen time, and both mothers and teachers completed measures of indices of children's socio-emotional functioning (prosocial, internalizing problems, learning problems). Among the results, shyness was positively associated with internalizing problems and negatively associated with prosocial behavior, whereas screen time was positively associated with internalizing problems. However, several significant shyness × screen time interaction effects were observed. The pattern of these results consistently revealed that at higher levels of screen time, links between shyness and indices of socio-emotional difficulties were exacerbated. Results are discussed in terms of the implications of shyness and screen time in early childhood.

Children's Shyness, Frontal Brain Activity, and Anxiety in the Perioperative Context.

Although preoperative anxiety affects up to 75% of children undergoing surgery each year and is associated with many adverse outcomes, we know relatively little about individual differences in how children respond to impending surgery. We examined whether patterns of anterior brain electrical activity (i.e., a neural correlate of anxious arousal) moderated the relation between children's shyness and preoperative anxiety on the day of surgery in 70 children (36 girls, Mage = 10.4 years, SDage = 1.7, years, range 8 to 13 years) undergoing elective surgery. Shyness was assessed using self-report approximately 1 week prior to surgery during a preoperative visit (Time 1), preoperative anxiety was assessed using self-report, and regional EEG (left and right frontal and temporal sites) was assessed using a dry sensory EEG headband on the day of surgery (Time 2). We found that overall frontal EEG alpha power moderated the relation between shyness and self-reported preoperative anxiety. Shyness was related to higher levels of self-reported anxiety on the day of surgery for children with lower average overall frontal alpha EEG power (i.e., higher cortical activity) but not for children with higher average overall frontal alpha EEG power (i.e., lower cortical activity). These results suggest that the pattern of frontal brain activity might amplify some shy children's affective responses to impending surgery. Findings also extend prior results linking children's shyness, frontal brain activity, and anxiety observed in the laboratory to a real-world, ecologically salient environment.