A Review of the Impact of COVID-19 on Symptoms of Social Anxiety in Adolescents
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58445/rars.236Keywords:
COVID-19, social anxiety disorder, adolescentsAbstract
This review explores the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had psychologically on adolescents, particularly regarding social anxiety. Overall, due to the pandemic, adolescent social anxiety has increased, though it decreased in those already diagnosed with social anxiety over lockdown. In these individuals, symptoms of social anxiety increased substantially when life reverted back to normal in late 2021/early 2022. Predominantly, an increase in symptoms of social anxiety over lockdown were observed because of a sudden decrease in social interaction, impairment of daily life due to the lockdown, and excessive use of technology. Some groups, such as females and higher-educated people were particularly affected by the lockdown and experienced exacerbated symptoms of social anxiety. However, some factors did mitigate the increase in symptoms, including lockdown measures, high socio-economic status (e.g., high family income), history of socialization with friends, and using WhatsApp as a source of information about COVID-19. Furthermore, a positive coping style was shown to result in a high psychological capital and a better acclimation to the COVID-19 pandemic, while a negative coping style was connected to a poor psychological capital and a poorer acclimation to the pandemic. Altogether, the COVID-19 pandemic’s psychological impact seems to have left implications for long-term psychological health and well-being in adolescents in the future.
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