Determinants of the Relationship between Shyness and Social Anxiety

Anksiozni poremećaji, a pogotovo socijalna anksioznost, predstavljaju veliki problem za mlađu populaciju te se najčešće dijagnosticiraju upravo u adolescenciji i mlađoj odrasloj dobi. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati odnos sramežljivost i socijalne anksioznosti te moderatorsku ulogu socijabilnosti i emocionalne regulacije u tom odnosu. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 459 ispitanika, od čega 363 žene, 94 muškarca i dvije transrodne osobe. Raspon godina ispitanika nalazio se između 18 i 30, a prosječna je dob 23.34. Mjere korištene u istraživanju uključuju Upitnik socijalne fobije (SPIN), Revidiranu Skalu sramežljivosti (RCBS), Skalu socijabilnosti te Upitnik poteškoća emocionalne regulacije (DERS-16). Istraživanje je provedeno u online formatu pomoću alata Google Docs. Rezultati su pokazali statistički značajnu povezanost svih varijabli korištenih u istraživanju. Socijalna anksioznost značajno je pozitivno povezana sa sramežljivošću i poteškoćama emocionalne regulacije. Sramežljivost i socijabilnost pokazali su se značajnim prediktorima socijalne anksioznosti, dok moderatorski efekt socijabilnosti u odnosu sramežljivosti i socijalne anksioznosti nije potvrđen. Nadalje, emocionalna regulacija također se pokazala značajnim prediktorom socijalne anksioznosti. Osim toga, kada se analiza provela na selektiranom uzorku ispitanika koji ima u određenoj mjeri izražene simptome socijalne anksioznosti, emocionalna regulacija pokazala se značajnim moderatorom odnosa sramežljivosti i socijalne anksioznosti. Dobiveni rezultati ukazuju na postojanje različitih rizičnih faktora za razvitak socijalne anksioznosti, poput sramežljivosti i emocionalne regulacije, koji mogu imati značajne implikacije za istraživački rad kao i kliničku praksu.Anxiety disorders, especially social anxiety, pose a big problem for younger population and are most commonly diagnosed in adolescence or young adulthood. The study aimed to examine the relationship between shyness and social anxiety and the moderating role of sociability and emotion regulation in that relationship. 459 people participated in the research, 363 women, 94 men and two transgender persons. The age of the respondents ranged from 18 to 30 years, with the average of 23.34 years. The instruments used were: The Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN), Revised Cheek and Buss Shyness Scale (RCBS), Sociability Scale and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-16). Research was conducted online using Google Docs tool. The results showed a statistically significant correlation of all variables included in the study. Social anxiety was significantly, positively correlated with shyness and difficulties in emotion regulation. Hierarchical regression analysis found a significant contribution of shyness and sociability in explaining social anxiety, while the moderating role of sociability in the relationship of shyness and social anxiety wasn't confirmed. Furthermore, difficulties in emotion regulation significantly contrubuted in explaining social anxiety, too. Besides that, hierarchical regression analysis conducted on a selected sample of respondents who, to some extent, have symptoms of social anxiety, difficulties in emotion regulation significantly moderated the relationship between shyness and social anxiety. Such results point to various risk factors that can contribute to the development of social anxiety, like shyness and difficulties in emotion regulation, and have important implications for future research as well as clinical practice