Social Anxiety Tied to Later Risk for Suicidal Ideation, Depression

FRIDAY, June 21, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Baseline social anxiety symptoms are associated with two-year suicidal ideation and depressive symptoms, according to a study published online June 10 in JCPP Advances.

Kenny Chiu, Ph.D., from the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom, and colleagues investigated the temporal associations between baseline social anxiety and later suicidal ideation and depressive symptoms in 2,397 youth (aged 14 to 24 years).

The researchers found that baseline social anxiety symptoms were associated with two-year suicidal ideation (β = 0.07) and two-year depressive symptoms (β = 0.08), after controlling for baseline predicted variables. The relationship between baseline social anxiety symptoms and two-year suicidal ideation was significantly mediated by one-year depressive symptoms (β = 0.04), as was the relationship between baseline social anxiety symptoms and two-year depressive symptoms (β = 0.06), after adjusting for age, sex, and other covariates.

“In sum, in this study, we found evidence in a nonclinical sample that social anxiety symptoms may be prospectively linked to suicidal ideation and depressive symptoms through intermediate depressive symptoms,” the authors write. “Therefore, there is value in developing more comprehensive assessment of suicidal risks and depression in socially anxious youth, and offer timely psychological intervention for social anxiety in adolescence.”

Abstract/Full Text