Social anxiety and related social impairment are linked to self-efficacy and dysfunctional coping

Abstract

This study investigated relationships between severity of social anxiety as well as related experiences of social impairment and self-efficacy, social control and coping strategies. Social anxiety was regarded as a continuum ranging from mild social discomfort to totally inhibiting anxiety. Participants (N = 113, ages 19-60 years), recruited from a forum for individuals with social phobia and among university students, responded to a self-administered questionnaire. Besides the expected association between a low sense of social control and more severe social anxiety and related social impairment, we found severity of social anxiety and related impairment to be associated with low self-efficacy. This relationship was partly mediated by dysfunctional coping strategies. We suggest that low self-efficacy may increase an individual's tendency to rely on dysfunctional coping strategies for dealing with anxiety experienced in social situations. In turn, using dysfunctional coping strategies appears to exacerbate the experience of impairment from social anxiety.