BACKGROUND: Social anxiety symptoms are common and harmful psychological illness in college students. Although some studies have illustrated that physical activity could reduce social anxiety symptoms, the specific mechanism is still unclear. Based on theoretical studies on resilience and sleep, this study constructed a serial mediation model to explore whether they mediate between physical activity and social anxiety symptoms among college students.
METHODS: This study surveyed 9,530 college students from three colleges in China to explore the mediating effect of physical activity and sleep problems between physical activity and social anxiety symptoms. Participants were investigated with the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, Sleep-related problems, and the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale and the Social Phobia Scale. Correlations between variables were analysed using Pearson correlation analysis and mediation analyses were performed using SPSS PROCESS macro 3.3 software.
RESULTS: The study found that physical activity was negatively associated with social anxiety symptoms and sleep problems, but positively with psychological resilience. After controlling for sociodemographic variables, physical activity can not only indirectly alleviate social anxiety symptoms through the separate mediation of psychological resilience and sleep problems, but also through the serial mediation of psychological resilience and sleep problems.
CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that improving physical activity levels could reduce social anxiety scores by increasing psychological resilience and sleep quality. This is of great reference significance for the prevention and intervention of college students\' mental health.

Social touch has a vital role in human development and psychological well-being. However, there is a lack of measures assessing individual differences in social touch experiences and attitudes, especially under Eastern cultures. This study developed the Social Touch Experiences and Attitudes Questionnaire - Chinese version (STEAQ-C) and examined its psychometric properties with healthy young Chinese adults. In Study 1, an item pool was generated and principal component analysis (PCA) was used to identify the factor structure of the STEAQ. Study 2 recruited an independent sample and examined its reliability and validity. Network analysis further explored the interrelations between social touch and a variety of subclinical traits and symptoms. PCA identified four factors of the STEAQ-C, relating to childhood touch experiences, current touch with intimate partners, with family and friends, and with unfamiliar people. Study 2 confirmed the four-factor structure and upheld its internal consistency and stability. Positive attitudes towards and greater experiences of social touch were negatively correlated with sensory over-responsiveness and sensory hyposensitivity, as well as childhood trauma particularly emotional neglect, supporting the convergent validity. Evidence of criterion-related validity was accrued via its concurrent and predictive associations with secure attachment style, higher levels of social competence, and lower levels of social anxiety. Network analysis highlighted altered perception of social touch may be a shared feature for psychiatric conditions with social dysfunctions (e.g., autism, social anxiety and negative schizotypy). The newly-developed STEAQ-C may be a timely tool in assessing social touch experiences and attitudes under Eastern cultures.

Adolescents are at relatively high-risk for developing anxiety, particularly social anxiety. A primary hallmark of social anxiety is the impulse to avoid situations that introduce risk. Here, we examined the neural and behavioral correlates of risk avoidance in adolescents (N=59) 11 to 19 years of age. The Balloon Risk Avoidance Task was used with concurrent electroencephalography to measure event-related potentials (frontal P2; late slow-wave; N2, feedback-related negativity, FRN; posterior P3) and oscillatory dynamics (midfrontal theta, 4-7 Hz) in response to unsuccessful and successful risk avoidance conditions. Social anxiety was measured using the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children. Results indicated that, across the whole sample, youth exhibited smaller P3, larger FRN, and larger theta responses to unsuccessful risk avoidance. Youth reporting high (compared to low) levels of social anxiety exhibited larger P2, slow-wave, and FRN responses to unsuccessful, compared to successful, risk avoidance. Further, greater social anxiety was associated with reduced theta responses to successful avoidance. Youth with higher levels of social anxiety showed smaller theta responses to both conditions compared to those with low levels of social anxiety. Taken together, the ERP-component differences and weakened theta power in socially anxious youth following unsuccessful avoidance are informative neural correlates for socially anxious youth during risk avoidance.

This study examined the level of social communication problems (SCP), social anxiety (SA), and mood problems (MP) among children with ASD (age 4-13 years) enrolled in special classes (n = 74) and regular classes (n = 73) and grade level (kindergarten, 1st-3rd, 4th-6th) from teachers\' perspective in schools of Palestinian Arabs in Israel. Teachers responded to three questionnaires about (1) SCP, (2) SA and (3) MP; the teachers\' responses to the questionnaires were used to answer the research questions. Results: SCP, SA and MP were of medium rates for students with ASD enrolled in regular and special classes. No significant differences in the level of SCP could be attributed to class type (Regular, Special) or the grade level (kindergarten, 1st-3rd, 4th-6th). There were significant differences in SA levels that could be attributed to grade level in favor of the 4th-6th grades but there were no significant differences according to class type (Regular, Special). There were statistically significant differences in MP levels that could be attributed to the class type in favor of special classes, and the effect of grade level was not significant. There was a direct significant relationship between SCP, SA, and MP. Conclusion: SCP may be an important risk factor for the development of SA and MP among students with ASD, which lead us to incorporating social skills interventions by educational staff to alleviate or even prevent symptoms of SA and MP among students with ASD, which supports the view of inclusion.

Interpersonal distance (IPD) refers to the distance naturally maintained during social interactions, while peripersonal space (PPS) refers to the immediate space surrounding the body, or the space within reaching distance. Previous research has preliminarily indicated that IPD is associated with body image disturbances. We sought to expand extant literature by exploring associations between aspects of positive and negative body image, IPD, and PPS. Seventy-five women from the United Kingdom aged 18-40 years completed measures of body appreciation, body image flexibility, body shame, body surveillance, and body dissatisfaction. IPD boundaries were estimated using a lab-based comfort-distance task, whereas PPS boundaries were estimated using an audio-tactile reaction-time task. Measures of body acceptance by others and fear of negative evaluation were completed as potential mediators. Overall, we identified positive associations between IPD, body surveillance, and fear of negative evaluation, with no statistically significant associations identified between the other indices. The association between active IPD and body surveillance was mediated by fear of negative evaluation, even after controlling for demographic factors. These findings suggest a nuanced relationship between IPD and body image-related factors, highlighting the role of social evaluation anxiety. Future investigations should use experimental designs to further understand these relationships and their implications.

UNASSIGNED: With the boom in social media, many people spend a lot of time on these platforms. Among them, some developed negative emotions, such as fatigue, depression, or disinterest in communicating, and used social media temporarily or permanently. Therefore, this study aims to explore the antecedents of social media fatigue, including social media helpfulness, social media self-efficacy, online subjective well-being, social comparison, compulsive social media use, privacy concerns, fear of missing out, and information overload, and to further discuss the determinants of social media fatigue on social anxiety and lurking.
UNASSIGNED: An online questionnaire was distributed to social media users, and 659 valid samples were obtained with the help of a purposive sampling strategy. The data was analyzed by the partial least square (PLS) method.
UNASSIGNED: The study found that social media self-efficacy had a significant negative effect on social media fatigue; compulsive social media use, fear of missing out, and information overload had a significant positive effect on social media fatigue; and social media fatigue had a significant positive effect on social anxiety and lurking.
UNASSIGNED: The research results can be used as a reference for social media marketers and internet service providers in developing business strategies.

UNASSIGNED: Rumination is a well-established contributor to the severity of depression and anxiety. It is unknown, however, whether individual differences in the temporal dynamics of rumination over time predict longitudinal increases in depression or anxiety.
UNASSIGNED: The current study examined whether the dynamic indices of ruminative inertia and variability assessed over 14 days via ecological momentary assessment predicted change in symptoms of depression, general anxiety, and social anxiety at a 90-day follow-up (n = 115).
UNASSIGNED: Controlling for ruminative variability, baseline levels of the dependent variable, sex, and mean levels of momentary rumination, ruminative inertia did not predict change in symptoms of depression, general anxiety, or social anxiety at the 90-day follow-up. In contrast, greater ruminative variability predicted increases in symptoms of both depression and social anxiety but not general anxiety at follow-up. Individuals endorsing higher baseline levels of depressive symptoms demonstrated greater amounts of inertia and variability in their momentary rumination. Greater ruminative variability but not inertia was also associated with higher baseline levels of general anxiety and social anxiety.
UNASSIGNED: These results suggest that ruminative variability may be a risk factor for increases in symptoms of depression and social anxiety over time and a potentially useful target for clinical intervention.

Background and objectives: Avoidance is regarded as a central hallmark of social anxiety. Experiential avoidance is perilous for social anxiety, specifically among university students (young adults). Additionally, cognitive control and cognitive flexibility are crucial components of executive functions for a fulfilling and healthy lifestyle. The current research is a modest attempt to understand how cognitive flexibility and cognitive control affect the emergence of experiential avoidance in social anxiety in young adults. Methods: Using an ex-post facto design, the Social Phobia Inventory was employed to screen university students with social anxiety based on which one hundred and ninety-five were identified. Thereafter, participants completed the standardized measures on experiential avoidance, cognitive control and cognitive flexibility. Results: A stepwise multiple regression analysis was computed wherein the cognitive control predicts an amount of 5% of variance towards experiential avoidance, whereas a 10% of additional variance has been contributed by cognitive flexibility. Interpretation and Conclusions: The statistical outcome indicated that cognitive control is positively associated with experiential avoidance which is a negative correlate to cognitive flexibility among university students. Both also emerged as significant predictors of experiential avoidance and add a cumulative variance of 15% towards the same. This conclusion supports the need for improved and efficient management techniques in counseling and clinical settings.

Patients with ITP have been reported to experience higher levels of depression and anxiety than their healthy counterparts. The limited research conducted on this subject in the pediatric age group has demonstrated that patients have psychosocial difficulties, and their quality of life is adversely affected. The correlation of depressive symptoms with disease characteristics of cITP has never been investigated. This was a cross-sectional study in patients being treated for cITP. Communication with participants was done during routine outpatient visits or by telephone or e-mail, and a survey about demographics and the Children\'s Depression Inventory (CDI) and the Social Anxiety Scale for Children-Revised (SAS-CR) was administered prospectively. A total of 56 children with cITP were recruited. The mean CDI score was 17 (SD: ± 9.44). Approximately half of the patients had higher CDI scores than healthy Turkish children. Older age, time since diagnosis, a number of hospitalizations (both total and within the last year) were positively correlated with CDI scores. There was no significant correlation between SAS-CR scores and disease characteristics. Depressive symptom scores were higher in children with cITP compared with healthy children in this study. Psychological needs may be overlooked in the medical management of children with cITP.

UNASSIGNED: Social anxiety has consistently emerged as a prominent manifestation of mental health issues among college students. Though the relationship between upward social comparison and social anxiety has been extensively addressed in previous literature, little attention has been paid to the underlying mechanisms at play.
UNASSIGNED: The present study used a questionnaire survey to test whether upward social comparison may be associated with social anxiety in Chinese college students. The mediating role of relative deprivation and rumination was also examined.
UNASSIGNED: In total, 463 college students were recruited to complete four scales, including the Upward Social Comparison Scale, the Relative Deprivation Scale, the Ruminative Thinking Scale, and the Social Anxiety Scale.
UNASSIGNED: The results show that upward social comparison was significantly positively correlated with relative deprivation, rumination, and social anxiety (r = 0.30, 0.31, and 0.27, respectively; p < 0.01). Second, relative deprivation was positively correlated with rumination and social anxiety (r = 0.40 and 0.17, respectively; p < 0.01). Finally, rumination was positively correlated with social anxiety (r = 0.47, p < 0.01). Moreover, upward social comparison positively predicts social anxiety, with an effect value of 0.12, while rumination plays a mediating role between upward social comparison and social anxiety, with an effect value of 0.07, and the 95% confidence interval for the indirect effect is 0.04-0.11. Separately, the chain mediation of relative deprivation and rumination had an effect value of 0.03, and the 95% confidence interval for the indirect effect is 0.02-0.05.
UNASSIGNED: This research highlights the relationship between upward social comparison and social anxiety in Chinese society and revealed the mediating mechanisms between them, deepening our understanding of how upward social comparison increases social anxiety.