New research suggests that adolescents with high levels of social anxiety rely heavily on unhelpful mental habits to manage their daily stress. These young people do not necessarily lack positive coping skills, but they appear to lean disproportionately on negative strategies like excessive worry. This specific pattern of behavior holds true regardless of the teenager’s age or gender. The findings were published in the Journal of Early Adolescence.

Adolescence represents a distinct developmental window marked by profound changes in social functioning. Young people begin to encounter interpersonal stressors, such as peer conflict or exclusion, with greater frequency than in childhood. This transition is often accompanied by an increase in anxiety symptoms. For youth who are particularly anxious, the normative challenges of middle school can feel overwhelming. Mental health experts recognize that the way a person regulates their emotions in response to stress is a major predictor of their overall psychological health.

Researchers have previously established that anxious youth often experience more intense negative emotions after difficult events. Prior studies also suggested these youth are less successful at regulating those emotions compared to their non-anxious peers. However, past research frequently grouped different types of anxiety together. This approach potentially obscured important nuances. Different forms of anxiety likely have unique causes and distinct developmental paths.

A team of researchers from the University of Toledo sought to address this gap in understanding. The investigators were Caley R. Lane, Julianne M. Griffith, and Benjamin L. Hankin. They aimed to determine if social anxiety specifically predicted how adolescents managed their feelings in real-time. They hypothesized that the fear of negative evaluation, which is central to social anxiety, would trigger specific emotional responses to daily interpersonal stressors.

The study distinguished between two broad categories of emotion regulation. The first category includes adaptive strategies. These are generally helpful behaviors such as problem solving or seeking social support. The second category includes maladaptive strategies. These are unhelpful responses such as rumination and worry. Rumination involves repetitively fixating on distress without finding a solution. Worry involves repetitive negative thinking about the future.

To capture these behaviors in a natural setting, the researchers utilized a technique known as the experience sampling method. This approach allows scientists to collect data on a person’s experiences as they happen in the real world. This offers an advantage over laboratory studies, which may not reflect how people act in their daily lives.

The study included 146 adolescents recruited from a midwestern city in the United States. The participants ranged in age from 10 to 14 years old. Approximately half of the group identified as girls. The racial composition was predominantly white, though it included participants from multiracial, Asian, Black, and Latine backgrounds.

Participating adolescents carried a smartphone equipped with a specific application for nine days. During this period, the participants received alerts to complete surveys three to four times a day. These alerts occurred at semi-random times on weekends and during after-school hours on weekdays. This schedule minimized interference with academic activities.

On each survey, the adolescents reported the worst mood they had experienced in the previous hour. They identified what kind of event triggered that mood. The researchers categorized these events as either interpersonal stressors, such as arguments with friends, or non-interpersonal stressors, such as academic pressure. The participants then rated how much they used various coping strategies in response to that specific event.

The results of the analysis showed a clear pattern regarding social anxiety symptoms. Adolescents with higher levels of social anxiety were more likely to use maladaptive regulation strategies when facing interpersonal stress. Specifically, these youth engaged in higher levels of repetitive negative thinking.

The researchers also examined whether social anxiety influenced the use of positive strategies. The data indicated that social anxiety symptoms did not predict the use of adaptive regulation. Highly socially anxious adolescents were just as likely to use problem solving or support seeking as their less anxious peers. This suggests a specific deficit in restraining negative thoughts rather than a lack of positive skills.

To ensure these findings were specific to social anxiety, the researchers analyzed symptoms of physical anxiety. Physical anxiety involves somatic sensations like trembling or tension. The study found no statistical association between physical anxiety symptoms and the use of maladaptive emotion regulation. This indicates that the tendency to respond to stress with unhelpful cognitive habits is a unique feature of social anxiety symptoms in this context.

The study further broke down the maladaptive strategies into specific components. The analysis revealed that the association was driven largely by worry rather than rumination. Socially anxious youth were statistically more likely to engage in repetitive thoughts about future negative outcomes. This aligns with the nature of social anxiety, which involves anticipating humiliation or rejection.

The researchers also looked at whether the type of stressor mattered. They found that social anxiety predicted maladaptive regulation in response to both interpersonal and non-interpersonal stress. This suggests that for socially anxious youth, the tendency to worry extends beyond social situations to general life challenges.

The team explored whether age or gender influenced these relationships. Previous research has shown that girls often report more interpersonal stress and social anxiety than boys. Additionally, sensitivity to social feedback tends to increase as children get older. However, the current study found no evidence that age or gender altered the results. The link between social anxiety and maladaptive coping appears consistent across early adolescence for both boys and girls.

These findings have practical implications for how mental health professionals support anxious youth. Interventions often focus on teaching new coping skills. However, this study suggests that socially anxious adolescents may already possess these adaptive skills. They simply engage in maladaptive worry alongside them. Effective treatment might need to prioritize reducing repetitive negative thinking patterns.

There are several caveats to consider regarding this research. The sample was drawn primarily from white families with relatively high incomes. The results may not fully generalize to adolescents from diverse racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic backgrounds. Future research needs to examine these processes in more diverse populations.

The study relied entirely on self-reported data. While experience sampling reduces recall bias, it still depends on the participant’s perception. Shared method variance can sometimes inflate associations between variables. Additionally, the researchers did not survey students during school hours. This means many peer interactions that occur in the classroom or hallway were likely missed.

The researchers also noted that the study focused on a specific set of regulation strategies. Adolescents may use other techniques, such as suppression or cognitive reappraisal, which were not measured here. Future investigations could broaden the scope of strategies assessed.

Finally, the study looked at between-person differences. It compared kids with high anxiety to kids with low anxiety. Future work should investigate within-person variations. It would be useful to know if a specific teenager uses more maladaptive strategies on days when they feel more anxious than usual.

Despite these limitations, the research offers a clearer picture of the internal world of socially anxious teens. It highlights the specific burden of worry that these young people carry. By pinpointing the reliance on maladaptive strategies, the study identifies a precise target for intervention. Helping adolescents break the cycle of worry may be a key step in preventing social anxiety from escalating into more severe psychopathology.

The study, “Youth Social Anxiety and Daily-Life Emotion Regulation in Response to Interpersonal Stress,” was authored by Caley R. Lane, Julianne M. Griffith, and Benjamin L. Hankin.

Decisions that balance immediate comfort against long-term benefits are a fundamental part of daily life. Whether choosing to exercise, study for an exam, or have a difficult conversation, individuals constantly weigh the present against the future. A new study published in Personality and Individual Differences suggests that anxiety often short-circuits this process. The researchers found that while information about future outcomes helps most people make better choices, those with high levels of anxiety struggle to look past their immediate emotional discomfort.

Psychologists refer to the ability to guide behavior based on anticipated outcomes as sensitivity to future consequences. This mental calculation allows a person to endure temporary unpleasantness to achieve a valued goal. When this system functions well, it acts as a compass for personal success and well-being. When it fails, individuals may fall into patterns of avoidance. They might choose short-term relief that ultimately worsens their problems or prevents them from moving forward in life.

The researchers, Xinyao Ma and John E. Roberts of the University at Buffalo, initiated this investigation to address a gap in existing psychological literature. Past research on this topic largely relied on artificial assessments involving money. Tests like the Iowa Gambling Task measure how well people learn to avoid financial losses over time. These monetary tasks are effective for studying conditions characterized by impulsivity, such as substance abuse or conduct disorders.

Ma and Roberts argued that financial games fail to capture the reality of internalizing disorders like depression and anxiety. For someone suffering from anxiety, the primary motivator is often not the acquisition of a reward but the reduction of distress. The researchers posited that existing tools lacked ecological validity, meaning they did not resemble the real-world emotional dilemmas people face. They sought to understand if the tendency to prioritize immediate emotional relief over long-term stability is a defining feature of these mental health conditions.

To test this, the authors developed a novel assessment called the Scenario Task. They recruited 504 adults through an online research platform to participate in the experiment. The study utilized a between-subjects design, meaning participants were randomly assigned to one of two different groups.

The researchers presented both groups with fourteen hypothetical scenarios that required a decision. These scenarios involved everyday situations across various domains, such as work, relationships, and household chores. Each situation presented an “approach-avoidance” conflict. The participant had to decide whether to engage in a behavior that might be difficult or boring in the moment but beneficial later, or to avoid the behavior.

The experimental manipulation was subtle but central to the study’s design. The first group read scenarios that included specific information about the potential long-term consequences of the decision. The second group, serving as the control, read the same scenarios but without the future-oriented information. Instead, they received irrelevant background details. The researchers then asked participants to rate the likelihood that they would engage in the approach behavior.

The overall results showed that the manipulation worked as intended. Participants who received information about long-term consequences were generally more likely to choose the beneficial approach behavior than those in the control group. This confirms that for the average person, clearly understanding what is at stake in the future helps motivate action in the present.

The team then used linear regression analyses to determine how specific mental health symptoms and personality traits influenced this decision-making process. This is where the distinctions between anxiety and depression became apparent.

Symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder proved to be a strong moderator of decision-making. Individuals with low levels of anxiety responded strongly to the information about future consequences. When they learned that an action would help them in the long run, they were much more likely to do it. However, this effect diminished significantly for individuals with high levels of anxiety.

The data indicated that highly anxious participants were relatively insensitive to future consequences. Even when the study explicitly presented the long-term benefits of an action, these individuals remained fixated on the immediate difficulty. This aligns with clinical theories suggesting that anxiety functions through negative reinforcement. Anxious individuals learn to avoid situations that trigger distress, which provides immediate relief but prevents them from experiencing positive future outcomes.

The study found similar patterns regarding social anxiety. People who fear social scrutiny also showed a reduced sensitivity to future benefits. They appeared to prioritize the avoidance of immediate social discomfort over the potential for building relationships or resolving conflicts.

The researchers also examined a trait known as behavioral activation. This concept refers to a person’s tendency to remain engaged in goal-directed behavior despite obstacles. The findings indicated that people with high behavioral activation were very responsive to future consequences. They utilized the information to guide their choices effectively. Conversely, those with low behavioral activation struggled to use the future as a guide, appearing stuck in their current emotional state.

A similar trend appeared for the trait of perseverance. Individuals who described themselves as able to persist through boring or difficult tasks showed greater sensitivity to future outcomes. Those who identified as “non-perseverant” were less influenced by the long-term view. This suggests that the inability to stick with a task is linked to a failure to keep the end goal in mind.

The results regarding depression were more nuanced than the researchers expected. The team hypothesized that depression would universally blunt sensitivity to the future. However, the total score on the depression screening tool did not exhibit a statistically significant interaction with the experimental condition. This means that depression, as a broad category, did not predict how people used the consequence information.

However, when the researchers broke depression down into specific symptoms, they found clear associations. Symptoms such as difficulty concentrating, feelings of failure, and a lack of interest were significant moderators. Individuals suffering from these specific cognitive and motivational aspects of depression were less able to use future consequences to guide their actions. This suggests that the “brain fog” and low self-worth associated with depression may be the specific drivers of poor decision-making, rather than the low mood itself.

The study yielded null results for two other personality traits: anhedonia and non-planfulness. Anhedonia is the inability to feel pleasure. The researchers expected that people who cannot enjoy things would not care about future rewards. The data did not support this. The authors speculate that the measure they used assessed anhedonia as a permanent trait, whereas a person’s current state of mind might matter more in the moment of decision.

Similarly, “non-planfulness,” or the tendency to act impulsively, did not affect the results. This was surprising, as impulsivity is defined by a lack of future planning. The authors suggest that impulsive individuals might lack the self-awareness to report accurately on how they make decisions.

Ma and Roberts noted some limitations to their work. The sample population was drawn from a research volunteer registry that is disproportionately white, female, and older. A significant portion of the participants were retired. Older adults may view future consequences differently than younger adults who are still building their lives. This demographic skew limits how well the findings might apply to the general population.

Additionally, the study relied on self-reported intentions in hypothetical scenarios. While the Scenario Task is designed to be realistic, it is not the same as observing real behavior. It is easier for a participant to say they would have a difficult conversation than to actually have it.

Despite these caveats, the findings offer directions for future research and treatment. The study highlights that insensitivity to future consequences is not just a trait of “impulsive” disorders but is central to anxiety as well. This suggests that anxiety treatments should focus not only on reducing fear but also on training individuals to consciously weigh long-term outcomes.

The researchers propose that interventions could use variants of the Scenario Task to help patients practice this skill. By repeatedly exposing individuals to the link between present actions and future rewards, therapists might help them break the cycle of avoidance. Future studies will need to determine if these laboratory findings translate to clinical settings and if improving this sensitivity leads to symptom reduction.

The study, “An experimental investigation of individual differences in sensitivity to future consequences: Depression, anxiety, and personality,” was authored by Xinyao Ma and John E. Roberts.