Poster #67 - Protective effects of relationships with peers and mentors in the link between social anxiety and loneliness

• In Event: Poster Session 11

Abstract

The current study examined mentor and peer relational health as a buffer of the relation between social anxiety and loneliness. Social anxiety, the fear of social situations or interactions with other individuals (Mattick & Clarke, 1997), predicts loneliness, but there is a dearth of research on protective factors. Relational health, defined as the degree to which a person feels authentic, empowered, and engaged, with a mentor/peer (Liang et al., 2002), buffers against depressive symptoms and alcohol consequences in college-age women (LaBrie et al., 2008; Lund et al., 2014). The present study evaluated the role of relational health with mentors and peers as a buffer in the relation between social anxiety and loneliness. We hypothesized that relational health with mentors and peers would moderate the relation between social anxiety and loneliness such that those with high levels of relational health with mentors and peers and low levels of social anxiety would have fewer loneliness symptoms compared to those with low levels of relational health with mentors and peers and high levels of social anxiety.

Participants included 476 women (M Age = 19.89, SD = 2.06) attending a small women’s liberal arts college in the Northeast. Participants were 40.04% White, 36.4% Asian, 9.21% Biracial/Multiracial, 8.78% Latina/Hispanic, and 5.57% Black/African-American. Most participants reported that their parents had at least some college education. Participants were recruited through psychology courses and given course credit. Questionnaires measured constructs including social anxiety (Mattick & Clarke, 1998), relational health with mentors/peers (Liang et al., 2002), and loneliness (Russell, 1996).

Social anxiety and loneliness were positively correlated with each other, as were relational health with mentor and peer. Social anxiety and loneliness were negatively correlated with relational health with mentor and peer. Moderation analyses were conducted using the PROCESS macro v.4.1 for SPSS (Hayes, 2022); no data were missing. Relational health with mentors significantly moderated the relation between social anxiety and loneliness (b = .098, SE = .024, p < .001, 95% CI [.050, .15]). As hypothesized, high mentor relational health (+1 SD above the mean) buffered the effects of social anxiety on loneliness compared to low relational health (see Figure 1). The model accounted for 42% of the variance in loneliness. Relational health with peers also moderated the relation between social anxiety and loneliness (b = .071, SE = .035, p =.041, 95% CI [.003, .14]). High peer relational health (+1 SD above the mean) buffered the effects of social anxiety on loneliness compared to low relational health (see Figure 2). The model accounted for 44% of the variance in loneliness.

Our findings highlight the protective effects of peers and mentors as well as the challenges of accessing protective factors when experiencing high levels of social anxiety. Results are consistent with research showing that high quality relationships are a salient buffer against negative outcomes for young adult women. Our study is the first to investigate relational support as a protective factor that can reduce the impact of social anxiety on loneliness in college-aged women.

Authors

• Sally Ann Theran, Wellesley College
  Presenting Author

• Sohyun C. Han, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles