J Youth Adolescence (2013) 42:1708–1720
DOI 10.1007/s10964-012-9878-0
EMPIRICAL RESEARCH
Linking Social Anxiety and Adolescent Romantic Relationship
Functioning: Indirect Effects and the Importance of Peers
Karen R. Hebert • Jessica Fales • Douglas W. Nangle
Alison A. Papadakis • Rachel L. Grover
Received: 17 September 2012 / Accepted: 22 November 2012 / Published online: 2 December 2012
 Springer Science+Business Media New York 2012
Abstract Peer relationships undergo dramatic shifts in
form and function during adolescence, at the same time the
incidence of socially evaluative fears sharply rises. Despite
well-established links between social anxiety and broader
interpersonal functioning, there is a dearth of research
evaluating the impact of social anxiety on functioning in
close relationships during this developmental stage. The
present study examines the impact of social anxiety on
functioning in close friendships and romantic relationships
during adolescence. From a developmental psychopathol-
ogy perspective, it was expected that social anxiety would
influence functioning (quality, length, satisfaction) in
romantic relationships through its influence on functioning
in same- and other-sex friendships. Participants included
314 adolescents (60.5 % female, 14–19 years of age) with
a prior or current history of romantic relationship
involvement. Structural equation modeling was used to test
a mediation model positing an indirect pathway from social
anxiety to romantic relationship functioning through
functioning in close same- and other-sex friendships. Given
known gender differences in social anxiety and relationship
functioning, gender also was explored as a potential
moderator. Results supported the hypothesized indirect
K. R. Hebert
Psychology Department, Barnard College of Columbia
University, 415 Milbank Hall, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY
10027, USA
J. Fales (&)
D. W. Nangle
Psychology Department, University of Maine, 301 Little Hall,
Orono, ME 04469, USA
e-mail: jessica.fales@seattlechildrens.org
A. A. Papadakis
R. L. Grover
Psychology Department, Loyola University Maryland, 4501
North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21210, USA
123
•
pathway whereby social anxiety was associated with
impairment in same-sex friendships; functioning in same-
sex friendships was associated with functioning in
other-sex friendships, which was associated, in turn, with
functioning in romantic relationships. While the hypothe-
sized indirect pathway was significant among both boys and
girls, there was greater continuity of functioning between
same- and other-sex friendships for girls. These findings
highlight the importance of examining the multiple down-
stream effects of social anxiety on perceived social func-
tioning in adolescence, and suggest that continuity may exist
for maladaptive patterns of socialization, particularly across
developmentally salient close relationships.
Keywords Romantic relationships
Social anxiety

Other-sex friends
Same-sex friends
Relationship quality
Introduction
Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to social discom-
fort and evaluative fears at a time when peer interactions
increase in frequency and importance. Indeed, the link
between social anxiety and compromised adolescent social
functioning is well documented (see Newman Kingery
et al. 2010, for a review). In normative samples, higher
levels of social anxiety have been found to relate to lower
peer acceptance (Erath et al. 2010; Flanagan et al. 2008; La
Greca and Lopez 1998; La Greca and Harrison 2005) and
increased peer victimization (Siegel et al. 2009; Storch
et al. 2003; Storch and Masia-Warner, 2004). Not only do
socially anxious youth have fewer reciprocated close
friendships (Erath et al. 2010), but their existing friend-
ships also tend to be of lower quality. For instance, higher
social anxiety has been associated with increased negative
J Youth Adolescence (2013) 42:1708–1720
interactions and decreased support from one’s best friend,
and lower perceived companionship in adolescent girls’
closest friendships (La Greca and Harrison 2005; La Greca
and Lopez 1998).
Given the salience and developmental importance of
romantic relationships in adolescence, it is surprising that
much less is known about how social anxiety and adoles-
cent romantic relationships may be related. By mid-ado-
lescence, most teens have begun dating and have been
involved in at least one romantic relationship (Carver et al.
2003; Feiring 1996). Consistent with developmental theory
(e.g., Erikson 1968; Sullivan 1953), adolescent romantic
relationships fulfill a number of critical functions including
the enhancement of self-worth, social status, and sense of
belonging, as well as the provision of social support,
companionship, and intimacy (Collins 2003; Connolly and
Konarski 1994; Feiring 1996; Furman and Buhrmester
1992; Furman and Hand 2006). These relationships also
provide a context for meeting sexual needs and help to
establish sexual identity and romantic self-concept (Con-
nolly and Goldberg 1999). Because the quality of these
early romantic relationships in mid-adolescence is predic-
tive of the quality and level of commitment in early adult
relationships (Seiffge-Krenke 2003), it is important to
examine factors such as social anxiety that may influence
longer term romantic relationship functioning. The fol-
lowing section describes how friends and the larger peer
group promote the emergence of romantic relationships
during adolescence and then presents a developmental
psychopathology framework for understanding how social
anxiety may influence normative social trajectories. We
then briefly consider gender differences in social anxiety
and social functioning during this developmental stage,
before describing the present study.
A Theoretical Guide and Its Empirical Support
The developmental literature provides a strong conceptual
base for examining possible associations between social
anxiety and adolescent romantic functioning. In this liter-
ature, the establishment of romantic relationships is viewed
as part of a trajectory that begins with same- and other-sex
peer affiliations. Major developmental theorists have long
observed linkages across the peer and romantic domains.
Sullivan (1953) proposed that youth first learn emotional
intimacy skills in the context of their same-sex friendships.
With the onset of puberty and an emergent interest in the
other sex, adolescents then apply the social skills and
interpersonal competencies learned in their same-sex
friendships to their relationships with the other sex. Thus,
early friends (both same- and other-sex) are thought to
provide a framework for developing intimacy in more
mature peer relationships, including romantic relationships.
1709
Other leading models of adolescent romantic relationships
explain this continuity with attachment theory (e.g.,
Downey et al. 1999; Furman and Wehner 1994). Such
theories posit that children develop an internal working
model (IWM) of relationships based on early interactions
with their caregivers that then shapes their future close
relationships. This IWM is thought to serve as a foundation
for how to initiate, interact with, and maintain other types
of relationships, including friendships and romantic rela-
tionships (see Engels et al. 2001; Hazan and Shaver 1987).
Thus, both developmental and attachment models theorize
some consistency in the quality of adolescent same- and
other-sex friendships and their romantic relationships, and
suggest a developmental trajectory from same- to other-sex
friendships, then leading to romantic relationships.
Supporting such theories, empirical work demonstrates
the importance of same- and other-sex peers in facilitating
the onset of romantic relationships. Dunphy (1963) first
documented the rapid structural progression of the ado-
lescent social network from same-sex peer affiliations, to
mixed-sex groups, to other-sex romantic dyads. In early
adolescence, youth maintain membership in small, isolated,
same-sex peer groups. Within the context of the same-sex
peer groups, teens experience increased interactions
between male and female cliques in group settings, which
foreshadow the emergence of the mixed-sex cliques or
‘‘crowds.’’ Finally, the crowd slowly disintegrates as cli-
ques are reorganized into loose associations of steadily
dating couples. In their longitudinal investigation, Con-
nolly et al. (2000) observed structural shifts consistent with
those described by Dunphy such that the size of one’s
same-sex group in grade 9 predicted the size of the other-
sex peer group in grade 10, as well as the likelihood of
having a romantic partner in grade 11. Interestingly, the
same-sex peer network appeared to exert its influence on
romantic involvement indirectly through its influence on
the establishment of the other-sex friendship network.
Similarly, in a longitudinal study following youth from
ages 9 through 18, Feiring (1999) found that the size of
youth’s other-sex network increased dramatically during
early adolescence and having more other-sex friends
appeared to facilitate the emergence of romantic relation-
ships, as those adolescents with a larger other-sex peer
network began dating earlier than adolescents with smaller
networks. Likewise, in a sample of adolescents in grades
10–12, La Greca and Mackey (2007) found that adoles-
cents’ number of close same-sex friends was associated
concurrently with their number of other-sex friends, which
was associated in turn with having a romantic partner.
Overall, these findings suggest that greater access to and
interactions with peers, particularly other-sex peers, seem
to facilitate the development of romantic relationships
during adolescence.
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Also consistent with developmental and attachment
models of romantic relationships, there is emerging evi-
dence to suggest that the quality of one’s relationships
with same- and other-sex friends is predictive of romantic
relationship functioning (Cheung and McBride-Chang
2011; Connolly et al. 2000; Feiring 1999; La Greca and
Mackey 2007). Furman (1999) suggests that youth
develop affiliative skills (e.g., intimacy, companionship,
support) within the context of their same-sex relationships
and then transfer those skills to their other close rela-
tionships. In support of this contention, Feiring (1999)
found that adolescents with more other-sex friends were
more likely to identify intimacy and support as important
features of their romantic relationships and were also
more likely to have romantic relationships of longer
duration. This provides indirect support for the notion that
greater exposure to, and interaction with, the other sex
enhances one’s skill with such relationships, which in turn
may lead to better quality romantic relationships. In one of
the few studies that has directly explored the role of same-
and other-sex friendship quality as predictors of romantic
relationship quality, Connolly et al. (2000) found that both
social support and negative interactions in same- and
other-sex friendships were associated with similar indices
of quality in one’s concurrent romantic relationship (see
also Connolly and Johnson 1996; Furman and Wehner
1994). This finding suggests that there is some degree of
continuity of functioning across different types of close
relationships.
From a developmental psychopathology perspective,
social anxiety likely would alter this more normative
pathway. For example, Connolly and Goldberg (1999)
suggest that social withdrawal might result in difficulties
at each ‘‘level’’ of peer experience. On the first level,
withdrawn youth are likely less accepted by their same-
sex peers. Since same-sex peers facilitate the emergence
of the mixed-sex peer groups, impairment with same-sex
peers likely would limit one’s exposure to and interactions
with the other-sex. In turn, mixed-sex interactions are
thought to provide opportunities to develop skills specific
to other-sex relationships, as well as provide increased
opportunities to meet potential dating partners. As such,
for more socially anxious adolescents, romantic relation-
ships may be delayed or non-existent (Connolly and
Goldberg 1999; Dunphy 1963). Another possibility is that
some teens may enter into romantic relationships without
an established skill set and/or a lack of supportive friends,
which could lead to poorer functioning in those romantic
relationships and poorer relationship quality. Thus, expe-
riencing social anxiety may have far-reaching conse-
quences in peer relationships during this critical period of
social development.
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J Youth Adolescence (2013) 42:1708–1720
Gender Differences in Social Anxiety and Social
Functioning
The literature on social anxiety during adolescence sug-
gests that, in community samples of youth, social anxiety
symptoms are more prevalent among female adolescents
(Essau et al. 1999; Inderbitzen-Nolan and Walters 2000; La
Greca and Lopez 1998; Rao et al. 2007). Although these
differences are somewhat consistently observed, they tend
to be small in magnitude. Further, although girls are more
likely to endorse higher global social anxiety, one recent
study has found that boys tend to endorse greater social
avoidance and escape behaviors than girls (Inglés et al.
2011). Whether this difference in symptom expression
results in more impaired social functioning for boys com-
pared to girls is currently unknown. The very few studies
that have directly examined gender differences in the social
functioning of socially anxious youth have yielded mixed
results (Erath et al. 2007; Inderbitzen et al. 1997; La Greca
and Lopez 1998; La Greca and Harrison 2005; Vernberg
et al. 1992). When gender differences have been reported,
it appears that social anxiety is more strongly linked to
problems in close relationships for girls (La Greca and
Lopez 1998; Vernberg et al. 1992) and problems in broader
peer interactions for boys (Erath et al. 2007; Inderbitzen
et al. 1997). Nevertheless, it is unclear whether this dis-
tinction would continue to hold when considering adoles-
cent romantic relationship functioning, particularly given
that dating often occurs in a group context during this
developmental stage (Roisman et al. 2009) and traditional
gender norms place the onus on males to be more active
agents in dating relationships (Eaton and Rose 2011).
It is also important to note that females consistently
report higher relationship quality across all types of rela-
tionships (Colarossi and Eccles 2000; De Goede et al.
2009; Furman and Buhrmester 1992), seem to more highly
value dyadic relationships (Berndt 1992; Maccoby 1990;
Rose and Rudolph 2006), and more quickly progress to
romantic relationships (Carver et al. 2003) than their male
counterparts. For these reasons, girls may be expected to
evidence greater continuity of functioning across relation-
ship types, compared to boys. Given that so little is known
about how social anxiety impacts functioning in adoles-
cents’ close relationships, it is unclear whether girls’
advantages in dyadic relationships would afford them extra
protection in the face of more global social anxiety. If
social anxiety is detrimental to functioning in close rela-
tionships, its impact may be more notable for girls than
boys. That said, given the importance of the broader peer
group for the emergence of romantic relationships, social
anxiety may uniquely impact romantic functioning for
males. Regardless, gender is an important variable to
J Youth Adolescence (2013) 42:1708–1720
consider when evaluating the impact of social anxiety on
social functioning during adolescence.
The Present Study
Based on the proposed social withdrawal pathway of
Connolly and Goldberg (1999) and the broader develop-
mental literature, the aim of the present study was to test
whether social anxiety has downstream effects on func-
tioning within romantic relationships by sequentially
affecting functioning in same- and other-sex friendships
among adolescents who have initiated dating relationships
(see Fig. 1). Key to the study development was the phase-
based developmental-contextual model, first proffered by
Dunphy (1963) and later expanded upon by others (Brown
1999; Connolly and Goldberg 1999), which proposes that
interactions within the friendship network and larger peer
group facilitate the emergence of romantic relationships
during adolescence. As adolescents develop romantic
interests, their same-sex peer network expands to include
other-sex peers. Increased access to and interactions with
the other-sex are then thought to promote the development
of romantic relationships.
A developmental psychopathology framework suggests
that social anxiety would affect the developmental pathway
of romantic relationships. As such, it is important to
explore the effects of social anxiety on functioning in
Number Close SS Satisfaction w/SS Social Support Number Close OS
Friends (PRQ) Friends (DHQ) (NRI)
.39 .42 .58
Path 2
Same Sex (SS) .45/.49***
Functioning
Path 1
-.27/-.27**
Path 4
-.11/.00
Social Anxiety (SA)
(SAS-A)
Path 6
-.08/-.08 .02/.00
-.09/-.08
-.11/-.11*
Age .17/.17*
(covariate)
Fig. 1 SEM model testing the indirect effect of social anxiety on
romantic relationship functioning through same- and other-sex
friendships. Parameter estimates are for the unconstrained model
(Model 1)/constrained model (Model 2; see text). All are standardized
1711
same-sex friendships, other-sex friendships, and romantic
relationships. In our model, we examine how social anxiety
is associated with affiliations in the same- and other-sex
peer group domains, and as well as functioning in romantic
relationships. We particularly were interested in the con-
tinuity of functioning across these relationship types
among youth who have initiated romantic relationships. By
studying adolescents who have initiated romantic rela-
tionships, we were able to examine the continuity of
functioning across the three social domains. We anticipated
that symptoms of social anxiety would be associated with
fewer same-sex friends and poorer relationship function-
ing. This impairment in the same-sex domain was expected
to predict similar impairment in the other-sex domain.
Impairment in one’s other-sex friendships was expected to
be associated with poorer romantic relationship quality,
shorter relationships, and less overall dating satisfaction
among youth who have initiated those relationships. Thus,
we propose that social anxiety will have a broad impact on
social functioning during adolescence, with its influence
extending to difficulties in romantic relationships. We
predict that social anxiety will be related to romantic
relationship quality; however, this association is not
thought to be direct. Instead, it is expected to be an indirect
association through its sequential associations with same-
and other-sex friendship functioning. Functionally, because
our model only considered youth who already had initiated
dating, we conceptualized our sample as being at the same
Satisfaction w/OS Social Support
Friends (PRQ) Friends (DHQ) (NRI)
.52 .42 .63
Other Sex (OS)
Functioning
Path 3
.37/.31**
Path 5
-.12/.00
Romantic
Relationship (RR)
Functioning
.39 .62 .78
Typical Length Satisfaction Social Support
(DHQ) w/Partner (DHQ) (NRI)
estimates. All factor loadings were significant and did not differ
across constrained and unconstrained models. N = 314. *p \ .05.
*p \ .01. ***p \ .001
123
1712
‘‘developmental stage.’’ Nevertheless, we included chro-
nological age as a covariate to account for its potential
influence on major study variables.
As reviewed in the previous section, gender is also an
important variable to consider in our proposed model.
While we predicted that the model would function similarly
for boys and girls, we also sought to explore whether gender
might serve as a moderator, that is, whether the strength of
the associations might be different for boys versus girls.
Given that the extant literature would support competing
hypotheses, we made no specific predictions regarding the
direction of the moderating effects. However, we did pre-
dict that girls would evidence greater continuity of func-
tioning across relationship types, given their likely greater
experience and facility with close dyadic relationships.
Method
Participants and Procedures
Participants included 456 high school students recruited from
four schools in Northern New England, with a participation
rate of 72 % across classrooms. As the focus of the current
study was the effect of social anxiety on functioning in
romantic relationships, the total sample was reduced to 381
students who had initiated dating, indicated by a self reported
current or past dating relationship. The present study specifi-
cally included those participants who reported a past/current
history of dating and who provided relationship quality ratings
for a specific current or most recent dating partner. Although
there were no differences in social anxiety between partici-
pants who had initiated dating and those who had not (‘‘non-
daters’’) (t(445) = 0.83, p = .410), non-daters reported less
same- and other-sex friendship social support (t(402) =
-3.74, p \ .001; t(385) = -4.96, p \ .001, respectively),
less satisfaction with their other-sex friendships (t(441) =
-2.23, p = .026) and dating life (t(432) = -5.05, p \ .001),
and fewer other-sex close friendships (t(368) = -3.21,
p = .001). Of the sample of 381, 314 (190 females, 124
males) participants had complete data for the variables of
interest. While listwise deletion has its drawbacks, this
approach was necessary to obtain bootstrapped confidence
interval estimates to test for the hypothesized indirect effect.
Within those who were excluded for missing data, the largest
percentage (32 %) was excluded for missing data regarding
the typical length of their romantic relationships. Those who
were excluded reported lower same-sex social support
(t(368) = -2.29, p = .007), dating satisfaction (t(368) =
-3.12, p = .002), and social support within the focal
romantic relationship (t(379) = -4.36, p \ .001); no other
differences were significant, including social anxiety. Based on
this pattern, we speculate that perhaps those who were excluded
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J Youth Adolescence (2013) 42:1708–1720
were reporting about a romantic relationship that was less
clearly defined, without a clear beginning and end, which also
might be associated with lower satisfaction and social support.
Participants ranged in age from 14 to 19 years
(M = 16.25, SD = 1.25; 60.5 % female). Consistent with
the surrounding area, the current sample was predomi-
nantly Caucasian (94.9 %), with a smaller percentage
identifying as African American (2.9 %) or endorsing an
‘‘other’’ category (2.1 %). In terms of self-reported sexual
orientation, 93.9 % of those who responded identified as
heterosexual, 5.7 % identified as bisexual, and less than
1 % identified as gay/lesbian (.3 %). Over half of the
sample (53.1 %) reported a current dating relationship and
a similar percentage (57.6 %) reported that they were
sexually active. For minor youth, active parental consent
and the adolescent’s verbal assent were obtained prior to
participation. Participants ages 18 or above provided their
own informed consent. Data were collected in either two
one-hour sessions or one two-hour session in participating
classrooms. Participants were provided with freestanding
privacy screens while completing study questionnaires.
Measures
Social Anxiety
To assess social anxiety, adolescents were administered the
Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A; La Greca
1998). The scale consists of 18 self-statements rated on a
5-point Likert-type scale ranging from not at all (1) to all the
time (5), plus 4 filler items. The SAS-A has a three-factor
structure: fear of negative evaluation (FNE), which measures
social evaluation anxiety; social anxiety and distress in
general situations (SAD-General), which measures distress
that is experienced generally when in situations with peers;
and social anxiety and distress in new situations (SAD-New),
which is a measure of distress specific to new situations with
unfamiliar peers. A total score was computed by summing
the scores from the three subscales and was used in all
analyses. The SAS-A is one of the most frequently used
measures to assess social anxiety in adolescents and has
demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency and
reliability (Garcı́a-Lopez et al. 2001; La Greca 1998; Myers
et al. 2002). Research also has supported the criterion and
concurrent validity of the scale (Myers et al., 2002). In the
present study, scores on the SAS-A ranged from 18 to 78
(M = 42.20, SD = 12.14) with excellent internal consis-
tency (Cronbach’s a = .93).
Peer Network
The size and gender composition of the participant’s peer
networks were assessed through the Peer Relationships
J Youth Adolescence (2013) 42:1708–1720
Questionnaire (PRQ; Connolly & Konarski, 1994). The
adolescents were asked to identify same-age peers whom
they believe constitute their peer group (i.e., ‘‘people who
you like, to whom you feel close, and with whom you
spend time’’). Frequency counts are typically used to score
the PRQ (Connolly et al. 2000; Williams, Connolly, Pepler,
& Craig, 2005), and in the present study same- and other-
sex peer networks were indexed with a frequency count of
the number of same- and other-sex adolescents, respec-
tively, listed by each student. One month test–retest reli-
abilities for number of friends has been found to be good
(range = .72–.76), while modest to moderate correlations
have been found between self- and peer-reports of friend-
ship networks (Connolly & Konarski, 1994). Connolly and
Konarski suggest that PRQ scores are best thought of as an
adolescent’s perception of their peer network.
Dating History
The dating history questionnaire (DHQ; Furman and
Wehner 1992) is a 20-item measure that assesses the nature
of adolescents’ current relationship status and dating his-
tory. The adolescent was asked to respond to questions
regarding when he or she began dating activities, number
of dating partners, and the way he or she would describe
him or herself when in a dating relationship. The first five
items of the questionnaire focus on close friendships with
both same- and opposite-sex friends. The items on this
questionnaire are not scored to determine a total score, but
rather are examined item by item to determine features of
previous dating relationships. Of interest in the present
investigation were the items assessing satisfaction with
same- and other-sex friendships as well as the participant’s
level of satisfaction with their dating life in general. For
these items, participants rated the extent to which they
were satisfied with their relationship on a 5-point scale,
with higher scores indicating greater satisfaction. We were
also interested in how long individuals’ romantic rela-
tionships typically lasted, with longer relationships indi-
cating better relationship functioning. Response options
ranged from 1 (2 weeks or less) to 6 (more than 1 year),
with higher scores being indicative of longer lasting rela-
tionships. Participants in the present study reported their
typical relationship length was on average approximately
3–6 months (M = 3.90, SD 1.20).
Relationship Quality
The Network of Relationships Inventory (NRI; Furman and
Buhrmester 1985) was used to assess the quality of the
adolescents’ closest same- and other-sex friendships and
their current or most recent romantic relationship. The NRI
provides explicit instructions to help ensure that
1713
participants appropriately categorize their close relation-
ships (i.e., participants cannot choose a sibling, relative, or
boy/girlfriend as their closest other-sex friend). The NRI
consists of 33-items, each rated on a 5-point scale, that
measure positive (intimacy, companionship, reliable alli-
ance, instrumental aid, admiration, affection, satisfaction,
and nurturance) and negative (conflict, antagonism, relative
power) relationship qualities. Factor analyses of the mea-
sure have supported two dimensions of relational quality:
social support and negative interaction (Adler and Furman
1988). Items assessing negative relationship qualities were
not included in the present study (see also Connolly and
Konarski 1994; Faith et al. 2011). This decision was
informed by a growing body of research suggesting that the
difficulties socially anxious youth experience in their close
relationship are more strongly associated with reduced
social support than increased negative interactions or
conflict (see Davila and Beck 2002; Kashdan et al. 2007;
Rodebaugh 2009; Starr and Davila 2008). We computed a
broadband measure of social support for each of the three
relationship domains (same, other, and romantic relation-
ships) by averaging the positive items within that domain.
The broadband social support scale has been found to have
satisfactory internal consistency, with mean alphas (across
relationship types) equal to .80 (Furman and Buhrmester
1985). In the present study, internal consistency alphas for
this scale were .95 for same-sex, .96 for other-sex, and .97
for romantic relationships. Additionally, test–retest reli-
ability over a one-month period for the social support scale
ranges from .66–.77 across relationship types (Connolly
and Konarski 1994).
Results
Preliminary Analyses
Bivariate correlations for study variables are presented in
Table 1. Means and standard deviations for the full sample
and by gender are given in Table 2. Female participants
were on average older and reported more social support in
same-sex friendships, more other-sex friends, and more
social anxiety than the male participants (see Table 2). Age
was associated negatively with social anxiety and associ-
ated positively with typical romantic relationship length
and satisfaction with romantic relationships (see Table 2).
There were no other gender differences or associations
between age and study variables.
Mediation/Indirect Effect Analysis
Structural equation modeling was used to examine the
effect of social anxiety on romantic relationship
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Table 1 Bivariate correlations

Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

1. Age –
2. Social anxiety (SAS-A) -.11* –
Same-sex friendship functioning
3. Number of close friends (PRQ) .00 -.12* –
4. Satisfaction (DHQ) -.02 -.09 .19** –
5. Social support (NRI) -.06 -.16** .22*** .22*** –
Other-sex friendship functioning
6. Number of close friends (PRQ) -.04 -.11 .32*** .09 .17** –
7. Satisfaction (DHQ) -.03 -.09 .13* .67*** .05 .20*** –
8. Social support (NRI) -.09 -.12* .12* .14* .47*** .33*** .25*** –
Romantic relationship functioning
9. Typical length (DHQ) .16** .09 -.02 .03 -.01 -.03 .03 .01 –
10. Satisfaction (DHQ) .13* -.08 .02 .10 -.01 .12* .19** .09 .21*** –
11. Social support (NRI) .06 -.04 .00 .03 .17** .16** .08 .20** .32*** .47*** –
N = 314
* p \ .05, ** p \ .01, *** p \ .001. All two-tailed

Table 2 Means and Standard Deviations

Variable Both genders Females Males Gender comparison
M SD Range M SD M SD t p

Age 16.25 1.25 14–19 16.49 1.24 16.10 1.24 2.74 .006
Social anxiety (SAS-A) 42.20 12.14 18–78 43.72 12.07 39.87 11.91 -2.77 .006
Same-sex friendship functioning
Number of close friends (PRQ) 4.84 2.51 0–14 5.06 2.50 4.51 2.51 -1.92 .056
Satisfaction (DHQ) 4.34 1.05 1–5 4.40 1.08 4.24 1.01 -1.30 .195
Social support (NRI) 82.25 16.16 21–105 85.63 15.98 77.08 15.08 -4.74 \.001
Other-sex friendship functioning
Number of close friends (PRQ) 3.19 2.28 0–11 3.43 2.36 2.84 2.12 -2.25 .025
Satisfaction (DHQ) 4.19 1.02 1–5 4.17 1.08 4.23 0.93 0.37 .710
Social support (NRI) 70.38 18.61 21–104 70.41 18.87 70.34 18.28 -0.03 .975
Romantic relationship functioning
Typical relationship length (DHQ) 3.90 1.20 1–6 3.99 1.21 3.75 1.17 -1.77 .077
Satisfaction (DHQ) 3.77 1.02 1–5 3.85 0.97 3.65 1.09 -1.61 .109
Social support (NRI) 78.44 19.78 21–105 78.74 20.05 77.98 19.43 -0.33 .742
N = 314

functioning through same- and other-sex friendship func-
tioning, controlling for age. The hypothesized model is
given in Fig. 1. First, we examined an unconstrained model
(Model 1) in which all direct and indirect paths between the
latent factors were allowed to vary freely. Then as a test of
the hypothesized indirect effect, we examined a con-
strained model (Model 2) in which the paths that were not
part of the hypothesized indirect effect (marked paths 4, 5,
and 6 in Fig. 1) were constrained to zero. To account for
shared method effects due to similar measures across
relationships (same- and other-sex friendships and
romantic relationships), we allowed the covariance
between the errors for related indicators (e.g., NRI items)
to vary freely in all models.
The overall model fit was excellent for the uncon-
strained model (Model 1: v2(31) = 31.833, p = .425;
CFI = .998, TLI = .997, rmsea = .009), and there was no
significant decrement in model fit going from the uncon-
strained model to the constrained model (Dv2(3) = 3.398,
p = .334; Model 2: v2(34) = 35.231, p = .410; CFI =
.998, TLI = .997, rmsea = .011; see Fig. 1). The lack of
decrement in model fit and the path estimates in the

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J Youth Adolescence (2013) 42:1708–1720
unconstrained model indicate there is no significant direct
effect of social anxiety on other-sex friendship or romantic
relationship functioning (paths 4 and 6, respectively) or of
same-sex friendship functioning on romantic relationship
functioning (path 5; see Fig. 1). Although we predicted a
total effect of social anxiety on romantic relationship
functioning, there was no total effect in the unconstrained
model (Model 1; unstandardized estimate = -0.001; 95 %
bias-corrected, bootstrapped CI based on 5,000 samples:
-0.006, 0.004; p = .635). However, consistent with our
predictions, in the constrained model (Model 2) there was a
significant indirect effect of social anxiety on romantic
relationship functioning through same- and other-sex rela-
tionship functioning (unstandardized estimate = -0.002;
95 % bias-corrected, bootstrapped CI based on 5,000
samples: -0.004, -0.001; p = .001). Further, the paths
that constitute the indirect effect were significant and in the
predicted directions; social anxiety was associated with
significantly poorer same-sex relationship functioning
(b = -0.27, p = .001), and poorer same-sex friendship
functioning was associated with significantly poorer other-
sex friendship functioning (b = 0.49, p \ .001), which
was, in turn, associated with significantly poorer romantic
relationship functioning (b = 0.31, p = .006).
Gender Moderation Analysis
To examine whether the patterns found in the constrained and
unconstrained models above (Models 1 and 2) varied across
gender, we conducted a multigroup analysis to compare the
strength and direction of the direct and indirect paths (marked
1–6 in Fig. 1) for boys versus girls. In order to establish that
the direct paths (paths 4, 5, and 6) were invariant across gender
and equal to zero for both genders, we began the multigroup
analysis with Model 3, which was the unconstrained model
described above (Model 1) but with paths 1–6 (and the paths
involving age; see Fig. 1) allowed to vary across boys and
girls. Then, we estimated a constrained model (Model 4),
which was the same as Model 3 but paths 4, 5, and 6 con-
strained to zero for both genders. Both models had excellent
fit, and there was no decrement in overall model fit due to the
imposition of the constraints in Model 4 (unconstrained
model: v2(78) = 91.114, p = .147, CFI = .978, TLI =
.969, rmsea = .023; constrained model: v2(84) = 93.309,
p = .228, CFI = .984, TLI = .980, rmsea = .019; model fit
difference test: Dv2(6) = 2.195, p = .901). The lack of dec-
rement in model fit from Model 3 to Model 4 and the path
estimates for paths 4, 5, and 6 in the unconstrained model
(Model 3) indicate that for both genders there is no significant
direct effect of social anxiety on other-sex friendship or
romantic relationship functioning (paths 4 and 6, respectively)
or of same-sex friendship functioning on romantic relation-
ship functioning (path 5).
1715
Next, we tested whether the strength of the paths that
constitute the indirect effect (paths 1, 2, and 3) were different
for boys versus girls. Parameter comparison tests in Model 4
indicated that there is no significant gender difference in the
effect of social anxiety on same-sex friendship functioning
(path 1; z = 0.221, p = .825) or in the effect of other-sex
friendship functioning on romantic relationship functioning
(path 3; z = -0.709, p = .478). Therefore, in the final
model (Model 5), we began with Model 4 and constrained
paths 1 (social anxiety to same-sex functioning) and 3 (other-
sex functioning to romantic relationship functioning) to be
equivalent for boys and girls but allowed path 2 to vary freely
by gender. The final model for the multigroup analysis
(Model 5) had very good overall fit, v2(86) = 93.875,
p = .263, CFI = .987, TLI = .983, rmsea = .017, which
was not significantly different from the fit of Model 4,
Dv2(2) = 0.565, p = .754. The lack of change in model fit
further indicated the gender equivalence for paths 1 and 3. In
Model 5 the association between same-sex and other-sex
friendship functioning (path 2) was stronger for girls than
boys (z = 2.166, p = .030; see Table 3 for all path estimates
for Model 5 by gender). Finally, the indirect effect of social
anxiety on romantic relationship functioning through same
and other-sex friendship functioning was significant for both
genders (see Table 3).
Discussion
The present study examined a process by which social
anxiety may affect functioning within romantic relation-
ships among adolescents who have initiated dating rela-
tionships. Prior research has demonstrated a natural
progression for romantic relationship formation during
adolescence in which teens transition from same- to mixed-
sex peer groups, and finally to dyadic relationships with
romantic partners (Connolly et al. 2000; Dunphy 1963).
This developmental trajectory formed the rationale for our
hypothesized model. According to the model, social anxi-
ety is hypothesized to impact relationship functioning with
same-sex peers, other-sex peers, and romantic partners,
where better relationship functioning was defined as having
more friends, longer relationships, more social support in
those relationships, and greater satisfaction with the rela-
tionships. More specifically, we proposed that there is an
indirect pathway such that social anxiety is associated with
lower functioning in same-sex friendships, which in turn is
associated with lower functioning in other-sex friendships.
Lower functioning in other-sex friendships was then
expected to be associated with lower romantic relationship
functioning. Given known gender differences in social
anxiety and relationship functioning, gender was explored
as a potential moderator of the proposed indirect pathway.
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1716 J Youth Adolescence (2013) 42:1708–1720

Table 3 Parameter estimates by gender for the final multigroup develop (Connolly and Goldberg 1999). This has implica-
model (Model 5) tions for the development of romantic relationships as well,
Path Unstd SE p whereby socially withdrawn youth may enter romantic
relationships with fewer skills gleaned from prior social
Boys (n = 124)
relationships (e.g., establishing intimacy, negotiating con-
Path 1: SA ? SSa -0.301 .065 \.001 flict; see Newman Kingery et al. 2010 for a review).
Path 2: SS ? OS 0.323 .134 .016 One important area for future research concerns the
Path 3: OS ? RRa 0.014 .005 .003 specific mechanisms linking social anxiety to poorer
Age ? SA -0.995 .861 .247 functioning across close relationships. From an attachment
Age ? SS -0.501 .621 .420 perspective, youth may develop cognitive expectancies for
Age ? OS -1.238 .675 .067 dyadic relationships based on their earlier close relation-
Age ? RR 0.064 .028 .021 ships (Engels et al. 2001; Hazan and Shaver 1987). Youth
Indirect Effect -0.001 .001 .005 who navigate same and other-sex friendships with some
SA ? SS ? OS ? RR [-0.004, facility may develop representations of themselves as
0.000]b,c skillful and desirable interaction partners who are capable
Girls (n = 190) of loving and worthy of being loved. Youth who struggle in
Path 1: SA ? SSa -0.301 .065 \.001 these earlier important relationships may instead develop
Path 2: SS ? OS 0.848 .226 \.001 internal representations of themselves as unworthy or
Path 3: OS ? RRa 0.014 .005 .003 unlovable and themselves as unskillful interaction partners.
Age ? SA -0.780 .708 .271 Such cognitive expectancies ultimately may guide behav-
Age ? SS 0.118 .633 .852 ior. For example, youth who fear negative evaluation and/
Age ? OS -0.955 .679 .160 or rejection may avoid entering relationships altogether as
Age ? RR 0.069 .029 .016 a means to avoid the inevitable. Alternatively, youth who
Indirect Effect -0.003 .002 .002 do enter relationships with negative preconceptions may
SA ? SS ? OS ? RR [-0.008, - engage in a host of behaviors meant to preserve the rela-
0.001]b tionship but ultimately having the opposite effect. For
Paths 4, 5, and 6 were constrained to be zero. Unstd unstandardized example, youth who have a heightened anticipation of
parameter estimates. N = 314 rejection based on prior experiences may repeatedly make
a
Parameter constrained to be equal across gender requests for assurance that they are liked or loved. Socially
b
95 % bias corrected bootstrap CIs from 5,000 bootstrap samples anxious youth may also attempt to preserve relationships
C
Software rounding limits precision and explains the inconsistency be avoiding conflict through self-silencing behaviors.
between the CI and p value Excessive reassurance seeking and self-silencing are
merely two maladaptive interpersonal processes that may
Our results suggest that social anxiety has a significant have relevance for the close relationships of socially anx-
impact on romantic relationship functioning during ado- ious youth; however, it would seem that there are many
lescence. Consistent with the proposed model, the effect possible mechanisms and likely complex interactions that
appears to be indirect. Youth with greater social anxiety might partially explain links between social anxiety and
were found to have poorer functioning in their same- and relationship functioning.
other-sex friendships, which was associated, in turn, with With respect to gender differences, the girls in our
poorer functioning in the romantic domain. Though the sample endorsed greater symptoms of social anxiety,
effect was modest, it appears that impairment in the same- greater perceived social support in their same-sex best
sex peer group may mark the initial deviation from nor- friendships, and more other-sex friends than their male
mative social development for socially anxious teens. The counterparts. Interestingly, the strength of the association
extant literature suggests that the same-sex peer network is between social anxiety and functioning across relationship
a place where teens can develop values, a sense of identity, types did not differ according to gender. This is somewhat
and the social skills necessary for success in other peer surprising, given prior research supporting stronger asso-
contexts (Furman 1999). Without these provisions, socially ciations between social anxiety and impairment in close
anxious adolescents may have difficulty in subsequent relationships for girls versus boys (e.g., La Greca and
stages of development. For example, socially anxious or Lopez 1998). One possible explanation for our failure to
withdrawn youth with smaller same-sex networks may find a difference is that our measures of social functioning
have fewer opportunities to be involved with other-sex were more broadly defined than in previous studies, which
peers and also may be less skillful at developing and have instead focused more on intimacy and companionship
maintaining higher quality friendships once they do as indicators of relationship quality. Thus, our study may

123
J Youth Adolescence (2013) 42:1708–1720
tap into features that are featured more prominently in
boys’ friendships (i.e., number of friends, instrumental aid)
and as such, any potential gender differences may have
been cancelled out.
In line with expectations, the continuity effect of same-
sex functioning on other-sex functioning was weaker for
boys than for girls. Although all of the boys in the present
study have identified some romantic involvement, at this
stage in their development they may have less interest or
fewer opportunities to develop close other-sex friendships.
Girls, who may be more socially advanced (De Goede et al.
2009), may evidence greater continuity in functioning
across relationship types as a function of their greater
experience and involvement with both types of relation-
ships. This speculation is somewhat borne out by our
findings that girls reported more other-sex friends in their
friendship networks. At present, our understanding of the
developmental significance of other-sex friendships is quite
limited. Nevertheless, the current study suggests that these
types of relationships are critical to our understanding of
romantic relationship functioning during adolescence.
Indeed, same-sex functioning only affected romantic rela-
tionships through its association with other-sex relationship
functioning.
Finally, consistent with the results from the total sample,
the indirect effect of social anxiety on romantic relation-
ship functioning was significant for both boys and girls.
This suggests that, regardless of gender differences in the
strengths of associations between the variables, the overall
pattern of the model was consistent across gender. For both
boys and girls, social anxiety had no independent or direct
influence on romantic relationship functioning; rather, it
exerted an influence through its effect on same-sex
friendship functioning, which in turn was associated with
other-sex friendship functioning, which in turn was asso-
ciated with functioning in romantic relationships.
Interestingly, and somewhat unexpectedly, social anxi-
ety had no total effect on romantic relationship functioning
when we examined both the indirect and direct effects
together. This finding of an indirect effect with no total
effect can happen when there are other mediators (some-
times ones not included in the model) that have an effect on
the final endogenous variables (i.e., romantic relationship
functioning) and those mediators’ effects go in the opposite
direction of the mediators in the model (i.e., same and
opposite sex functioning; Hayes 2009). In our case, we
suspect that there may be such a mediator, or group of
mediators, at play. For example, because we limited our
analyses to adolescents who have a current or past romantic
relationship, it may be that adolescents who have overcome
their social anxiety enough to have such a relationship may
become more invested in their romantic relationship as a
way to avoid other social situations that provoke social
1717
anxiety. Perhaps an adolescent might avoid a large social
gathering with peers in favor of spending time alone with
his or her romantic partner, which would increase the
romantic relationship quality. In this way, social anxiety
could lead to more avoidance of social situations (an
alternate mediator), which could lead to better romantic
relationship quality. In doing so, this and other alternate
mediators that have the opposite effect would diminish the
total overall effect of social anxiety on romantic relation-
ship functioning. The potential existence of such alternate
mediators does not diminish the importance of the indirect
pathway supported by our model.
The present study provides a useful starting point for
future research investigating the impact of social anxiety
on the formation, quality, and maintenance of close rela-
tionships, including romantic relationships, and has
important clinical implications. Our findings are consistent
with extant literature linking social anxiety to social
impairment during adolescence. It also extends prior
research by suggesting that risk factors like fewer friends
and poorer quality friendships significantly contribute to
the likelihood of success in one’s future romantic rela-
tionships. Problematic romantic relationships have been
associated with a host of negative sequalae, including
increased risk for depression and nonsuicidal self-injury
(Adam et al. 2011; Levesque et al. 2010; Vujeva and
Furman 2011), greater engagement in risky health behav-
iors (Jones and Furman 2011) and increased risk for dating
violence (Kerr and Capaldi 2011). Identification of vari-
ables that likely contribute to poor relationship quality
across all types of relationships (e.g., limited conflict res-
olution skills, low assertiveness, negative cognitive
expectancies) and early intervention may help protect
socially anxious youth from experiencing these more distal
negative consequences.
Although this study fills a number of important gaps in
the extant literature, several limitations provide directions
for future research. In particular, the cross-sectional nature
of the study precludes us from determining the direction of
effects (e.g., whether social anxiety impacts friendship
quality or friendship quality impacts social anxiety). Given
that social anxiety concerns emerge at the same time that
peers take on greater importance in the social world, it may
be impossible to disentangle their likely reciprocal effects.
Indeed, results from the very few prospective studies
evaluating links between social anxiety and peer relation-
ships have demonstrated that peer problems uniquely pre-
dict future social anxiety (Teachman and Allen 2007;
Tillfors et al. 2012) and that social anxiety uniquely pre-
dicts peer problems, including poorer quality friendships
(Siegel et al., 2009; Tillfors et al. 2012; Vernberg et al.
1992). More prospective designs, particularly those that
include romantic relationship functioning, may help to
123
1718
determine whether the proposed effects, reversed effects,
or bidirectional effects best capture the complex interre-
lated nature of social relationships in adolescence. Relat-
edly, future research would benefit from expanding the age
range to include both younger and older adolescents, and
looking at outcomes related to dating involvement (as
opposed to functioning in a pre-existing relationship) such
that the full trajectory could be better observed.
Characteristics of the study sample also may limit
generalizability of results in a number of important ways.
Our participants were predominantly Caucasian, urban/
suburban, and self-identified as heterosexual. There are
known differences in the development of romantic rela-
tionships for each of these factors (see Atav and Spencer
2002; Carver et al. 2003, Poteat 2007; Poteat et al. 2009;
Simon et al. 1992; Spencer and Bryant 2000). Further
research that systematically considers these characteristics
will be necessary to better understand how, for whom, and
under what circumstances, social anxiety impacts the
development of romantic relationships for youth.
Finally, this study relied exclusively on self-report. As
with any investigation in which the type of assessment
remains consistent across constructs, one runs the risk of
common method variance. Nevertheless, we felt that self-
report methodology was the most appropriate means of
assessing symptoms of social anxiety and perceptions of
relationship quality across domains. Assessing dating his-
tory, as well as the composition of peer networks during
adolescence, has been notoriously challenging for several
reasons. For example, national estimates of romantic rela-
tionship prevalence indicate that slightly over half of all
reported adolescent romantic relationships are not recip-
rocally agreed upon (Carver et al. 2003), with even more
dismal rates of agreement regarding the timing of a specific
relationship. A related challenge observed in the present
study was that a sizable proportion of eligible participants
were not included because they failed to provide an esti-
mate of the length of their romantic relationship. Future
research would benefit from the inclusion of peer report or
use of observational methodologies.
The present investigation represented an initial exploration
into the role of social anxiety in the development of romantic
relationships from a developmental psychopathology per-
spective. Overall, the findings suggest that socially evaluative
concerns impact functioning in romantic relationships
through their impact on broader peer functioning. Results
supported a developmental sequence whereby impairment in
same-sex friendships predicted impairment in other-sex
friendships, which in turn predicted poorer functioning in the
romantic domain; this suggests that continuity may exist for
maladaptive patterns of socialization. Additional research
examining the impact of social anxiety on close relationships
during adolescence clearly is warranted.
123
J Youth Adolescence (2013) 42:1708–1720
Acknowledgments KRH conceived of the study, its design and
coordination as part of her doctoral dissertation; JF drafted the
manuscript and aided in interpretation of the data; DWN conceived of
the study, participated in its design and coordination, and critically
revised the manuscript for important intellectual content; AAP per-
formed the statistical analysis, aided in interpretation of the data and
helped to draft the manuscript; RLG: aided with statistical analysis
and interpretation, and offered critical revisions to the manuscript.
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