Social anxiety and shyness as predictors of receptive language and theory of mind development in preschoolers

Abstract

This study investigates whether preschool children's shyness and social anxiety levels predict the development of children's receptive language skills and affective theory of mind abilities. Data were collected from 3 kindergartens, with 71 children (mean age = 52.61 months, SD = 7.28; 37 boys and 34 girls) and their major caregivers participating at two time points, half a year apart. Findings showed that children's shyness and social anxiety levels were highly correlated, and both were moderately correlated with children’s social emotional difficulties. Children’s shyness uniquely predicted social emotional difficulties beyond social anxiety, but children’s social anxiety did not significantly predict their difficulties beyond shyness. Our results suggested that shyness might be a broader construct than social anxiety. However, both shyness and social anxiety did not uniquely contribute to children's receptive language skills and affective theory of mind abilities concurrently or 6 months later. Interestingly, hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed a marginally significant directional effect of receptive language on affective theory of mind but not vice versa. Given the intricate interplay among the constructs examined in this study, more research is needed to further understand their relations and interactions. This knowledge may help educators to identify appropriate intervention targets to facilitate better language and perspective-taking outcomes among shy and socially anxious preschoolers.