Associations of social anxiety and self-esteem across six months for persons living with schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

OBJECTIVE: Social anxiety is commonly found in schizophrenia and is linked with heightened symptoms and lower self-esteem. The purpose of this paper is to examine how social anxiety and self-esteem influence one another over time.

METHODS: We have assessed social anxiety, symptoms, and self-esteem at two points, six months apart, for 39 participants with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.

RESULTS: Concurrent measures of social anxiety and self-esteem were closely correlated with one another. Multiple regressions indicated that baseline self-esteem was significantly correlated with social anxiety six months later, independent of the influence of social anxiety at baseline. Social anxiety at baseline did not predict self-esteem at six months when baseline self-esteem was controlled for statistically.

CONCLUSIONS: Lower self-esteem may be a risk factor for the development of social anxiety in individuals with schizophrenia. Clinical and theoretical implications are discussed.