Lea's case is entirely fictitious and has been developed for illustrative purposes. It presents several risk factors for social anxiety, as described in the scientific literature.
Lea, 33, seeks help from a psychologist because she is unable to find love and to start a family due to excessive and persistent fears of being judged negatively by others. For weeks, she dreads the dates to which she is invited. Once she is there, she has trouble keeping the conversation going. After each date, she spends weeks rethinking her words and actions, fearing they may have been misinterpreted. This results in Lea feeling exhausted. She often prefers to avoid social situations, but this makes her feel very alone. After a few sessions, Lea is diagnosed with social anxiety disorder. Lea explains to her psychologist that she believes it stems from the bullying and social rejection she experienced during her school years.
Although studies indicate that experiences of bullying and rejection can contribute to the development of social anxiety disorder, not all bullied children will develop it during adulthood. The question then becomes: what other risk factors contribute to the development of social anxiety disorder in adulthood?
Social anxiety disorder has no single cause. Rather, it results from a multitude of different factors, such as family factors, factors related to personality and temperament, and environmental factors (e.g., bullying).
Family factors: Parenting styles
1) Studies show that parents who express great concern about being judged, and who catastrophize the potential consequences of social interactions, contribute to increasing their child's vulnerability to experience social anxiety disorder1. For example, Léa's mother often told her to take care of her appearance to avoid others having a bad opinion of her. In addition, she frequently told her to stop certain behaviors that she felt others might consider “weird”, or else others wouldn't want to invite her to their parties and she'd find herself without friends.
2) Parents who overcontrol and/or overprotect their children can damage their self-esteem and hinder the development of their ability to interact with others. This parenting style also communicates to the child that he or she is unable to cope with difficult situations and that he or she needs to be protected from a dangerous world1. For example, whenever Lea had a quarrel with her friends, her mother would get involved by talking to her friends herself to resolve the conflict for her. Lea felt inadequate and thought her mother lacked confidence in her social skills. This lack of confidence in her skills made her more vulnerable to rejection and bullying from her peers.
3) People with social anxiety disorder often report having parents who were cold, distant, critical or humiliating1. These parental behaviors can make a child feel inadequate or abnormal, which can damage their self-confidence and reinforce their fear of being judged. In Lea's case, she recounts how her mother used to judge some of her interests negatively, routinely making disapproving remarks: “It's weird how much you like celebrities... when I was your age, I wasn't interested”.
4) Parents who are more socially isolated expose their children to fewer social situations1. In fact, these children benefit from fewer positive social experiences or opportunities to practice and develop their social skills. This puts them at greater risk of social avoidance, which promotes the development of social anxiety disorder. In Lea's case, her parents had few friends and spent all their free time with their family at the cottage. As a result, Lea had few opportunities to socialize with people her own age, especially during sports or extracurricular activities, which often took place on weekends. This lack of exposure to varied social experiences affected Lea's social skills, making her fear these interactions and feel inadequate.
Factors related to personality and temperament
Personality and temperament do not directly cause the development of social anxiety, and many individuals with these traits will never develop it. However, they can make them more predisposed to the development of this disorder. Lea has certain personality dimensions that, in combination with the parenting style and the bullying she experienced, put her at greater risk of developing a social anxiety disorder.
Neuroticism. Neuroticism is a personality dimension characterized by high sensitivity to painful emotions, emotional instability and a tendency to react more strongly to stressful situations2. For example, Lea's neuroticism could manifest itself in the following way: in an ambiguous situation on a date, Lea might interpret her partner's smile as mockery rather than affection. This tendency to see interactions in a negative light can lead her to believe that the majority of her dates go badly3, which can lower her self-esteem and reinforce her avoidance and anxiety about the dating world. It should also be noted that neuroticism is influenced by factors such as past experiences, and social support, which can either mitigate or aggravate its effects4.
Introversion. Introverts often recharge their batteries by spending time alone (e.g. reading, doing art), and prefer to focus on their inner world rather than seeking social stimulation2. If certain social interactions can tire them out, this does not mean that they systematically avoid them, but rather that they choose them carefully. However, when a person has had negative social experiences, these interactions can become a source of anxiety. For example, after being bullied, Lea took comfort in her novels and inner world, which contributed to her social avoidance and maintained her anxiety.
Behavioral inhibition. This personality dimension is characterized by a tendency to withdraw when confronted with unfamiliar things, including new social situations5. Notably, Lea has always been rather shy and tended to hide behind her parents in unfamiliar social situations. This lack of exposure to new situations may have limited her opportunities to gradually get used to interacting with a variety of people in different contexts, increasing her vulnerability to social anxiety over time, which can ultimately lead to the development of a social anxiety disorder.
Environmental factors: Experiences of bullying and rejection
As noted above, repeated experiences of bullying and rejection can contribute to the development of a social anxiety disorder. For Léa, these situations threatened her need to be accepted and led her to feel inadequate in social relationships. As a result, she developed a fear of social interaction, which is common among people who have experienced bullying. This fear often leads to the avoidance of social situations that cause distress, reinforcing the idea that they are “dangerous”, and maintaining social anxiety1.
Conclusion
Bullying contributes to the development of social anxiety disorder, but this factor alone is not sufficient. Rather, this disorder is the result of a complex interaction between negative relational experiences (e.g., bullying), environmental factors (e.g., parenting styles) and biological factors (e.g., personality). For Lea, this disorder was a way of adapting to the demands of her environment, but it also hindered her functioning as an adult and the achievement of her personal goals1, including her search for a romantic relationship.
However, there are a number of protective factors and supportive situations that can counteract the development of this disorder in a bullied child, despite the presence of other several risk factors as in Lea's case. For example, access to psychological support, a school environment that fights bullying, and the presence of positive peer relationships despite the bullying context are all protective factors. In addition, the manifestations of the social anxiety disorder can be alleviated by acknowledging and validating the bullying experience, and building on positive, secure relationships4.
When distress is experienced and has a significant impact on one's life, it is advisable to seek professional help, such as psychotherapeutic treatment. For information and support resources, or to obtain care or services for social anxiety, visit the page Finding mental health help and support resources
To cite this article: Lebeau, R., Ledoux-Labelle, M.-J., & Godbout, N. (2025, June 16). Is a bullied child doomed to social anxiety? TRACE Blog. https://natachagodbout.com/en/blog/bullied-child-doomed-social-anxiety
The publication of this article was made possible thanks to our partner, the Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Intimate Relationship Problems and Sexual Abuse (CRIPCAS), and the Fonds de recherche du Québec.
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