Social anxiety moderates the association between adolescent irritability and bully perpetration.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Preliminary work suggests anxiety moderates the relationship between irritability and bullying. As anxiety increases, the link between irritability and perpetration decreases. We hypothesize that any moderation effect of anxiety is driven by social anxiety symptoms. We sought to explicate the moderating effect of anxiety, while clarifying relations to other aggressive behaviors.

Methods

A sample of adolescents (n = 169, mean = 12.42 years of age) were assessed using clinician rated assessments of anxiety, parent reports of irritability and bullying behaviors (perpetration, generalized aggression, and victimization). Correlations assessed zero-order relations between variables, and regression-based moderation analyses were used to test interactions. Johnson-

SUBMITTER: Perino MT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11393177 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature