Multimethod Assessment of the Social Competence of Children With Anxiety Disorders

We evaluated clinic children with DSM-III anxiety disorders using a broad range of social skills assessment methods. Anxiety-disordered (anxious)children (n = 55), nonanxious Outpatient clinic control children (n = 18), and nonreferred children (n = 20)were compared on child, parent, and teacher measures of social competence. Anxious children were shy, socially withdrawn, lonely, lacking inappropriate social skills, and generally socially maladjusted relative to nonreferred children. Although both clinic groups showed evidence of social deficits, anxious children were characterized as socially withdrawn clinic and shy, whereas children demonstrated inappropriate assertiveness, aggression, and negative or bossy social behaviors. Parents, teachers, and the children themselves uniformly described anxious children as socially maladjusted.