The impact of social anxiety on Facebook use
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The impact of social anxiety on Facebook use
IRAS ID
106515
Contact name
Emma Warnock-Parkes
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Oxford University
Research summary
The ways in which people socialize are changing and online social media networks are becoming increasingly popular methods of communicating. Current studies estimate 65-74% of teenagers and 35% of adults use one or more such methods (Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2009; Pierce, 2009). Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is a common and debilitating anxiety disorder with a lifetime prevalence of 12% (Kessler et al., 2005). At present the research on SAD has been predominantly carried out considering face to face social interaction. We know that people with SAD have more anxiety, negative thoughts and images, are more self-focused and use more safety seeking behaviours in face to face interactions than people without SAD (see Clark, 2001). However, at present we know little about how the disorder impacts on people’s communications online. This study will explore, through a semi-structured interview and questionnaires, how the cognitive model of social phobia (Clark and Wells, 1995) applies in facebook use: as found in face to face interaction, do people with social phobia have higher anxiety, more negative thoughts and images, higher levels of self consciousness and greater use of safety behaviour than people without social phobia?
20 patients diagnosed with social phobia and 20 non-anxious controls will be recruited from Kings College London (South London and Maudsley Foundation Trust) and the University of Oxford. Responses will be compared between the two group to ascertain whether there are significant differences between the experiences of patients with and without SAD socializing online. The study is funded by the Wellcome trust.
REC name
South Central - Oxford B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/SC/0269
Date of REC Opinion
20 Aug 2013
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion