Age-Related Effects on Self-Focused Attention Across Adolescence and the Relationship With Symptoms of Body Dysmorphia, Social Anxiety and Depression.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional observational study by design analogy
PubMed 40287935 · doi:10.1002/jad.12505
What was done
A cross-sectional sample of 638 adolescents aged 11–18 years (53% male) recruited from state-funded secondary schools in the United Kingdom completed validated self-report questionnaires measuring self-focused attention (SFA), body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) symptoms, social anxiety disorder (SAD) symptoms, and depression symptoms. Statistical models examined associations with age, sex interactions, and mediation effects of SFA.
What was found
Age was positively associated with SFA, BDD symptoms, SAD symptoms, and depression symptoms. Age associations with SFA, SAD, and depression were larger in females on average, but the age-by-sex interaction reached statistical significance only for BDD symptoms. SFA fully mediated the association between age and SAD symptoms, and partially mediated age effects on BDD and depression symptoms. No numerical effect sizes, correlation coefficients, or p-values were reported in the abstract.
Why it matters
The findings identify developmental rises in self-focused attention as a potential shared cognitive mechanism linking adolescent age to increasing rates of social anxiety, body dysmorphia, and depression.
Limits
The study is cross-sectional and cannot establish causality or temporal precedence between attention patterns and symptom onset. All data rely on self-report instruments without clinical diagnostic interviews, and no numerical statistics or effect sizes are provided in the abstract.
Cited by
- supports Excessive self-focus causes anxiety in young people.