Social anxiety disorder in children and young people

Social anxiety disorder is a common yet often overlooked condition in children and adolescents, with significant impacts on education, relationships and long-term outcomes.

In this podcast, Dr Myooran Canagaratnam speaks with Prof Eleanor Leigh, from the University of Oxford, about the clinical presentation of social anxiety in young people – including how it differs from typical shyness, and the cognitive mechanisms that maintain it.

The episode explores evidence-based treatment for social anxiety disorder in practice. It also considers developmental risk factors, comorbidity including autism, and the emerging role of digital interventions in improving access to care for children and young people with the condition.

Learning objectives

By the end of this podcast, you should be able to:

• recognise how social anxiety disorder presents in young people and its impact
• differentiate between shyness and social anxiety in young people
• describe the principles of evidence-based treatment of social anxiety in children and young people
• identify how psychiatric comorbidity and neurodivergence can influence the presentation and treatment of social anxiety disorder
• describe resent research developments in social anxiety, including digitally delivered therapist-assisted training.

Availability

This podcast is available as part of a CPD eLearning subscription.