Orme, K;
Stringaris, A;
Krebs, G;
(2025)
Age-Related Effects on Self-Focused Attention Across Adolescence and the Relationship With Symptoms of Body Dysmorphia, Social Anxiety and Depression.
Journal of Adolescence
10.1002/jad.12505.
(In press).
Preview |
Text
Krebs_Journal of Adolescence - 2025 - Orme - Age‐Related Effects on Self‐Focused Attention Across Adolescence and the.pdf Download (754kB) | Preview |
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Adolescence is a critical period for the development of several emotional disorders, including body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), social anxiety disorder (SAD) and depression. It has been suggested that this may be partly due to developmental changes in self-referential processing, including self-focused attention (SFA). However, to date little is known about normative changes in self-focused attention across adolescence. This study investigated age-related effects on SFA during adolescence, and its relationship with symptoms of BDD, SAD and depression. METHODS: A sample of 638 adolescents aged 11-18 years (53% male) were recruited through government-funded secondary school students in the United Kingdom and completed validated self-reported measures of SFA, BDD, SAD and depression. RESULTS: Age was positively associated with SFA, and with symptoms of BDD, SAD and depression. The associations of age with SFA, SAD and depression were, on average, greater in females, although this age by sex interaction effect only reached statistical significance for BDD symptoms. SFA fully mediated the effect of age on SAD symptoms, and partially mediated age effects on symptoms of BDD and depression. CONCLUSIONS: The current findings indicate that self-focused attention increases during adolescence. Moreover, findings provide support for the notion that increased self-focused attention may partly account for the rise in symptoms of BDD, SAD and depression during this developmental period. Future research should seek to establish the direction of effects between self-focused attention and symptoms using longitudinal designs.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Age-Related Effects on Self-Focused Attention Across Adolescence and the Relationship With Symptoms of Body Dysmorphia, Social Anxiety and Depression |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1002/jad.12505 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1002/jad.12505 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2025 The Author(s). Journal of Adolescence published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Foundation for Professionals in Services to Adolescents. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Keywords: | adolescence, body dysmorphia, depression, mental health, self‐focused attention, social anxiety |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Division of Psychiatry UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Clinical, Edu and Hlth Psychology UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Division of Psychiatry > Mental Health Neuroscience |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10208205 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
