The relationship between child maltreatment and social anxiety: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: Globally, child maltreatment has become a serious problem, affecting individuals' physical and mental health. This meta-analysis aimed to explore the association between child maltreatment and social anxiety.

Methods: MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched for articles published by October 2021. Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale (NOS) was used to evaluate the quality of studies. Maltreatment type, sample setting, age, country and measurement instruments were analyzed as moderators.

Results: Twenty-nine studies met the inclusion criteria. Child maltreatment was positively correlated with social anxiety (r = 0.201, 95 % CI [0.171, 0.230]). The moderating effect of maltreatment subtypes was significant whether divided into three types (Q_b = 12.152, p = .002), or five types (Q_b = 11.574, p = .021). Specifically, emotional maltreatment (r = 0.251, 95 % CI [0.201, 0.298]) had a stronger relationship with social anxiety than physical (r = 0.138, 95 % CI [0.085, 0.191]; Q_b = 9.312, p = .002) and sexual maltreatment (r = 0.153, 95 % CI [0.108, 0.197]; Q_b = 9.197, p = .002). However, there was no significant difference in the effect size between physical and sexual maltreatment (Q_b = 0.096, p = .757). Other variables (age, sample setting and country) were not significant moderators.

Limitations: Only twenty-nine studies were included, and there was high heterogeneity among the studies, the interpretation of the results should be cautious.

Conclusions: This meta-analysis confirmed the relationship between child maltreatment and social anxiety, especially highlight the harmfulness of emotional maltreatment.

Keywords: Abuse; Child maltreatment; Meta-analysis; Neglect; Social anxiety.