Unraveling Symptom Heterogeneity and Core Features of Adolescent Social Anxiety: Insights From Latent Profile and Network Analyses

ABSTRACT To further investigate the heterogeneity of adolescents' social anxiety, a cross‐sectional survey was conducted among 6540 Chinese adolescents aged 11 to 19 years (3294 boys). Latent profile analysis and network analysis were adopted to identify subgroups based on social anxiety symptoms and further reveal core features of each group. Results showed that four subgroups were identified: “Profile 1 ( n = 1,768, 26.8%): the low group with diffuse social anxiety”; “Profile 2 ( n = 1,202, 18.7%): the moderate group with cognitive disturbance”; “Profile 3 ( n = 1995, 30.6%): the moderate group with difficulties in new situations”; and “Profile 4: high group with diffuse social anxiety”. Multiple logistic regression analyses showed significant age and gender differences across the four profiles. Network analyses revealed that, with regard to standardized strength indices of SAS‐A symptoms, generally, symptoms F4 “worry that others don't like me”, and F6 “feel that others make fun of me” emerged as central symptoms across the four networks. Network 4 showed a higher average predictability of all nodes, indicating a greater resistance to intervention. Network comparison tests indicated that there were significant differences regarding network structures in all pairs of networks except for Network 1 versus 2. All pairs of networks differed significantly in network strengths except for Network 2 versus 3, particularly revealing the “essence” and “manifestation” of adolescents' social anxiety. The findings help understand adolescents' social anxiety symptoms and the interactions of symptoms, potentially providing novel perspectives and approaches for the prevention and treatment of adolescents' social anxiety.