The relationship between peer relationship and social anxiety-the intermediary role of rumination

Abstract

Social anxiety is a major content of psychological health education in senior high school. Handling social anxiety problems of high school students is of great importance for them to complete their studies and grow up healthily. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate the factors that cause social anxiety for psychological intervention of high school students. This study explores the relationship between peer relationships, rumination level, and social anxiety in two high schools by collecting questionnaires from 200 experimental subjects. Through statistical analysis, the following conclusions were drawn: First, high school students’ peer relationships, parent-child relationships, and teacher-student relationships are significantly positively correlated with negative rumination. Second, these relationships predict social anxiety, with peer relationships being the strongest predictor, followed by parent-child relationships, and teacher-student relationships being the weakest. Additionally, positive and negative rumination in high school students are significantly associated with gender and grade level. Furthermore, various peer relationships (same-sex, opposite-sex) and teacher-student relationships are significantly related to negative rumination and social anxiety. Finally, we found that negative rumination plays a mediating role in the relationships between peer relationships, teacher-student relationships, same-sex peer relationships, and opposite-sex peer relationships and social anxiety. So, the conclusion is that peer relationships are related to social anxiety and negative rumination in high school students, and negative rumination is a mediating variable between peer relationships and social anxiety.