“The desire to please with the fear of not succeeding”. Here’s how the French doctor and writer Edme-Pierre Beauchêne he already described one of the “social evils” in the nineteenth century: shyness.
It can be a characteristic of one’s character, but also a limitation with negative impacts on social life, especially in children. No one is born shy, yet one can become so from a very young age as a reaction to unfamiliar situations, only to become distrustful or anxious in new situations, embarrassment and reticence.
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To understand if there are positive approaches to overcome this social phobia, a group of researchers from Curtin and Northumbria University examined 25 studies that experimented with interventions on children between 6 and 12 years and found that all were able to reduce the negative impacts of shyness, without distorting the more introverted characters in any way.
The most effective interventions for shy children turned out to be those carried out in a school setting among peers, which use clinical strategies such as greater exposure, peer mediation and psychoeducation, to help the timid to get involved and interact with others, “expanding “so their comfort zone. The meta-analysis was published in Plos One and contains a series of useful tips, especially for teachers and parents, on how children can be helped to overcome “social fears”.
“Shyness is commonly experienced by school-age children – the researchers write -. Those who experience this condition can experience a number of other difficulties which, although not clinically diagnosable, can have a huge impact on their well-being, the formation of social networks and academic achievement. Shy people often have lower grades, poorer performance on language development tests, and more difficulty adapting to class. This is because, having a limited number of friends, they are themselves at risk of exclusion and greater withdrawal to avoid coping with peer victimization.
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This is why shyness is also considered from an evolutionary perspective, proposing a child-by-environment model of interaction. According to this model, behavioral inhibition and social withdrawal are considered risk factors for further social anxiety. The interactions between pupils and the environment, the child, his parents and peers, can promote or reduce the risk of later anxiety “.
At school, “shyness is associated with psychosocial difficulties and has a negative impact on children’s performance and well-being – explains professor Reinie Cordier -. Although there are several strategies and interventions to help children cope with shyness, there was currently no comprehensive systematic review of available interventions. We found 4864 studies on the subject and 25 of these met the inclusion criteria, showing that interventions undertaken in a school setting are those that have had the best effect in reducing negative consequences, suggesting school age as a phase. ideal development to deal with shyness “.
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The interventions were conducted in group sessions outside the classroom but still in the school environment and involved activities such as play, modeling and psychoeducation, techniques typically used in a clinical setting.
“Our results show that, when such methods are used in a school setting and involve peers, the results can be effective in reducing the negative effects of shyness. Reductions in anxiety, social phobia and internalizing behaviors have been reported in all studies. . This is consistent with recommendations that interventions are age-appropriate, consider social development and use broad curricula that appeal to all students. “
In the classroom, teachers can use concepts such as shyness as a tool to personalize the way they work with an individual child. For example, teachers from a Norwegian elementary school who classified the shy in their class as introverts, anxious and with low self-esteem and, based on these categories, adapted their cognitive support and encouragement in active learning.
On the other hand, teachers who reported using social learning strategies such as praise and role models, as well as peer-centered strategies to promote inclusion, experienced improvements within the classroom but poor psychosocial outcomes in broader settings.
Among the activities that have been most successful is group cognitive behavioral therapy. All students were taught to recognize the physiological symptoms of anxiety, maladaptive cognitions and attributive thinking, thus learning useful attitudes, positive inner dialogue and relaxation techniques to relieve anxiety and modify more problematic interaction strategies. A simultaneous group program also allows parents to familiarize themselves with the different strategies suitable for interacting effectively with shy children.
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Another example is the game of incipits: each scenario consists of short written sentences in which the participants must identify themselves, and then write their positive ending. As for psychoeducation, the group sessions must be carried out by a clinical psychologist, who will first provide the children, then the parents, with a series of homework to implement their skills: in the case examined in the study , each child exposed their fears and “addressed” them through coping and stress management strategies.
Like those within the school, “interventions in naturalistic contexts – such as camping or on a trip to a reserve – have also been effective, however this approach requires greater economic resources as well as the will of peers to be involved in this kind of activity “, the researchers specify.
Even programs based on the involvement of the whole school or of several classes, and not of small groups, have proved to be the most suitable in triggering mechanisms of social trust that lead the timid to come out of their shell.
“Given the wide range of intervention approaches and the intervention programs themselves, we have not been able to identify one practice that is better than the other – concludes Professor Cordier -. The only certain thing is the need for effective and feasible interventions “.
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