Developmentally informed idea about why teen social anxiety gets worse
Official title: A developmentally-sensitive mechanism underlying the escalation of adolescent social anxiety
Funded at Florida International University · NIH-11394587 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A study with adolescents aims to understand why social anxiety increases during puberty and how brain development, especially frontal areas and error-detection, might contribute to this change.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Florida International University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Miami, United States) |
| Project start | September 20, 2022 |
| Project end | June 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $635,212 |
| NIH project number | 5R01MH131637-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11394587 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adolescents showing signs of social anxiety, typically ages 12–20, who participate in brain-imaging and behavioral assessments.
✕Less likely to help
Teens not experiencing significant social anxiety or who cannot participate in brain-imaging components may see little direct benefit.
What this research studies
This project focuses on teens and how fear of being evaluated by peers, along with watching for social mistakes, might escalate social anxiety during early to mid-adolescence. It looks at brain rhythms in the frontal cortex to see how cognitive control and social processing develop together. The goal is to identify mechanisms that could lead to new, more effective interventions for adolescent social anxiety. By integrating behavior and brain activity, the study hopes to map a pathway from normal teenage changes to persistent anxiety symptoms.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the research could point to new targets for treatment that are tailored to adolescence.
How similar studies have gone: Similar approaches have yielded insights into how brain development and social cognition relate to anxiety, with promising implications for targeted interventions.
Where this research is happening
-
Florida International University
Miami, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Buzzell, George Arthur — Florida International University
- Study coordinator: Buzzell, George Arthur
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.