Effects of interventions for social anxiety and shyness in school-aged children: A systematic review and meta-analysis

In school, shyness is associated with psychosocial difficulties and has negative impacts on children’s academic performance and wellbeing. Even though there are different strategies and interventions to help children deal with shyness, there is currently no comprehensive systematic review of available interventions. This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to identify interventions for shy children and to evaluate the effectiveness in reducing psychosocial difficulties and other impacts. The methodology and reporting were guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement and checklist. A total of 4,864 studies were identified and 25 of these met the inclusion criteria. These studies employed interventions that were directed at school-aged children between six and twelve years of age and described both pre- and post-intervention measurement in target populations of at least five children. Most studies included an intervention undertaken in a school setting. The meta-analysis revealed interventions showing a large effect in reducing negative consequences of shyness, which is consistent with extant literature regarding shyness in school, suggesting school-age as an ideal developmental stage to target shyness. None of the interventions were delivered in a classroom setting, limiting the ability to make comparisons between in-class interventions and those delivered outside the classroom, but highlighting the effectiveness of interventions outside the classroom. The interventions were often conducted in group sessions, based at the school, and involved activities such as play, modelling and reinforcement and clinical methods such as social skills training, psychoeducation, and exposure. Traditionally, such methods have been confined to a clinic setting. The results of the current study show that, when such methods are used in a school-based setting and involve peers, the results can be effective in reducing negative effects of shyness. This is consistent with recommendations that interventions be age-appropriate, consider social development and utilise wide, school-based programs that address all students

Teachers' strategies for helping shy students: findings from a national survey in Norway

The goals of this study were to investigate strategies that teachers may use to help students with their shyness at school and to explore potential effects of demographic variables (i.e., teacher experience, class size, grade level) on teachers’ strategies. Participants were a national sample of N = 275 teachers (from 230 elementary schools) in Norway, who reported their frequency of use of different strategies and rated their perceived effectiveness for helping shy students across four domains: (1) encouraging oral participation; (2) promoting social relationships; (3) reducing anxiety; and (4) whole-class strategies. Across domains, common themes included teachers’ sensitivity to individual shy students, reduction of stress associated with novel situations, involving peers, focus on social skills, and building trusting relationships with shy students. Demographic variables had only limited effects on strategy use/effectiveness. Findings are discussed in relation to previous theory and research related to teachers’ strategies for assisting shy students at school

Sex Differences in Age-Related Loss of Kidney Function

Background - CKD is more prevalent in women, but more men receive kidney replacement therapy for kidney failure. This apparent contradiction is not well understood. Methods - We investigated sex differences in the loss of kidney function and whether any sex disparities could be explained by comorbidity or CKD risk factors. In the Renal Iohexol Clearance Survey (RENIS) in northern Europe, we recruited 1837 persons (53% women, aged 50–62 years) representative of the general population and without self-reported diabetes, CKD, or cardiovascular disease. Participants’ GFR was measured by plasma iohexol clearance in 2007–2009 (n=1627), 2013–2015 (n=1324), and 2018–2020 (n=1384). At each study visit, healthy persons were defined as having no major chronic diseases or risk factors for CKD. We used generalized additive mixed models to assess age- and sex-specific GFR decline rates. Results - Women had a lower GFR than men at baseline (mean [SD], 90.0 [14.0] versus 98.0 [13.7] ml/min per 1.73 m2; P2 per year in women and −1.20 (95% confidence interval [CI], −1.12 to −1.28) in men. Although the relationship between age and GFR was very close to linear in women, it was curvilinear in men, with steeper GFR slopes at older ages (nonlinear effect; P Conclusion - Among middle-aged and elderly individuals in the general population, decline in the mean GFR in women was slower than in men, independent of health status. CKD is projected to become the fifth leading cause of years of life lost in 2040. In most countries, more women than men develop CKD stage G3, which is defined as a reduced GFR, whereas more men start RRT. This apparent contradiction is poorly understood, but proposed explanations include gender disparities in access to health care and RRT, biologic differences between women and men leading to different GFR decline rates, bias in creatinine-based formulas to estimate the GFR, and overestimation of the CKD prevalence in women. In addition, sex and gender disparities in health status could cause differences in GFR loss. For example, women have a lower prevalence of myocardial infarction and a longer life expectancy than men. However, although cross-sectional population studies have found a higher mean GFR in healthy than in unhealthy persons, it is unknown whether good health is associated with preserved GFR during aging at the individual level, and whether this can explain the sex difference in CKD prevalence. Population-based longitudinal studies with repeated assessments of GFR in the same individuals are necessary to investigate the associations between sex, health status, and age-related GFR decline. The few existing studies on GFR change rates were not population based, did not investigate the association with health status, or used equations to calculate the eGFR on the basis of endogenous substances. These eGFR equations are biased by non–GFR-related factors, such as muscle mass, affecting men and women differently, particularly during aging. Measurements of GFR by an exogenous filtration marker, e.g., iohexol, avoid these methodologic problems. Accordingly, we investigated age- and sex-specific GFR decline rates in the Renal Iohexol Clearance Survey (RENIS), which is the only general population cohort with repeated measurements of GFR.The aim of the study was to report a reference range for age-related GFR decline in the general population and to investigate possible sex disparities in GFR decline rates by health status

Interaksjon mellom lærere og elever i spesialundervisning : en studie av kvalitet av mediert undervisning

Hovedtemaet for forskningsarbeidet er å belyse interaksjon mellom lærere og elever i spesialundervisning sett i lys av kvalitet av mediert undervisning. Begrepet mediert undervisning bygger på en sosialkognitiv læringsteori og defineres som en opplæringsprosess hvor en lærer i interaksjon med en elev, bidrar til å stimulere elevens kognitive utvikling. Metodisk tilnærming som benyttes, er i hovedsak observasjon og analyse ved hjelp av video. Det ble først gjennomført en kvalitativ undersøkelse hvor hensikten var å utvikle et analyseinstrument. Instrumentet består av de seks kriteriene fokusering, emosjonsytring, utvidelse, kompetanse, atferdsregulering og annet. Det ble utarbeidet til sammen sytten operasjonaliseringer for kriteriene. Deretter ble det gjennomført en kvantitativ undersøkelse hvor utvalget besto av fire case med lærer- og elevdyader. Analyseinstrumentet ble benyttet for å analysere videoopptak av fire interaksjonssekvenser for hvert case. Analysene av dataene kan betegnes som nivådelt. Det ble foretatt analyse både av hver av enkeltsekvensene og på tvers av sekvensene til hvert case. Normen benyttet for å vurdere undervisningskvaliteten i enkeltsekvensene, var prosentvis fordelingen av kriteriene sett i lys av undervisningens innhold og elevens fungering. Det ble for det meste funnet at anvendelsen av kriteriene var gunstig i enkeltsekvensene, i lys av de to kontekstuelle faktorene. Normen for å vurdere kvaliteten på tvers av sekvensene til hvert case, var utelukkende prosentvis fordeling av kriteriene. Størst mulig grad av spredning ble ansett for å være gunstig. Det ble her avdekket at det for alle casene i liten grad var spredning i bruken av kriteriene. På grunnlag av forskningsarbeidets to undersøkelser er det trukket en konklusjon om at kvaliteten av mediert undervisning var lav i alle de fire casene. Det eksisterte dermed i liten grad forskjeller i kvalitet av mediert undervisning i interaksjonssekvenser mellom lærer- og elevdyader som deltok i spesialundervisning. Forskningsarbeidet ble gjennomført i perioden 2003-2007 ved Det utdanningsvitenskaplige fakultetet, Institutt for spesialpedagogikk, Universitetet i Oslo

Leading for School Inclusion and Prevention? How School Leadership Teams Support Shy Students and Their Teachers

School shyness may have immediate and long-term detrimental effects. Drawing on cultural-historical understandings of motivated actions and conceptual and material tools, the study examined how ten school leaders in three Norwegian elementary schools interpreted and responded to the demands on the school in their work with shy children. Data comprised individual interviews and concluding school-based group conversations with leaders. The schools were recognized as enabling teachers’ responsive work with shy children in classrooms and presented a useful tension between central direction by school leaders and the professional discretion that enabled teachers’ responsive pedagogies. The leadership teams’ focus was school inclusion through adaptive pedagogies. This strong focus on inclusion emphasized classroom-based Tier 1 universal interventions. There were Tier 2 targeted interventions with shy children undertaken by social teachers, but they could seem ad-hoc by depending on teachers’ capacity to identify the need for them. The implications for school leadership are discussed

Teachers’ Understandings of Shyness: psychosocial differentiation for student inclusion

Shyness is not a recognised special educational need, yet studies reveal that shy children underperform academically and present psychosocial vulnerabilities. We present a Norwegian study of elementary school teachers who have experience in working with shy children. Framed by a cultural-historical understanding that concepts are tools employed by teachers as they work on problems of practice, the study examined (i) how shyness is a concept allowing teachers to interpret behaviours of children; and (ii) why they employ the concept, what demands were being addressed. Data were gathered through post-observation stimulated-recall interviews with eight teachers; and three focus group sessions with 11 teachers. Seeing shyness as a tool for identifying the demands made by children regarded as shy, revealed sets of child behaviours which required two distinct forms of differentiation: (i) augmenting cognitive support with psychosocial feedback to help the child overcome the behaviours impeding their engagement as active learners; and (ii) making extra efforts when eliciting children’s understandings in order to give formative feedback and support progress through pedagogic sequences. By identifying the behaviours underpinning broad descriptions of shyness, such as anxiety, the analyses show that teachers employ shyness as an over-arching concept which reveals psychosocial demands that may not be entirely addressed by the repertoires of responses available to them

Teachers’ strategies for enhancing shy children's engagement in oral activities: necessary, but insufficient?

Shy children can present challenges for teachers aiming at inclusive classrooms. Their educational attainments can be lower than their peers, they may have difficulties in adjustment to school and they can be at risk of meeting clinical criteria for social anxiety disorder. One recurrent finding is that they are often quiet across a range of school situations. The study reported here focused on teachers’ strategies to engage shy students in frequently occurring oral activities, such as group work, in elementary school classrooms. Data were gathered through post-observation stimulated-recall interviews with eight teachers who had experience of success with shy students and three focus groups with 11 similarly experienced teachers. The analysis examined teachers’ actions with these children to enhance their visible engagement in activities that require oral participation. The findings suggest that although teachers attended to the psychosocial aspects of student engagement, there was little emphasis on the pedagogic purposes of oral activities with these children. We conclude that more attention should be paid to the academic aspects of oral activities when aiming at inclusion for shy children

Working Relationally with Networks of Support Within Schools: Supporting Teachers in their Work with Shy Students

Childhood shyness and associated psychosocial difficulties can place pupils at risk of underperforming cognitively. Yet shyness is not regarded as a special need demanding a response from education professionals. In this article, drawing on data from a national study of how teachers support shy children, we trace how teachers negotiate this support from the networks of teachers and carers that are available to them. Data comprised post-observation recall interviews, individual interviews and focus groups with teachers, all of whom had successful experiences with shy students. Qualitative responses from a national teacher survey were also analyzed. Analyses were guided by three cultural-historical concepts which explain professional relationships. Four networks were identified: teacher teams; school resource teams; school leadership teams and families. With peers the negotiation was horizontal, drawing on shared concerns with children as learners; with resource teams teachers negotiated upwards by recognizing and addressing the priorities of the resource teams; with leadership teams the school Principals worked relationally and pedagogically with teachers to enable their agentic responses to challenges; while with families teachers worked sensitively to elicit the what mattered for the families and encourage relational collaborations with school professionals. The implications for professional learning and school leadership are discussed

Teachers’ experiences of school-based support in their work with shy students

We report on the support from senior leaders, outside agents and parents, experienced by Norwegian elementary school teachers while working with shy students. A national sample completed a questionnaire based on teacher interviews. A descriptive analysis examined experienced support; while a person-centered analysis revealed different profiles of teachers in relation to support. The findings show that teachers perceived some support in this work. But there were two profiles of teachers, one experienced significantly more support than the other. Class size was the only background variable that showed an effect on the profiles. Implications for schools and senior leadership are discussed

Teachers’ experiences of school-based support in their work with shy students

We report on the support from senior leaders, outside agents and parents, experienced by Norwegian elementary school teachers while working with shy students. A national sample completed a questionnaire based on teacher interviews. A descriptive analysis examined experienced support; while a person-centered analysis revealed different profiles of teachers in relation to support. The findings show that teachers perceived some support in this work. But there were two profiles of teachers, one experienced significantly more support than the other. Class size was the only background variable that showed an effect on the profiles. Implications for schools and senior leadership are discussed