Structural Modeling of Social Anxiety Based on Hopelessness: The Mediating Role of Emotion Regulation and Perceived Social Isolation - A Comparative Study within the Framework of Interpersonal Psychopathology Theories

Social anxiety is a prevalent psychological disorder characterized by persistent fear of negative evaluation and significant impairment in social functioning. Contemporary theoretical approaches increasingly emphasize the role of cognitive vulnerabilities, emotional processes, and interpersonal factors in the development and maintenance of social anxiety. Among these factors, hopelessness, emotion regulation difficulties, and perceived social isolation have been identified as central constructs that may jointly contribute to social anxiety symptoms. The present study is a narrative–integrative review aimed at developing a structural conceptual model of social anxiety based on hopelessness, with particular emphasis on the mediating roles of emotion regulation difficulties and perceived social isolation. The review synthesized recent empirical literature published between ۲۰۲۲ and ۲۰۲۵, focusing on studies that examined relationships among the key constructs within clinical and non-clinical populations. A theory-driven structural equation modeling (SEM) framework was used to organize and interpret the findings, allowing for the identification of direct, indirect, and sequential relationships across studies. The results of the synthesis indicated that hopelessness is consistently associated with higher levels of social anxiety, both directly and indirectly. Emotion regulation difficulties emerged as a central mediating mechanism linking hopelessness to social anxiety, with strong evidence across cross-sectional, longitudinal, and meta-analytic studies. Furthermore, emotion regulation difficulties were found to significantly predict perceived social isolation, which in turn contributed to increased social anxiety symptoms. The integrated findings supported a sequential mediation pathway in which hopelessness leads to emotion dysregulation, subsequently increasing perceived social isolation and ultimately intensifying social anxiety. In conclusion, the findings support a comprehensive structural model of social anxiety in which cognitive vulnerability, emotional dysregulation, and interpersonal perception interact in a cascading process. This integrative framework highlights the importance of addressing both emotional and interpersonal mechanisms in prevention and treatment strategies for social anxiety, and provides a foundation for future empirical testing using longitudinal and experimental designs.

کلیدواژه ها:

Social Anxiety ، Hopelessness ، Emotion Regulation ، Perceived Social Isolation ، Interpersonal Psychopathology