The Trauma of Peer Abuse: Effects of Relational Peer Victimization and Social Anxiety Disorder on Physiological and Affective Reactions to Social Exclusion

Background: Social exclusion elicits emotional distress, negative mood, and physiological stress. Recent studies showed that these effects were more intense and persisting in socially anxious subjects. The present study examined whether the abnormal reactions of socially anxious subjects can be traced back to previous experiences of relational peer victimization during childhood and adolescence.