Haunting self-images? The role of negative self-images in adolescent social anxiety disorder

► Comparison of a clinical adolescent sample with SAD and a matched healthy adolescent group. ► Examined the frequency and nature of negative self-images (NSI) in adolescence. ► SAD patients reported more frequent, more vivid and more distressing NSI. ► No group differences emerged for the link between NSI and a biographical past social event. ► Our results suggest that NSI are an important characteristic of adolescent SAD.