Humans have always lived in communities, which requires the development of social skills for survival. The aim of this master's thesis is to examine the relationship between parenting styles, attachment patterns, and social anxiety in Slovenian adolescents, to explore the differences in social anxiety among adolescents according to different parenting styles and attachment patterns, and to investigate gender differences in the experience of social anxiety among adolescents. The sample included 140 adolescents, aged between 16 and 18 years (M = 17,5; SD = 0,84), who were students of several high schools in Ljubljana. The questionnaires used were the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), the Relationship Questionnaire (RQ), and the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (LSAA). The results showed that there is a very low correlation between parenting styles and social anxiety, and that there are no statistically significant differences in social anxiety according to different parenting styles. It was shown that there is a moderate correlation between attachment patterns and social anxiety, and that there is a statistically significant difference in social anxiety according to different attachment patterns. Regarding gender differences, the results indicated that there is a statistically significant difference between genders, with female adolescents experiencing higher levels of social anxiety than male adolescents. The results are important primarily in terms of better understanding the phenomenon of social anxiety and provide a basis for further research and the development of coping techniques for managing symptoms.
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