Peer victimization is when an individual experiences negative or aggressive behaviors by peers. Pontillo et al. (2019) found that children that reported peer victimization correlated with social anxiety disorder symptoms in multiple studies like significant distress, isolation, hypervigilance, and social avoidance. It is prevalent in both girls and boys. There are bidirectional links which suggests that socially anxious children may be more at risk for peer victimization and development of social anxiety disorder.