Attachment--and loss.

Socially withdrawn children frequently refrain from social activities in the presence of peers. The lack of social interaction in childhood may result from a variety of causes, including social fear and anxiety or a preference for solitude. From early childhood through to adolescence, socially withdrawn children are concurrently and predictively at risk for a wide range of negative adjustment outcomes, including socio-emotional difficulties (e.g., anxiety, low self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and internalizing problems), peer difficulties (e.g., rejection, victimization, poor friendship quality), and school difficulties (e.g., poor-quality teacher-child relationships, academic difficulties, school avoidance). The goals of the current review are to (a) provide some definitional, theoretical, and methodological clarity to the complex array of terms and constructs previously employed in the study of social withdrawal; (b) examine the predictors, correlates, and consequences of child and early-adolescent soc...

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Social withdrawal in childhood

Since its development, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) has been widely used in both research and practice. The SDQ screens for positive and negative psychological attributes. This review aims to provide an overview of the psychometric properties of the SDQ for 4- to 12-year-olds. Results from 48 studies (N = 131,223) on reliability and validity of the parent and teacher SDQ are summarized quantitatively and descriptively. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and inter-rater agreement are satisfactory for the parent and teacher versions. At subscale level, the reliability of the teacher version seemed stronger compared to that of the parent version. Concerning validity, 15 out of 18 studies confirmed the five-factor structure. Correlations with other measures of psychopathology as well as the screening ability of the SDQ are sufficient. This review shows that the psychometric properties of the SDQ are strong, particularly for the teacher version. For practice, this implies that the use of the SDQ as a screening instrument should be continued. Longitudinal research studies should investigate predictive validity. For both practice and research, we emphasize the use of a multi-informant approach.

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Psychometric Properties of the Parent and Teacher Versions of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for 4- to 12-Year-Olds: A Review

The Two Sexes: Growing Up Apart: Coming Together

Social initiative and behavioral control represent two major dimensions of children's social competence. Cultural norms and values with respect to these dimensions may affect the exhibition, meaning, and development of specific social behaviors such as sociability, shyness-inhibition, cooperation-compliance, and aggression-defiance, as well as the quality and function of social relationships. The culturally guided social interaction processes including evaluations and responses likely serve as an important mediator of cultural influence on children's social behaviors, relationships, and developmental patterns. In this article, we review research on children's social functioning and peer relationships in different cultures from an integrative contextual-developmental perspective. We also review research on the implications of the macro-level social and cultural changes that are happening in many societies for socialization and development of social competence.

Children's Social Competence in Cultural Context

An early view of the development of adaptive and maladaptive behaviors during childhood
and adolescence suggested that such outcomes stemmed largely from the quality of the child’s
relationship with his or her parents and from the types of socialization practices that the
parents engaged in. This primary focus on the developmental signiﬁcance of the parent-child
relationship and of parenting practices was proposed early by Freud (1933) in his theory of
psychosexual development, by Sears, Maccoby, and Levin (1957) in their seminal research on
the signiﬁcance of discipline variability and social learning, and by Bowlby (1958) in his
inﬂuential writings on the long-term developmental importance of the mother-infant
attachment relationship. Without denying the veracity of these claims, it is nevertheless the
case that adjustment and maladjustment in childhood stem from a wide variety of sources
including genetic and biological underpinnings and social inﬂuences other than parents. For
example, children and adolescents spend enormous amounts of time, both in and out of
home, relating to and interacting with many other people of potential inﬂuence. These signiﬁcant others include their siblings, teachers or out-of-home caregivers, and peers. Children’s
peers are the focus of the present chapter.

Peer Relationships in Childhood

The behavioral basis of acceptance, rejection, and perceived popularity.

Rejection sensitivity, the tendency to anxiously or angrily expect rejection, is associated with internalizing difficulties during childhood and adolescence. The primary goal of the present study was to examine whether supportive parent–child relationships and friendships moderate associations that link angry and anxious rejection sensitivity to depression and social anxiety during middle adolescence in an ethnically diverse sample of 277 youth (M age = 14.30 years; 46.93% male). Analyses revealed that angry rejection sensitivity was related to depressive symptoms, but only for adolescents reporting low support from parents and friends. Friend support moderated the association between (1) angry rejection sensitivity and social anxiety, and (2) anxious rejection sensitivity and depressive symptoms. For adolescents reporting low support from friends, support from parents was positively related to social anxiety. Findings highlight the importance of considering relationships in studies of rejection sensitivity and adjustment during adolescence.

Interactions Between Rejection Sensitivity and Supportive Relationships in the Prediction of Adolescents’ Internalizing Difficulties

The current study examined how racial and sociobehavioral similarities were associated with friendship stability and friendship quality. Cross-race friends were not significantly similar to each other in peer-nominated shyness/withdrawal, victimization, exclusion, and popularity/sociability. Relative to same-race friends, cross-race friends were significantly less similar in peer-nominated popularity/sociability, exclusion, and victimization. Although same-race friendships were more prevalent than cross-race friendships, only similarity in friends' aggressive behavior (but not racial homophily) was related to friendship stability. Neither racial nor sociobehavioral similarity predicted friendship quality beyond adolescents' individual sociobehavioral characteristics. Taken together, findings suggest that although racial similarity may affect initial friendship formation, racial similarity may not impact friendship stability or friendship quality when also accounting for friends' similarity in sociobehavioral characteristics. Language: en

Contributions of Racial and Sociobehavioral Homophily to Friendship Stability and Quality Among Same-Race and Cross-Race Friends:

This study examined the characteristics of gossip among fourth-grade girls and their close friends. Sixty friendship dyads were videotaped as they engaged in conversation, and their gossip was coded. Analyses revealed gossip to be a dominant feature of their interaction and that it was primarily neutral in valence. Sociometrically popular girls and their friends were observed to gossip more about peers, and their gossip was more evaluative than that between rejected girls and their friends. Gossip frequency and valence related to observed friendship closeness and friendship quality. Race differences in the characteristics of gossip were also explored. The study results are important in our efforts to develop a fuller understanding of the important interpersonal process of gossip and the functions that it serves in the context of close friendships.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/23096126.pdf

Kristina L. McDonald

Papers

Peer Relationships in Childhood

The behavioral basis of acceptance, rejection, and perceived popularity.

Interactions Between Rejection Sensitivity and Supportive Relationships in the Prediction of Adolescents’ Internalizing Difficulties

Contributions of Racial and Sociobehavioral Homophily to Friendship Stability and Quality Among Same-Race and Cross-Race Friends:

Girl Talk:Gossip, Friendship, and Sociometric Status