Distinguishing types of social withdrawal in children: Internalizing and externalizing outcomes of conflicted shyness versus social disinterest across childhood

Abstract

Little research has examined the effect of subtypes of social withdrawal on the development of psychopathology across childhood. Parents of 493 children (220 females) completed a measure of their child’s conflicted shyness and social disinterest as well as the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) when their child was age 3, and again at age 6. When children were age 9, parents completed the CBCL. From 3 to 6, conflicted shyness predicted increases in anxiety symptoms in boys and girls, and predicted depressive symptoms in boys. From 6 to 9, social disinterest predicted increases in anxiety symptoms in girls and boys, and predicted increases in depressive symptoms in boys. In addition, in boys, conflicted shyness at age 6 predicted increases in externalizing symptoms at age 9. Conflicted shyness appears to be particularly problematic in early to middle childhood, while social disinterest appears to be more maladaptive in later childhood, with some differences by gender.

Assessment and implications of social withdrawal in early childhood: A first look at social avoidance

“…The term shyness shares conceptual overlap with a number of other similar constructs (e.g., behavioral inhibition, Kagan, 1997; anxious solitude, Gazelle & Ladd, 2003). Even in early childhood, shyness is concurrently and predictively associated with socioemotional difficulties, including peer problems (e.g., deficits in social skills, peer rejection, victimization) and internalizing difficulties (e.g., social anxiety, loneliness) (Bohlin, Hagekull, & Andersson, 2005;Coplan, Arbeau, & Armer, 2008;Karevold, Ystrøm, Coplan, Sanson, & Mathiesen, 2012;Kopala-Sibley & Klein, 2017).…”

“…The child social preference scale (CSPS, Coplan et al, 2004) was developed as a parental rating scale to specifically distinguish between shyness and unsociability in young children. It has good psychometric properties across multiple samples (e.g., Coplan & Weeks, 2010;Kopala-Sibley & Klein, 2017) and has been successfully translated for use in other cultures (e.g., China; Li et al, 2016;Japan;Okada, Tani, Ohnishi, Nakajima, & Tsujii, 2012). In the present study, we created a new subscale for the CSPS, designed specifically to assess social avoidance (renamed the CSPS-3 to reflect the addition of a third subscale).…”

“…Notwithstanding, there is at least some evidence to suggest that unsociable children may still experience difficulties with peers (Harrist et al, ), perhaps because peers are put off by children who tend to play alone and infrequently initiate peer interaction (Coplan & Weeks, ). As well, although unsociability has not generally been found to be contemporaneously associated with negative socioemotional outcomes in later childhood (e.g., Coplan et al, ) or adolescence (e.g., Bowker & Raja, ), results from a recent longitudinal study suggest that unsociability at the age of six was predictive of later internalizing problems at the age of nine (Kopala‐Sibley & Klein, ).…”

Active emotion regulation mediates links between shyness and social adjustment in preschool

“…For instance, research in North America found that shy preschoolers frequently opt to play alone in the presence of peers and, consequently, may be more excluded by peers (Coplan, Ooi, Rose‐Krasnor, & Nocita, ; Ooi, Baldwin, Coplan, & Rose‐Krasnor, ). Shy preschoolers also tend to display more internalizing problems, such as anxious‐withdrawn behaviors and depressive symptoms (Coplan, Ooi, Xiao, & Rose‐Krasnor, ; Kopala‐Sibley & Klein, ; Sette, Zava, Baumgartner, Baiocco, & Coplan, ). Furthermore, shyness (behavioral inhibition) is a risk factor for later social anxiety disorder (Clauss & Blackford, ), and stable, increasing levels of shyness in a longitudinal study of Norwegian children were found to predict symptoms of anxiety and depression in adolescence (Karevold, Ystrøm, Coplan, Sanson, & Mathiesen, ).…”

What are They Thinking? Examining Complex Links Among Social Withdrawal, Maladaptive Cognitions, and Internalizing Problems in Children and Emerging Adults

“…In partial support of this model, Kopala-Sibley and Klein (2017) reported that unsociability at age 3 was not associated with concurrent or subsequent internalizing (depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms) or externalizing difficulties at ages 6 and 9…”