Evaluating Links Among Shyness, Peer Relations, and Internalizing Problems in Chinese Young Adolescents

Abstract

This study evaluates a model linking shyness, aspects of peer relations, and internalizing problems among young adolescents in the People's Republic of China. Participants were 547 young adolescents from Shanghai, China (46% boys; M = 10.35 years, SD = 0.77 years) who completed peer nominations of shyness, rejection, and victimization, and self-report measures of loneliness, depression, and friendship support. Analyses demonstrated that peer difficulties (rejection, victimization) mediated the associations between shyness and internalizing problems. However, moderated mediation analyses revealed a protective effect for highly supportive friendships, especially for boys. Findings highlight the importance of considering different types of peer experiences in studies of shy young adolescents and are discussed in terms of importance to theory and intervention in China and elsewhere.

Do cultural orientations moderate the relation between Chinese adolescents’ shyness and depressive symptoms? It depends on their academic achievement

“…Researchers have discussed ways in which culture may affect shy children’s adjustment. For example, they have proposed that culture in the microsystem affects shy children’s adjustment through social evaluations from other people and negative relationships with peers and teachers (Chen, ; Coplan, Liu, Cao, Chen, & Li, ; Liu, Bowker, et al, ). In addition, although not focused on shy children’s adjustment, recent work points to the importance of culture at the person level (i.e., children’s own cultural values).…”

“…In addition, although not focused on shy children’s adjustment, recent work points to the importance of culture at the person level (i.e., children’s own cultural values). Liu, Fu and colleagues () found that Chinese children’s own self‐ and group‐orientations were associated with adjustment in both rural and urban contexts, but self‐orientations were associated with more positive outcomes in the urban sample, and group‐orientations were associated with more positive outcomes in the rural sample; thus, cultural orientations at both the person level and the context level may play a role in Chinese children’s adjustment. In a U.S. Latino sample, Schneider and Gudiño () found that the association between earlier behavioral inhibition and later PTSD symptoms after exposure to community violence was stronger for children with high collectivistic (Latino) values; these results suggest that collectivistic values influenced the way inhibited children viewed their traumatic experience and coped.…”

Unsociability, peer relations, and psychological maladjustment among children: A moderated‐mediated model

“…Thus, in this study, we explored whether unsociability would be more negatively associated with peer relations in boys than in girls. Moreover, previous studies did not reveal any gender differences in the relations between peer problems and child psychological maladjustment in Chinese culture (e.g., Liu et al, 2019).…”

“…Indeed, results from several studies suggest that unsociability is largely unassociated with indices of psychological maladjustment, particularly among younger children (for a recent review, see Coplan et al, 2018). For example, Coplan et al (2019) found that in Canada, kindergarten child unsociability was not associated with peer problems, social anxiety, or depression. Similarly, Sette, Zava, Baumgartner, Baiocco, and Coplan (2017) reported that unsociability only related to child's reported preference for solitary activities, but not related to other internalizing problems among Italian preschool children.…”

Utangaçlıkta Cinsiyet Rolü Bir Risk Faktörü mü?*

“…Utangaçlığın önemli belirleyicilerinden birisi de toplumsal değer ve normlardan etkilenmesiyle ilgilidir. Nitekim kimi araştırmacılar utangaçlığı toplumun temel değerlerinden güç alarak yaratılan ve yaşanış sıklığında kültürel yapının belirleyici rol oynadığı bir duygu olarak tanımlamaktadırlar (Chen, 2018;Liu, Bowker, Coplan, Yang, Li, & Chen, 2018;Zimbardo, 1979). Bu bakımdan utangaçlığın gelişiminde kişisel deneyimlerin yanısıra kültürel faktörlerin önemli rolü bulunmakta (Chen & Schmidt, 2015) buna paralel olarak da utangaçlık genel bir inanış ve bakış açısıyla kadınlara özgü bir özellik olarak görülmektedir (Shields, 2005).…”