Julie C. Bowker

Social Withdrawal in Childhood

Socially withdrawn children frequently refrain from social activities in the presence of peers.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 From early childhood through to adolescence, socially withdrawn children are concurrently and predictively at risk for a wide range of negative adjustment outcomes, including socio-emotional difficulties (e.g., anxiety, low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 social withdrawal; and (c) present a developmental framework describing pathways to and from social withdrawal in childhood.

Trajectories of Social Withdrawal from Middle Childhood to Early Adolescence

Heterogeneity and individual differences in the developmental course of social withdrawal were examined longitudinally in a community sample (N = 392). General Growth Mixture Modeling (GGMM) was used to identify distinct pathways of social withdrawal, differentiate valid subgroup trajectories, and examine factors that predicted change in trajectories within subgroups. Assessments of individual (social withdrawal), interactive (prosocial behavior), relationship (friendship involvement, stability and quality, best friend’s withdrawal and exclusion/victimization) and group- (exclusion/victimization) level characteristics were used to define growth trajectories from the final year of elementary school, across the transition to middle school, and then to the final year of middle school (fifth-to-eighth grades). Three distinct trajectory classes were identified: low stable, increasing, and decreasing. Peer exclusion, prosocial behavior, and mutual friendship involvement differentiated class membership. Friendlessness, friendship instability, and exclusion were significant predictors of social withdrawal for the increasing class, whereas lower levels of peer exclusion predicted a decrease in social withdrawal for the decreasing class.

Effect of Peers and Friends on Youth Physical Activity and Motivation to be Physically Active

OBJECTIVE To test whether the presence of a peer or a friend increases the motivation to be physically active in overweight and non-overweight youth in a laboratory setting. METHODS Youth motivation to be physically active as a function of the social context was measured using a computerized relative reinforcing value task to earn points exchangeable for physical and/or sedentary activities. RESULTS The presence of a friend (p<.001) increased youths; motivation to be physically active. The presence of a peer increased overweight youths; motivation to be physically active, whereas this was not the case for lean youth (p=.47). Participants biked a greater distance in the presence of a friend than when alone (p<.001). Overweight youth biked a greater distance in the presence of a peer than when alone, while this was not the case for lean youth (p=.23). CONCLUSIONS Friendships may increase youths motivation to engage in physical activity and promote greater physical activity in non-overweight and overweight youth.

Future Directions in . . . Friendship in Childhood and Early Adolescence

In 1935, the United States Congress proclaimed the first Sunday in August to be National Friendship Day. In 1997, no less than the United Nations named Winnie the Pooh as the world’s Ambassador of Friendship. Clearly, if the United States Congress and the United Nations have taken the time to discuss and vote on the significance of friendship, the phenomenon must be of some importance. If the reader is still not persuaded by the votes delivered by Congress or the United Nations, perhaps the sage words of other significant individuals will prove convincing.

Interpersonal Goals and Susceptibility to Peer Influence: Risk Factors for Intentions to Initiate Substance Use During Early Adolescence

Though peer socialization theories are prominent in the adolescent substance use literature, variability in the degree to which adolescents are vulnerable to peer influence is likely, and few studies have examined this issue. This study examines the association between perceived peer substance use/approval of substance use and adolescent intentions to initiate alcohol and cigarette use and how social goals moderate this relationship. Results support the moderating role of social goals and suggest important differences across alcohol and cigarette use. Peer use and approval of cigarette use is associated with future intentions to smoke for adolescents with strong agentic goals, and peer use and approval of alcohol is associated with intentions to drink for adolescents with strong communal goals. These findings suggest that adolescent substance use theories and prevention programs focusing on peer socialization should consider individual differences in social goals and potential differences in peer influence across drugs.

Self-consciousness, friendship quality, and adolescent internalizing problems

The correlates between public and private self-consciousness and internalizing difficulties were examined during early adolescence. Friendship quality was assessed as a possible moderator of the relation between self-consciousness and maladjustment. One hundred and thirty-seven young adolescents (N = 87girls; M age = 13.98 years) reported on their self-consciousness, internalizing problems, and the quality of their best friendship. Results indicated stronger associations between private self-consciousness and internalizing correlates than between public self-consciousness and internalizing problems, suggesting that private self-consciousness may be a stronger risk factor during adolescence. Contrary to expectations, evidence revealed that positive friendship quality may exacerbate some difficulties associated with self-consciousness. Results pertaining to friendship quality add to the growing literature on the ways in which friendships can contribute to adjustment difficulties.

The handbook of solitude : psychological perspectives on social isolation, social withdrawal, and being alone

Julie C. Bowker is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University at Bu alo, State University of New York. Her research program focuses on the roles that close interpersonal relationships play in socio-emotional development and psychopathology during late childhood and early adolescence. “Solitude has had a bad name in our society, and in our psychology: it is o en equated with isolation, loneliness, shyness, and social awkwardness. e Handbook discusses these, but abundantly treats the other side – solitude that fosters insight, connection, creativity, introspection, healing, and enlightenment. is is a badly needed and broadly focused antidote for the negative approach, and its group of expert contributors provides a fuller understanding of a state people o en experience, and sometimes need.” Peter Suedfeld, Dean Emeritus of Graduate Studies and Professor Emeritus of Psychology, e University of British Columbia

Good friendships, bad friends: Friendship factors as moderators of the relation between aggression and social information processing

The primary objective was to examine whether the associations between aggression and social information processing was moderated by friendship quality and the aggressiveness of the best friend. Drawn from a larger normative sample of 5th and 6th graders, 385 children (180 boys) completed questionnaires pertaining to friendship quality and social information processing. Friendship and peer nominations of behaviours were collected. Results revealed positive associations between aggressive behaviour and the endorsement of aggressive coping strategies in cases where the protagonist was an unfamiliar peer. However, one important exception emerged: no significant associations between aggression and aggressive coping were revealed for children with high-quality friendships with aggressive peers. In cases where the protagonist was the best friend, there was a significant relation between aggression and vengeful coping, but only for those participants who had a low-quality friendship with an aggressive friend.

Having and being an other-sex crush during early adolescence

This study examined other-sex crush experiences (both having and being perceived as an other-sex crush) among 544 young adolescents (mean age=12.74 years). Results indicated that 56% had at least one current other-sex crush, with little overlap between crushes, friends, and boyfriends/girlfriends. Significant associations between other-sex crush scores (scores reflecting the number of crush nominations received) and physical attractiveness, relational aggression, physical aggression, and popularity, as reported by same-sex and other-sex peers, were found. In addition, crush scores were (a) associated with same-sex likeability for boys (but not girls) and (b) uniquely related to peer nominations of popularity and physical attractiveness, as reported by other-sex peers. Neither having nor being perceived as an other-sex crush was uniquely related to loneliness. Taken together, the findings suggest that other-sex crushes are normative experiences during early adolescence that warrant further research attention.

Influence of peers and friends on overweight/obese youths' physical activity.

This review offers a theoretical framework to account for the effects of peers on youths’ physical activity. Our research indicates the following: 1) that the youth are more physically active in the presence of friends and peers than in the presence of family members or when alone, 2) peers and friends increase overweight/obese youths’ motivation to be physically active, 3) peers’ weight status does not moderate the effect of peers on youths’ physical activity, and 4) experiencing negative peer interaction, such as ostracism, decreases physical activity in youth. We propose that the consideration of the peer social context as a contributor to physical (in)activity and maintenance of overweight status may further our understanding of physical and behavioral health trajectories and improve prevention and intervention efforts.