The goals of the present research were to: (a) develop and provide preliminary validation of a parent-rated measure of social avoidance in early childhood; and (b) to evaluate a conceptual model of the direct and indirect links among young children's social withdrawal

This mixed‐methods study explored adolescents’ ( n = 682) feelings of social connection in the time of the COVID‐19 pandemic and examined potential risk (fear of missing out, problematic smartphone use) and protective (parent/peer attachment, smartphone use) factors to social disconnection. Data were collected from two schools in Canada using an online survey with questionnaires and open‐ended questions. Three themes regarding adolescents’ feelings of social connection during the pandemic were identified through thematic content analysis: (1) feeling socially connected, (2) feeling socially disconnected, and (3) feeling socially indifferent. Moreover, regression analysis identified secure peer attachments as a protective factor against social disconnection in the time of the COVID‐19 pandemic, while fear of missing out was identified as an independent risk factor.

The purpose of this study was to explore the longitudinal links among Chinese children's self-control, social experiences, and loneliness, largely from a developmental cascades perspective (which postulates mechanisms about how effects within a particular domain of functioning can impact across additional domains over time). Participants were N 5 1,066 primary school students in Shanghai, P. R. China, who were followed over three years from Grade 3 to Grade 5. Measures of children's behavioral self-control, peer preference, and loneliness were obtained each year from peer nominations and child selfreports. Results indicated that as compared with the unidirectional and bidirectional models, the developmental cascade model represented the best fit for the data. Within this model, a number of significant direct and indirect pathways were identified among variables and over time. For example, self-control was found to indirectly contribute to later decreases in loneliness via a pathway through peer preference. As well, peer preference both directly and indirectly contributed to later increases in self-control. Finally, loneliness directly led to decreases in self-control from Grade 3 to Grade 4, but not from Grade 4 to Grade 5. Results are discussed in terms of the implications of self-control for Chinese children's social and emotional functioning over time. K E Y W O R D S cascade models, contextual-developmental perspective, loneliness, peer preference, self-control

In this study, we explored the longitudinal linkages among Chinese early adolescents’ unsociability, peer rejection, and loneliness. Participants were N = 445 primary school students in Shanghai, P.R. China followed over 3 years from Grades 6 and 7 to Grades 8 and 9. Measures of adolescents’ unsociability, peer rejection, and loneliness were obtained each year from a combination of self-reports and peer nominations. Among the results, (1) compared with the unidirectional and bidirectional models, the cross-lagged model was deemed the best fit for the data; (2) adolescent unsociability contributed to later increases in loneliness via a pathway through peer rejection; and (3) loneliness directly contributed to later increases in unsociability. Results are discussed in terms of the implications of unsociability for Chinese adolescents’ experience of peer rejection and subsequent loneliness.

The present study explored the role of emotion regulation and emotion lability/negativity as a moderator in the relation between child social avoidance and social adjustment (i.e., interpersonal skills, asocial behavior, peer exclusion) in Chinese culture. Participants were N = 194 children (102 boys, 92 girls, Mage = 70.82 months, SD = 5.40) recruited from nine classrooms in two public kindergartens in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China. Multi-source assessments were employed with mothers rating children’s social avoidance and teachers rating children’s emotion regulation, emotion lability/negativity and social adjustment outcomes. The results indicated that the relations between social avoidance and social adjustment difficulties were more negative among children lower in emotion regulation, but not significant for children with higher emotion regulation. In contrast, the relations between social avoidance and social adjustment difficulties were more positive among children higher in emotion lability/negativity, but not significant for children with lower emotion lability/negativity. This study informs us about how emotion regulation and emotion lability/negativity are jointly associated with socially avoidant children’s development. As well, the findings highlight the importance of considering the meaning and implication of social avoidance in Chinese culture.