The present investigation examined the stability and the concurrent and predictive correlates of different forms of social withdrawal in childhood. Eighty-eight Grade 2 children were observed during free play and were assessed by peers and teachers on measures of social withdrawal, popularity, and aggression. The children's perceptions of their social skills were also measured. In Grade 4, 81 children were assessed, 55 of whom had been in the original sample. In addition to the Grade 2 measures, children's reports of loneliness and depression were gathered. In Grade 5, 77 children participated, including 51 from the original sample; all measures taken in this grade were similar to those in Grade 4, with the exclusion of behavioral observations. The data revealed at least two distinct subtypes of social isolation, passive-anxious and active-immature. Passive isolation was stable across the three grades; was consistently and concurrently related to peer rejection, internalizing difficulties, and negative social self-perceptions; and was generally unrelated to externalizing problems across all three grades. Moreover, indices of passive isolation in second grade tended to predict depression and loneliness in fifth grade. In contrast, active-immature isolation was infrequent and unstable. This form of isolation was more often associated with aggression and with externalizing rather than internalizing difficulties; however, active isolation was not predictive of subsequent problems in Grade 5.

This study examined parental behaviors as mediators in links between depressive symptoms in mothers and fathers and child adjustment problems. Participants were 4,184 parents and 6,048 10- to 15-year-olds enrolled in the 1998 and 2000 cycles of the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. Mothers and fathers self-reported symptoms of depression at Times 1 and 2 and their children assessed parental nurturance, rejection, and monitoring and self-reported internalizing and externalizing problems and prosocial behavior at Time 2. Hierarchical linear modeling showed evidence of mediation involving all three domains of parental behavior. Findings supported the hypothesis that the quality of the child's rearing environment is one mechanism that carries risk to children of depressed parents. Interventions for parents whose symptoms of depression interfere with parenting responsibilities could help reduce the risk of some childhood disorders.

The development of socioemotional adjustment is discussed, a model is presented suggesting how internalizing difficulties develop in childhood, and findings are described which provide an initial empirical base for the model. The model postulates that socioemolional adjustment is a product of transactions between temperamental dispositions in the child, socialization experiences with parents, and certain setting conditions (environmental conditions, psychosocial resources, childrearing beliefs and values) that affect the family. Internalizing difficulties arc most likely to develop when temperamental "wariness" and unfavourable setting conditions conspire, producing a sense of felt insecurity in the child. The internal working models associated with felt insecurity lead to social withdrawal, social skill deficits, and internalizing difficulties. In support of this developmental model, evidence is described concerning relations between temperamental hyperreactivity, insecure attachment, and socially inhibited behaviour; between social withdrawal, social skill deficits, and internalizing difficulties; and between patterns of parenting and internalizing difficulties.

The stability and long-term correlates of both social withdrawal and sociability were investigated in a longitudinal study of normal children in kindergarten through the fifth grade. Both observational and peer assessment indices of withdrawal and sociability were considered; furthermore, a distinction was made between observed active versus passive solitude. Of particular interest was whether social withdrawal in early childhood was predictive of subsequent internalizing problems, as assessed by self-reports of social competence, overall self-worth, loneliness, and depression as well as teacher ratings of shy/anxious behavior, in later childhood. Results indicated a modest degree of stability for observed social withdrawal but not for observed sociability, nor for active or passive forms of solitude. Somewhat higher stability correlations were obtained for peer assessments of both sociability and withdrawal. In terms of predictive outcomes, significant relations were found between early social withdrawal in kindergarten and Grade 2 and subsequent internalizing problems in Grades 4 and 5, although the pattern of results was mixed. These data suggest that social withdrawal in early childhood may be predictive of risk for internalizing difficulties in later childhood.

MILLS, ROSEMARY S. L., and RUBIN, KENNETH H. Parental Beliefs about Problematic Social Behaviors in Early Childhood. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1990, 61, 138-151. To assess parents' beliefs about preschoolers' displays of aggression and social withdrawal and flie extent to which their strategies for dealing widi these behaviors can be predicted from beliefs and socioecological circumstances, 122 mothers and 67 fathers of 4-year-olds were presented with descriptions of hypothetical incidents of peer-directed aggression and social withdrawal, and were asked how they would feel if their child acted in the manner described, how they would explain the behavior, and what they would do about it. Data conceming stress and social support were also gathered. Aside from being concerned, mothers and fathers primarily felt negative about aggression and puzzled about social withdrawal. Transient states were considered the primary source of both behaviors. The modal strategies were moderate power for dealing with aggression and low power for social withdrawal. The choice of strategies for dealing with these behaviors was related to both beliefs and socioecological circumstances.[Child Development, 1990, 61, 138-151.