Anxious Solitude, Unsociability, and Peer Exclusion in Middle Childhood: A Multitrait–Multimethod Matrix

Abstract

This study examines convergent and divergent validity for middle childhood anxious solitude, unsociability, and peer exclusion as assessed by five informants (peers, teachers, observers, the self, and parents). Participants were 163 (67 male, 96 female) third grade children (M age = 8.70 years). Parent reports were available for a subset of the sample (N = 95). Validity was analyzed via multitrait-multimethod correlation matrices and structural equation models. Results indicate that anxious solitude and peer exclusion have better convergent and divergent validity than unsociability, although there is evidence of shared method variance for all constructs. Peers have the best combination of convergent and divergent validity, and parents, the worst; teachers, observers, and the self demonstrated mid-level validity.

Social Withdrawal Subtypes during Early Adolescence in India

“…These three factors showed some correspondence with the emotional and behavioral characteristics associated with these different types of withdrawal that are emerging in the research literature (e.g., Coplan et al 2006;Spangler and Gazelle 2009), providing preliminary evidence of convergent validity for the revised version of the Child Social Preference Scale (Coplan et al 2004). In addition, our data indicating that shyness and avoidance were uniquely associated with loneliness and exclusion, but unsociability was not, support the hypothesis that the severity of the risk associated with withdrawing from peers depends on the underlying motivation.…”

“…Results from the limited research indicate that Unsociable children do not report internalizing difficulties, nor are they judged by parents and teachers to be psychologically stressed or socially unskilled (Coplan and Weeks 2010;Coplan et al 2004). In contrast, Shy children display visible signs of social anxiety and are often verbally reticent (e.g., Spangler and Gazelle 2009). Unsociable children appear to experience more exclusion and victimization than average children, but less than Shy children (Coplan and Weeks 2010).…”

“…But, due to the dearth of research on unsociability and avoidance, no specific hypotheses were offered on whether peer difficulties would also mediate the links between these forms of withdrawal and loneliness. Finally, because there is some evidence that girls are more shy than boys during middle and late childhood in India (Prakash and Coplan 2007), but that shyness and unsociability are more strongly associated with psychosocial difficulties for boys than girls, at least in the United States and Canada (Coplan and Weeks 2010;Coplan et al 2004;Spangler and Gazelle 2009), sex differences were explored in all analyses.…”

“…First, given evidence that withdrawal subtypes can be reliably distinguished during childhood and in a retrospective study of withdrawal during adolescence (Kim et al 2008), we predicted that shyness, unsociability, and avoidance would emerge as distinct forms of withdrawal. Most investigators use parent-, teacher-, and/or peer-reports to assess withdrawal subtypes (e.g., Coplan et al 2004;Spangler and Gazelle 2009). However, these reports may not be accurate since they require inferences about different reasons for withdrawal to be made from behavior.…”

Anxious Solitude and Clinical Disorder in Middle Childhood: Bridging Developmental and Clinical Approaches to Childhood Social Anxiety

“…The hypothetical child who feels anxious in social situations but does not manifest any behavioral signs would not qualify as anxious solitary. Notably, self-reports of anxious solitude are rarely used in the developmental literature, in part because although self-reports of anxious solitude are significantly related to information from other informants, the strength of this association is modest (Spangler and Gazelle 2009). There are many reasons why this may be so.…”