TY - JOUR
T1 - Withdrawn and Acting out?
T2 - Early Adolescents’ Social Avoidance and Externalizing Problems
AU - Clifford, Brandon Neil
AU - Eggum, Natalie D.
AU - An, Danming
AU - Clifford, Sierra
AU - Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn
N1 - Funding Information:
We have not known a conflict of interest to disclose. This work was funded by a grant from The Institute for Mental Health Research awarded to Kathryn Lemery‐Chalfant and Sierra Clifford, and a Sanford School Faculty Facilitation Award to Natalie D. Eggum‐Wilkens.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Society for Research on Adolescence.
PY - 2022/6
Y1 - 2022/6
N2 - Relative to other motivations of social withdrawal (i.e., shyness, unsociability), social avoidance is understudied. Furthermore, the relation between social avoidance and externalizing problems seldom has been investigated despite reasons to expect an association. We examined the association between social avoidance and externalizing problems using a sample of early adolescents in the United States using parents’ reports (N = 294; 54.1% boys; M age = 12.43 years). Supporting our hypotheses, structural equation models indicated that social avoidance positively predicted concurrent externalizing problems, controlling for shyness, unsociability, and internalizing problems (including depression and anxiety). Findings highlight that socially avoidant adolescents’ behaviors may include avoiding others as well as acting out. Longitudinal work is needed to examine the potential bidirectional relations between social avoidance and externalizing problems.
AB - Relative to other motivations of social withdrawal (i.e., shyness, unsociability), social avoidance is understudied. Furthermore, the relation between social avoidance and externalizing problems seldom has been investigated despite reasons to expect an association. We examined the association between social avoidance and externalizing problems using a sample of early adolescents in the United States using parents’ reports (N = 294; 54.1% boys; M age = 12.43 years). Supporting our hypotheses, structural equation models indicated that social avoidance positively predicted concurrent externalizing problems, controlling for shyness, unsociability, and internalizing problems (including depression and anxiety). Findings highlight that socially avoidant adolescents’ behaviors may include avoiding others as well as acting out. Longitudinal work is needed to examine the potential bidirectional relations between social avoidance and externalizing problems.
KW - adjustment problems
KW - externalizing problems
KW - social avoidance
KW - social withdrawal
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U2 - 10.1111/jora.12642
DO - 10.1111/jora.12642
M3 - Article
C2 - 34227714
AN - SCOPUS:85109065108
SN - 1050-8392
VL - 32
SP - 711
EP - 719
JO - Journal of Research on Adolescence
JF - Journal of Research on Adolescence
IS - 2
ER -