Socioemotional characteristics and school adjustment of socially withdrawn children in India

2007 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kavita Prakash ◽  
Robert J. Coplan

The purpose of this study was to explore correlates of childhood social-withdrawal in India. Participants were n = 929 elementary school-aged children in New Delhi. Children completed peer nominations of social-withdrawal, aggression, and sociometric status, as well as self-report measures of loneliness and depressive symptoms. Teachers rated child social and academic adjustment at school. Consistent with North American findings, the results indicated that, compared with their average counterparts, socially withdrawn children reported greater loneliness and depressive symptoms, were rated by teachers as more anxious, and were more likely to be rejected by peers. Although girls were rated as being more socially withdrawn than boys, contrary to expectations, few interactions with gender were found. The results are discussed in terms of the meaning of social-withdrawal within the context of the Indian culture.

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-204
Author(s):  
Hui Zhang ◽  
Charles Matthew Stapleton ◽  
Yeh Hsueh ◽  
Robert Cohen

During middle childhood, Chinese boys are particularly at risk to develop both externalizing (e.g., overt aggression) and internalizing behavioral problems (e.g., social withdrawal). A possible contributor to these problems is that boys cannot regulate their anger very well. Inability to manage anger may cause a particular social challenge for Chinese boys. Open expression of anger may be prohibited by prevailing Chinese cultural norms, because it emphasizes individuality over harmony. But anger is a socially disengaging emotion which works against social harmony. This situation requires Chinese boys to manage and express anger appropriately in social interactions. Based on the hierarchical model of social relationships and the three trends of human interactions, this study examined three pathways—aggression, social withdrawal, and sociability-leadership—that lead from Chinese boys’ anger dysregulation to their lower social status among peers at school. Participants of this study were 267 boys in Grades 3-6 from an elementary school in urban China. A self-report questionnaire of anger dysregulation was used to evaluate how often Chinese boys express their anger in dysregulated ways (e.g., attacking things or people). Peer nominations were used to measure children’s overt aggression (moving against peers), social withdrawal (moving away from peers), and sociability-leadership (moving toward peers). Social status was assessed by a sociometric measure which evaluates the degree to which children were liked by their classmates. Results showed that boys’ anger dysregulation was negatively associated with their social status. Moreover, aggression, social withdrawal, and social skills fully mediated this association. This study enriches our understanding of the mechanisms linking anger dysregulation to lower social status and provides practical implications to help Chinese boys improve social and emotional functioning in middle childhood.


2006 ◽  
Vol 69 (5) ◽  
pp. 234-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Ted Brown ◽  
Anita Brown

The paper presents a review of the published literature about and a critique of the Touch Inventory for Elementary School-Aged Children (TIE), a screening tool for children to self-report on their emotional and behavioural responses to tactile stimuli, developed by Royeen (1985, 1986) and Royeen and Fortune (1990). The TIE is used as a screening tool for children aged 6–12 years who have an IQ of at least 80 and no history of physical disabilities. Psychometric properties based on previously published studies of the TIE are discussed and recommendations for further research are made.


1995 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 845-856 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie A. Little ◽  
Judy Garber

AbstractThis short-term prospective study examined the contribution of aggression and depression, stressful life events, and their interactions to the prediction of peer rejection. Subjects were 497 fifth- and sixth-grade children who completed questionnaires at two time points separated by approximately 3 months. Levels of peer rejection and aggression were assessed by peer nominations; level of depressive symptoms and number of stressful life events were measured by self-report questionnaires. Controlling for sex and baseline level of peer rejection, aggression directly predicted peer rejection. In contrast, depressive symptoms interacted with life stress to predict peer rejection. Examination of the Depression × Stress interaction revealed that depressive symptoms in children who had experienced high levels of life stress were not associated with increased levels of peer rejection, whereas depressive symptoms in children with low levels of stress were predictive of subsequent peer rejection. Several interpretations of these findings and directions for future research are suggested.


2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 554-573 ◽  
Author(s):  
Biao Sang ◽  
Xuechen Ding ◽  
Robert J. Coplan ◽  
Junsheng Liu ◽  
Tingting Pan ◽  
...  

The goals of the present study were to (a) develop and validate a new self-report measure of social avoidance for use among early adolescents in mainland China and (b) explore the links between subtypes of social withdrawal (i.e., shyness, unsociability, and social avoidance) and indices of socio-emotional difficulties in this cultural context. Participants were 663 early adolescents (350 boys, 313 girls) attending elementary schools ([Formula: see text] = 10.25 years) and middle schools ([Formula: see text] = 12.53 years) in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China. Measures of social withdrawal subtypes and adjustment were collected using multi-source assessments, including self-reports, peer nominations, and teacher ratings. The results provided evidence in support of the reliability and validity of the new scale of self-reported social avoidance. Shyness, unsociability, and social avoidance were also all uniquely associated with emotion dysregulation and self-reported internalizing problems. However, only social avoidance was uniquely associated with teacher-rated emotion symptoms and peer problems (as rated by both peers and teachers). Results are discussed in terms of the reasons why social avoidance may have particularly negative implications for early adolescents in China.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingyi Yang ◽  
Kerri L. Modry-Mandell

Congenital heart disease or congenital heart defect (CHD) is an abnormality of the heart that develops before birth (American Heart Association, 2018). While much is known about how children are physically affected, less is known about the psychological impacts of CHD. In particular, little is known about school adjustment or the process of adapting to the role of a student and to various aspects of the school environment, while failure to adjust can cause academic and social-emotional problems (Lakhani, Jain, & Chandel, 2017). This review aims to investigate how and to what extent having CHD affects school adjustment in elementary school aged children (grades 1-5) (a group oftentimes overlooked as insignificant) and if the severity of CHD in elementary-aged children impacts their ability to adjust in schools. By reviewing literal and studies published in the past 50 years, the review reaches the conclusion that CHD does have negative effects on school adjustment and the severity of CHD positively correlates with difficulty to adjust. The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the current studies regarding children with CHD and their relationship to different aspects of school and the school environment as well as propose a study that is multi-site, multi-informant, and multi-method.  The result of this review has compelling clinical and theoretical significance, benefiting clinicians and practitioners, teachers and educators, and researchers by bridging the gap between existing and unknown knowledge of elementary-aged children with CHD and their school adjustment.


1993 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 459-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brenda L. Volling ◽  
Carol Mackinnon-Lewis ◽  
David Rabiner ◽  
Laila P. Baradaran

AbstractSociometric status differences in children's social competence were examined in a sample of elementary school-aged children using teacher ratings and peer nominations. Rejected children evinced significantly fewer competencies (e.g., peer group entry, responses to provocation) than popular, average, or neglected children but differed from controversial children only with respect to their inability to meet established social norms for cooperative behavior and teachers' expectations for classroom behavior. An examination of the heterogeneity of peer-rejected children revealed that rejected-aggressive children were deficient in all aspects of social competence assessed and were most disliked by their peers. Rejected-withdrawn children were seen by peers as most unhappy, whereas rejected-undifferentiated children (i.e., rejected children who were neither highly aggressive nor highly withdrawn) had problems with social withdrawal, disruptive behavior, and socially appropriate behavior. Rejected-aggressive and rejected-withdrawn children had more difficulties with reactive aggression combined with an inability to respond positively to peers than their nonrejected agemates. The need for further research on the heterogeneity of peer-rejected children and the long-term implications for these children are discussed.


Crisis ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 272-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison S. Christian ◽  
Kristen M. McCabe

Background: Deliberate self-harm (DSH) occurs with high frequency among clinical and nonclinical youth populations. Although depression has been consistently linked with the behavior, not all depressed individuals engage in DSH. Aims: The current study examined maladaptive coping strategies (i.e., self-blame, distancing, and self-isolation) as mediators between depression and DSH among undergraduate students. Methods: 202 students from undergraduate psychology courses at a private university in Southern California (77.7% women) completed anonymous self-report measures. Results: A hierarchical regression model found no differences in DSH history across demographic variables. Among coping variables, self-isolation alone was significantly related to DSH. A full meditational model was supported: Depressive symptoms were significantly related to DSH, but adding self-isolation to the model rendered the relationship nonsignificant. Limitations: The cross-sectional study design prevents determination of whether a casual relation exists between self-isolation and DSH, and obscures the direction of that relationship. Conclusions: Results suggest targeting self-isolation as a means of DSH prevention and intervention among nonclinical, youth populations.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document