ABNORMAL SHYNESS IN CHILDREN

Recent nonclinical studies of children who do not often interact with their peers have identified at least three different kinds of solitude : temperamental shyness, social-evaluative shyness, and unsociability. These kinds of solitude can be clearly distinguished from social nona cceptance. The evidence for the different faces of children's solitude and their situational, age, and cultural specificity is reviewed, and potential implications for clinical child psychology are discussed. C linical practitioners can profit from a recognition of the multifacete d nature of solitude in childhood.