A LONGITUDINAL EXPLORATION OF THE CROSS-CONTEXTUAL STABILITY OF SOCIAL WITHDRAWAL IN EARLY ADOLESCENCE

The purpose for the present study was to determine the stability acros s time and social setting of the social withdrawal of early adolescent s. Nominations by school peers for social,withdrawal,ren stable across a 3-year period. Daily activity logs completed by parents indicated c onsiderable stability for participation in large-group activities with peers in the community, but not for activities involving smaller grou ps offers. Participants nominated as socially withdrawal by their scho ol,nates tr cre involved less extensively in activities,with peers in home and community environments than were other participants. Particip ants from families of higher socioeconomic status (SES) participated m ore frequently in home and community social activities with peers than did participants from lower SES homes, especially in large-group acti vities. These results indicated that social withdrawal during early ad olescence is consistent across settings and stable over rime, especial ly for fire subgroup of early adolescents who are the most withdrawal socially.