Social withdrawal and anxiety

Abstract

During the past two decades, the study of social withdrawal in childhood has taken on a research trajectory that can best be described as voluminous. Yet, the construct itself remains something of a mystery; it appears to carry with it a variety of definitions and a number of very different perspectives concerning its psychological significance. Further, social withdrawal represents a construct that has different psychological meanings as one moves from culture to culture. From the outset, it is important to note that social withdrawal, in and of itself, is not a clinical disorder. After all, most people would agree that there are some individuals who appear perfectly content to spend most of their time alone. In fact, writing a chapter such as this one requires a good deal of solitary confabulation. Yet, there are those who typically avoid others when in social company; there are those who choose solitude to escape the initiation and maintenance of interpersonal relationships; and there are those who are isolated or rejected in social groups. In these latter cases, social solitude could hardly be construed as normal or as socially or psychologically adaptive. But it is not th