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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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United States, the number of justice-involved individuals living with mental illnesses is large and growing; however, there is little information about internalized stigma experienced by this population. To address this gap, we assessed internalized stigma and its relationship with symptomatology and demographic and clinical characteristics among 108 probationers with severe mental illnesses. More than third of the sample reported high levels of internalized stigma, and more than half of the sample reported high scores on alienation and social withdrawal subscales. There was a positive and significant correlation between symptomatology and internalized stigma. Interventions to address internalized stigma among justice-involved people with mental illnesses are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the co‐occurrence of and cross‐informant agreement on early adolescents' shyness, unsociability, and avoidance measured by self‐ and peer reports for fifth to eighth graders (N = 383; 51% male) in the United States. Avoidance was significantly and positively associated with shyness and unsociability based on peer reports and self‐reports. Furthermore, 45% and 30% of peer‐ and self‐reported withdrawn adolescents had multiple motivations for withdrawal, suggesting prevalent co‐occurrence of withdrawal subtypes. Cross‐informant agreement was moderate for shyness and weak for unsociability and avoidance. We draw attention to the complexity of motivations underlying withdrawal, theorize about subtype co‐occurrence, and discuss challenges and opportunities related to peer‐reported unsociability and avoidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hikikomori refers to a state of pathological social withdrawal combined with avoidance of major social interactions or responsibilities. The present study examined the associations that aspects of hikikomori had with thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness as well as whether culture moderated these associations in participants from the United States (n = 276) and Japan (n = 250). Results showed that avoidance of socialization and lack of emotional support were positively associated with both thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness. Furthermore, the association between avoidance of socialization and perceived burdensomeness was stronger for Japanese participants than for those from the United States. These findings suggest that psychological mechanisms contributing to suicidal thoughts during limited physical contact and isolation may be linked to psychological and social withdrawal. • Hikikomori is a state of pathological social withdrawal. • We analyzed data from the US and Japan. • It was related with thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness. • The association between hikikomori and burdensomeness was stronger for Japanese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated a transactional model of youth anxious solitude and peer and maternal relations from 3rd through 7th grade. Participants were 230 American youth (57% girls) selected for longitudinal study from a screening sample recruited from public schools (N = 688). Peers reported on anxious solitude and peer exclusion and youth reported on their mother's overcontrol annually. In an autoregressive cross-lagged panel analytic model peer exclusion predicted incremental increases in anxious solitude during elementary school and after the middle school transition. Additionally, anxious solitude evoked incremental increases in maternal overcontrol during elementary school. Finally, anxious solitude in 4th grade mediated the positive indirect relation between peer exclusion in 3rd grade and maternal overcontrol in 5th grade. These results suggests that peer relations can indirectly effect mothering via increased youth anxious solitude over time. Taken together, evidence supports a Transactional Model of anxious solitude development. Additionally, consistent with previous evidence, elevated youth anxious solitude at the end of elementary school in 5th grade predicted decreased peer exclusion after the middle school transition in 6th grade when youth experience a fresh start with peer relations. Nonetheless, youth (especially girls) demonstrated greater year-to-year stability in anxious solitude across the first two years of middle school than in the last three years of elementary school.

Hikikomori (social withdrawal that lasts six months or longer) is a growing problem among Japanese adolescents and young adults, with recent estimates that approximately 1% of Japanese youths will suffer from an episode of hikikomori in their lifetimes. What remains unclear is whether hikikomori is a culture-bound syndrome or a condition impacting youths around the globe. Hence, the self-reported prevalence and psychosocial correlates of past experiences with hikikomori were examined in cross-sectional samples of university students from Singapore ( n  = 147), Nigeria ( n  = 151), and the United States ( n  = 301). Following tests of measurement invariance, comparisons showed that past experiences with hikikomori were related to elevated levels of current loneliness and depressive symptoms in each sample. However, analyses also revealed evidence of cultural variation in both the prevalence and the psychosocial correlates associated with past experiences of hikikomori, which taken together, provide preliminary evidence that the culture-bound characterization of hikikomori may not be appropriate.