Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion Regulation, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Research Center Adolescent Development, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2019 May;47(5):865-879. doi: 10.1007/s10802-018-0497-4.
Social withdrawal during adolescence and early adulthood is particularly problematic due to the increasing importance of social interactions during these ages. Yet little is known about the changes, trajectories, or correlates of being withdrawn during this transition to adulthood. The purpose of this study was to examine the normative change and distinct trajectories of withdrawal in order to identify adolescents and early adults at greatest risk for maladjustment. Participants were from a Dutch population-based cohort study (Tracking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey), including 1917 adolescents who were assessed at four waves from the age of 16 to 25 years. Five items from the Youth Self Report and Adult Self Report were found to be measurement invariant and used to assess longitudinal changes in social withdrawal. Overall, participants followed a U-shaped trajectory of social withdrawal, where withdrawal decreased from ages 16 to 19 years, remained stable from 19 to 22 years, and increased from 22 to 25 years. Furthermore, three distinct trajectory classes of withdrawal emerged: a low-stable group (71.8%), a high-decreasing group (12.0%), and a low-curvilinear group (16.2%). The three classes differed on: shyness, social affiliation, reduced social contact, anxiety, and antisocial behaviors. The high-decreasing group endorsed the highest social maladjustment, followed by the low-curvilinear group, and the low-stable group was highly adjusted. We discuss the potential contribution of the changing social network in influencing withdrawal levels, the distinct characteristics of each trajectory group, and future directions in the study of social withdrawal in adolescence and early adulthood.
青少年和成年早期的社交退缩尤其成问题，因为在这些年龄段，社交互动变得越来越重要。然而，对于在向成年期过渡期间社交退缩的变化、轨迹或相关性，我们知之甚少。本研究的目的是检查退缩的正常变化和不同轨迹，以确定最有可能适应不良的青少年和早期成年人。参与者来自荷兰基于人群的队列研究（追踪青少年个人生活调查），包括 1917 名青少年，他们在 16 至 25 岁时接受了四次评估。青年自我报告和成人自我报告中的五项条目被发现具有测量不变性，并用于评估社交退缩的纵向变化。总体而言，参与者遵循社交退缩的 U 型轨迹，退缩从 16 岁到 19 岁下降，从 19 岁到 22 岁保持稳定，从 22 岁到 25 岁增加。此外，还出现了三个不同的退缩轨迹类别：低稳定组（71.8%）、高下降组（12.0%）和低曲线组（16.2%）。这三个类别在以下方面存在差异：害羞、社会联系、社交接触减少、焦虑和反社会行为。高下降组的社会适应不良程度最高，其次是低曲线组，低稳定组的社会适应程度最高。我们讨论了不断变化的社交网络对影响退缩水平的潜在贡献、每个轨迹组的独特特征，以及在青少年和成年早期社交退缩研究中的未来方向。
