Social Withdrawal Subtypes during Early Adolescence in India Julie C. Bowker & Radhi Raja Published online: 5 October 2010 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010 Abstract The overarching goal of this study was to examine the associations between three social withdrawal subtypes (shyness, unsociability, avoidance), peer isola- tion, peer difficulties (victimization, rejection, exclusion, low acceptance), and loneliness in India during early adolescence. Participants were 194 adolescents in Surat, India (M age=13.35 years). Peer nominations of peer relations and socioemotional behaviors were gathered, along with self-reports of reasons for being alone and loneliness. Preliminary evidence of validity for the self- report measure of withdrawal subtypes and isolation was found, and factor analyses indicated that shyness, unso- ciability, and avoidance represent related, but distinct forms of withdrawal that are distinct from isolation. Shyness and avoidance were uniquely associated with loneliness and exclusion, but unsociability was not. The association between avoidance and loneliness was medi- ated by exclusion. Findings suggest that social withdrawal may be best conceptualized as a multifaceted construct during childhood and adolescence, in Western and non- Western societies. Keywords Social withdrawal . Shyness . Isolation . Peers . Loneliness . Unsociability . Avoidance One of the most commonly studied individual risk factors in developmental psychopathology research is social withdrawal (Rubin et al. 2009). Social withdrawal during childhood and early adolescence is linked to a myriad of emotional and interpersonal adjustment diffi- culties, including the development and stability of internalizing problems (i.e., anxiety, loneliness; Gazelle and Rudolph 2004; Rubin et al. 1995) and peer difficulties (i.e., rejection, victimization, exclusion, lack of peer acceptance; Boivin et al. 1995; Oh et al. 2008). It is also well-established that problematic peer relations, especially exclusion, help to explain the strong linkages between social withdrawal and internalizing difficulties (e.g., Boivin et al. 1995; Gazelle and Ladd 2003). Most researchers conceptualize social withdrawal as emanating from fear or social anxiety (e.g., Gazelle and Rudolph 2004). However, recent theory and research suggest that the general construct of social withdrawal comprises many forms with different underlying causes or motivations that vary in psychosocial risk (Coplan and Armer 2007). The limited work on different forms of withdrawal has focused nearly exclusively on withdrawal subtypes during early and middle childhood, in Western societies (e.g., Coplan et al. 2004), and thus very little is known about the nature of withdrawal during early adolescence (10–14 years), and in non-Western societies. In the current research, we examine the distinctiveness and correlates of withdrawal subtypes during early adolescence in India, and whether problematic peer relations mediate the associations between different subtypes and loneliness. Additional knowledge about the nature of social withdrawal during early adolescence and in non-Western societies may provide clues to both the etiology and treatment of behavioral problems and internalizing difficulties. J. C. Bowker (*) : R. Raja Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, 224 Park Hall, Buffalo, NY 14260-4110, USA e-mail: jcbowker@buffalo.edu J Abnorm Child Psychol (2011) 39:201–212 DOI 10.1007/s10802-010-9461-7