Toward a Definition of Social Isolation in Children.

GOTTMAN, JOHN M. Toward a Definition of Social Isolation in Children. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1977, 48, 513-517. There are 2 separate definitions of social isolation in existing literature, 1 based on low frequencies of peer interaction and 1 based on low levels of peer acceptance using sociometric measures. 113 children in 8 Head Start classrooms were assessed using sociometric measures of acceptance and rejection and observational measures of behavior when alone, when interacting with peers, and when interacting with the teachers. There was no relationship between peer acceptance and the relative frequency of peer interaction, suggesting that these 2 measures of social isolation do not tap the same dimension. A direct cluster rotation analysis resulted in 5 orthogonal clusters of children which defined 5 pure types. These types were: (1) sociometric stars, (2) sociometric rejectees, (3) children who had highly negative interactions with the teacher, (4) children who interacted frequently with peers, and (5) children who were frequently "tuned out" or off task when alone. Of these 5 groups, the tuned-out children also had the lowest means on peer acceptance and were high on a set of shy, anxious, and fearful behaviors coded "hovering." This group seems to best fit the construct of the shy, socially anxious child who also is neither accepted nor rejected, but rather is ignored by peers.

[1]  J. Gottman,et al.  Social interaction, social competence, and friendship in children. , 1975, Child development.

[2]  C Thomson,et al.  A brief report on a comparison of time-sampling procedures. , 1974, Journal of applied behavior analysis.

[3]  E. Cowen,et al.  Long-term follow-up of early detected vulnerable children. , 1973, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[4]  J. C. Schwarz,et al.  Modifying social withdrawal in preschoolers: The effects of filmed modeling and teacher praise , 1973, Journal of abnormal child psychology.

[5]  R. O'connor Relative efficacy of modeling, shaping, and the combined procedures for modification of social withdrawal. , 1972, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[6]  J. Reid Reliability Assessment of Observation Data: A Possible Methodological Problem. , 1970 .

[7]  R D O'connor,et al.  Modification of social withdrawal through symbolic modeling. , 1969, Journal of applied behavior analysis.

[8]  W. Hartup,et al.  Peer reinforcement and sociometric status. , 1967, Child development.

[9]  W. Hartup,et al.  Positive social reinforecement in the nursery school peer group. , 1967, Child development.

[10]  Lilian G. Katz,et al.  Current topics in early childhood education , 1977 .

[11]  S. Asher Children's Friendships in School Settings. , 1974 .

[12]  S. B. Sells,et al.  Social adjustment and personality development in children , 1972 .

[13]  W. McGrew An ethological study of children's behavior , 1972 .

[14]  N. E. Gronlund Sociometry in the Classroom , 1970 .