Friend loss exacerbates adjustment difficulties among shy children

Abstract

The current study tested the hypothesis that friend loss amplifies longitudinal associations from shyness to adjustment difficulties. Participants were 533 (245 girls, 288 boys) 4th- to 7th-grade students (ages 9–14 years) attending public schools in Lithuania. Self-reports of shyness, victimization and emotional problems, and peer nominated acceptance were measured at the beginning and middle of the same school year, approximately 13 weeks apart. Participants also nominated friends from a roster of classmates; net change in number of nominated friends described differences in the number of outgoing friend nominations made by a child from the beginning to the middle of the school year. The results indicated that net change in the number of nominated friends moderated associations from initial shyness to changes in adjustment from the beginning of the school year to the middle. Initial shyness was associated with decreases in victimization for children who gained friends and increases in victimization for children who lost friends. Net friend change also moderated associations from shyness to changes in peer acceptance, such that higher initial shyness anticipated decreases in peer acceptance for those who lost friends. Finally, initial shyness predicted increases in emotional problems, an association that was not moderated by net change in the number of nominated friends. The findings indicate that friend turnover amplifies some psychosocial risks arising from shyness, particularly for those unfortunate few who experience high levels of friend loss.