The Role of Social Withdrawal Motivations in the Links Between Time Spent Alone and Internalizing Difficulties among Italian Children and Adolescents

Despite increased focus on the implications of social withdrawal for child and adolescent well-being, few studies have specifically assessed time spent alone (McVarnock et al., 2023). The goal of this study was to explore the moderating role of motivations for social withdrawal (shyness, unsociability) in the links between time spent alone and internalizing difficulties. Participants were 169 (n = 96 girls, 56.8%) children and early adolescents aged 8–14 years (Mage = 10.82, SD = 1.78) in Italy. Children provided self-reports of time spent alone, motivations for social withdrawal (shyness, unsociability), and indices of internalizing difficulties (social anxiety, depression, loneliness), and parents rated children’s internalizing symptoms. Results from regression analyses indicated several interaction effects between time spent alone and motivations for withdrawal in the prediction of internalizing problems. For example, at higher levels of shyness, time spent alone was positively associated with social anxiety (b = .28, p < .001) and depression (b = .08, p <.001), but these effects were attenuated at lower levels of shyness (social anxiety: b = .09, p =.11; depression: b = .03, p = .15). As well, at lower levels of unsociability, the positive relation between time spent alone and loneliness was stronger (b = .37, p < .001) than at higher levels of unsociability (b = .20, p < .001). The present study highlighted the risks of time spent alone for shy children’s development of internalizing difficulties, who might experience more uncomfortable and anxiety compared to their unsociable counterparts (Borg & Willoughby, 2022).