Socially Withdrawn Children: An “At Risk” Population?

Abstract

Recent years have seen the emergence of an interest in children who do not interact often with their peers. This interest has been sparked not only by theoretical considerations of the significance of early interaction for later development (Piaget, 1926; Sullivan, 1953), but also by data-derived suggestions that a deficiency in early peer interactive experiences may have implications for adolescent and adulthood disorders (see Wanlass & Prinz, 1982, for a relevant review).