Relations between Shyness-Sensitivity and Internalizing Problems in Chinese Children: Moderating Effects of Academic Ach
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Relations between Shyness-Sensitivity and Internalizing Problems in Chinese Children: Moderating Effects of Academic Achievement Xinyin Chen & Fan Yang & Li Wang
Published online: 15 January 2013 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
Abstract Shy-sensitive children are likely to develop adjustment problems in today’s urban China as the country has evolved into an increasingly competitive, marketoriented society. The main purpose of this one-year longitudinal study was to examine the moderating effects of academic achievement on relations between shynesssensitivity and later internalizing problems in Chinese children. A sample of 1171 school-age children (591 boys, 580 girls) in China, initially at the age of 9 years, participated in the study. Data on shyness, academic achievement, and internalizing problems were collected from multiple sources including peer evaluations, teacher ratings, self-reports, and school records. It was found that shyness positively and uniquely predicted later loneliness, depression, and teacher-rated internalizing problems, with the stability effect controlled, for low-achieving children, but not for high-achieving children. The results indicate that, consistent with the stress buffering model, academic achievement may be a buffering factor that serves to protect shy-sensitive children from developing psychological problems. Keywords Shyness . Internalizing problems . Academic achievement . Chinese children X. Chen : F. Yang University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, USA L. Wang (*) Peking University, Beijing, China e-mail: [email protected] X. Chen (*) Applied Psychology-Human Development Division, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, 3700 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19104-6216, USA e-mail: [email protected]
Introduction As one of the major socioemotional characteristics, shynesssensitivity plays an important role in social and psychological adjustment in childhood and adolescence (see Rubin et al. 2009). In Western societies, preschool and school-age children who display shy and sensitive behavior are likely to experience difficulties in peer interactions and relationships (Asendorpf 2010; Coplan et al. 2004; Gazelle and Ladd 2003). Moreover, when they realize their difficulties in social situations, typically from 8 or 9 years, shy-sensitive children may develop negative self-perceptions and other psychological problems such as loneliness and depression (e.g., Coplan et al. 2004; Rubin et al. 1995). Longitudinal research has also indicated that shyness in childhood predicts later adjustment problems in a variety of areas such as educational attainment, career stability, and mental health (e.g., Caspi et al. 1988; Rubin, et al. 1995). In the literature (Asendorpf 1991; Stevenson-Hinde and Shouldice 1993), children’s shy-sensitive behavior is taken to reflect internal anxiety, fearfulness, and a lack of self-confidence in social settings. It has been argued that shyness and social anxiety represent a significant risk factor in the development of intern
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