The moderating role of friendship and the effects of withdrawal on children who are neglected within the peer network: a population at risk for internalizing distress?

Recent research indicates that sociometrically neglected children as a group are no more at risk for internalizing disorders than their average peers; however, the current study proposed that differences in the internalizing of emotional distress might be found in neglected individuals who exhibit behaviors of withdrawal or who do not have a reciprocal classroom friend. Results revealed that neglected children were found to be less likely than their peers to have a reciprocated classroom friend. Teachers reported greater depression and a trend toward higher anxiety and somatization in these neglected and friendless children. Furthermore, neglected children who exhibited excluded-withdrawn behavior reported higher levels of depression and greater difficulty with interpersonal relations than their peers.