Prosocial Peer Treatment and the Psychosocial Outcomes Associated with Anxious-Withdrawal

This study examined prosocial peer treatment as a potential moderator of the associations between anxious-withdrawal and depressive symptoms and victimization. The stability of anxious-withdrawal was also considered in this short-term longitudinal study of young adolescent boys and girls (N=264; M_age=12.08years). Constructs were assessed with peer nomination and self-report measures. Regression analyses revealed that being the recipient of prosocial behaviour by the peer group strengthened the stability of anxious-withdrawal over time and, for boys, the association between anxious-withdrawal and victimization concurrently and over time. The importance of these findings for research on and intervention for anxious-withdrawal during early adolescence is discussed.