Adjustment Correlates of Adolescent Social Withdrawal: Active Avoidance Is Associated with Maladjustment While Shyness Can Show Benefits

We evaluated the distinctive social and personal (mal)adjustment correlates of two forms of withdrawal with a sample of 408 adolescents. Active avoidance is more strongly associated with social and personal maladjustment than shyness. Surprisingly, shyness is associated with some social (e.g., less rejection) and personal (e.g., more prosocial) benefits.