Isolated children need support, but they go unnoticed

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Children isolated from their peers are at a higher risk of developing depression or anxiety, yet no one pays attention to them.

Isolated children need support, but they go unnoticed
Photo by Ridofranz.
Reading time 3 minutes
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Children isolated by their peers need help, yet they are mistaken for rejected children. Why is it important to know the difference?

Although they seem similar terms because they are considered forms of social marginalization, children who are rejected by their peers and those isolated are two different terms, according to a study published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence. The research was based on 1,075 students in fifth, sixth, and seventh for two years. Students answered each semester which of their classmates they liked the least so the researchers could identify those rejected children. They were also asked to describe the group dynamics of each grade, that is, who hangs out with whom. Those who were not identified as part of any group were categorized as isolated.

In addition, different behaviors were explained to them, such as whether the student is cooperative, good student, friendly, disruptive, start fights, get into trouble, intimidates, is shy, sad, upset, or popular. They were asked which children they considered having some of those characteristics. The authors identified that other students viewed isolated children as shy or sad, both of which are internalizing behaviors.

The authors found that there are many distinctions between rejected and isolated children. Study author Kate Norwalk explains this by saying, “There was minimal overlap between the two groups. Most of the kids who were liked least in a class still had some sort of peer group, and the kids who didn’t have a peer group weren’t especially disliked.” One of the few similarities between the two groups was that those rejected or isolated children are at higher risk of victimization, suffering some form of intimidation or bullying.

The publication also described very little research on isolated children but a lot on children who their peers reject. Even the author says that isolated children have not really received attention, especially since many psychologists consider the two as synonymous. Among the most significant differences between the two is that those rejected students are more likely to engage in disruptive behaviors such as being aggressive, disrupting class, or bullying others. They were also less likely to be nice or do well in school.

In isolated students, it is typical for them to have internalizing behaviors such as insecurity, shyness, sadness, worry, instability of mood, among others. Norwalk says: “This study shows that students facing peer rejection and students dealing with social isolation have different profiles and face different risks. What’s more, isolated kids may be more likely to fly under the radar precisely because they’re not causing problems in class or bullying other kids.”

Although both need support, the particularities of each group require specific strategies to intervene in each one. According to the study, the behavior of somewhat isolated children often shows early symptoms of mental health problems such as depression or anxiety. And because they withdraw from other people, they are less likely to receive help from teachers or their parents since they do not cause problems or intimidate other peers.

Furthermore, another major difference between rejected children and isolated children is that peer rejection is expected to persist over time, while isolation represents a different dimension and depends on social and behavioral adjustment. Because the study was conducted with children in grades five through seven, a transitional period from middle childhood to early adolescence, social status or popularity may change with each school year and its importance.

As young people begin to value popularity and social acceptance more, social status becomes an important part of their social functioning during these developmental years. Because the study followed the students for two years, the researchers discovered differences between social and behavioral adjustment throughout that period. Those rejected by their peers do not usually present social behaviors, such as helping others; therefore, they do not develop these skills. On the contrary, they can even develop antisocial maladaptive behaviors such as aggression or manipulation.

Although it is believed that both groups have characteristics of victimization, only isolated children reported that, in case of suffering some type of harassment, their classmates were not going to support or help them.

The study authors conclude that more research is needed on the differences between the two groups to better care for isolated children and avoid mental health problems in the future. Although both types can be seen as forms of social marginalization, the trajectory of social adjustment and behavior presented by students who are rejected by their peers and those isolated are different, so they need to be supported in different ways.

Did you know these differences? Do you think that students who their peers and isolated students reject suffer from the same? Why? Leave your answers in the comments.

Paulette Delgado

This article from Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education may be shared under the terms of the license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0