Understanding the Link Between Affinity for Solitude and Psychosocial Adjustment During Adolescence
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Time spent alone increases from childhood into adolescence. Some previous research suggests that solitude is a constructive experience, whereas other researchers argue that spending time alone may have negative implications for peer relationships during adolescence. Less is known about how different characteristics of solitude may be differentially associated with adjustment. The primary goals of my dissertation were 1) to explore whether the link between affinity for solitude and psychosocial adjustment depends on why or how often an adolescent spends time alone, 2) assess whether there are individual differences in patterns of attitudes towards solitude and experiences with solitude, and 3) identify when solitude is most associated with maladjustment during adolescence. Study 1 of my dissertation used a sample of early and mid- adolescents to examine whether affinity for solitude predicted psychosocial adjustment (i.e., depressive symptoms, social anxiety, peer victimization, friendship quality, self-esteem), controlling for previous scores on these indicators from two years earlier, and whether motivations for spending time alone (i.e., positive versus reactive) and frequency of time spent alone moderated this association. Study 2 used a person-centered approach to identify subgroups of adolescents who varied in characteristics of solitude and sociability, and then assessed whether there were group differences in earlier and concurrent psychosocial adjustment (i.e., depressive symptoms, social anxiety, peer victimization, friendship quality). Study 3 extended Study 2 to explore whether these groups of adolescents with different patterns of characteristics of solitude and sociability experienced changes in trajectories of psychosocial adjustment after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether the pandemic had a stronger effect for some groups compared to others. Overall, results indicated that affinity for solitude is relatively benign during adolescence, though this depends on why and how often adolescents spend time alone, as well as whether adolescents desire to be around others. Further, the implications of solitude may depend on contextual factors, such as the pandemic. Taken together, my dissertation highlights the importance of considering multiple characteristics of solitude, as well as sociability, to avoid broadly over pathologizing solitude during adolescence.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.001 | 0.003 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".