Isolates is a term used in

developmental psychology Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development ...

and family studies to describe members of a study group, usually children through young adults, who do not actively participate in

cliques A clique ( AusE, CanE, or ; ), in the social sciences, is a small group of individuals who interact with one another and share similar interests rather than include others. Interacting with cliques is part of normative social development regardle ...

friendship Friendship is a Interpersonal relationship, relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague. Althoug ...

groups. Isolates are one of four types of participants in friendship networks, the other three being dyads, liaisons, and cliques.Richards, W.D., & Rice, R.E., (1981). The NEGOPY network analysis program. Social Networks, 3, 215-223. Isolates may have friendly relations with members of cliques and friendship groups, but they do not associate their identity with any particular group. Isolates can be voluntarily or involuntarily isolated from

peer group In sociology, a peer group is both a social group and a primary group of people who have similar interests ( homophily), age, background, or social status. Members of peer groups are likely to influence each others' beliefs and behaviour. Durin ...

s, cliques, or friendship groups. Overall, isolates may experience higher levels of depression than same-age peers. Studies by Ennett and Bauman (1993) found that isolates were more prone to smoke than members of friendship groups.Ennett, S.T., & Bauman, K.E. (1993) Peer group structure and adolescent cigarette smoking: A social group analysis. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 34, 226-236. A study by Henrich et al. (2000) shows that isolates, both male and female, have more internalizing problems than non-isolates.Henrich, C. C., Kuperminc, G.P., Sack, A., Blatt, S.J., Leadbeater, B.J. (2000). Characteristics and Homogeneity of Early Adolescent Friendship Groups: A Comparison of Male and Female Clique and Nonclique Members. Journal of Applied Developmental Science, 4, 1, 15-26. The study also indicates that female isolates have significantly lower GPAs than members of cliques.

References

{{Reflist Social anthropology Cliques