The Emergence of Solitude as a Constructive Domain of Experience in Early Adolescence

Adolescents spend one-quarter of their waking hours alone, yet the significance of this time is little understood. This study evaluates developmental a changes in the experience of solitude between late childhood and early adolescence. Four Hundred eighty-three European American fifth through ninth graders provided experience-sampling reports on their companionship and subjective states at random times over a week. The findings show, first, that time alone becomes more Voluntary across this age period. Second, time-series analysis shows that for seventh through ninth graders, but not fifth and sixth graders, solitude had a positive after effect on emotional state. Third, adolescents, but not preadolescents, who spent an intermediate amount of their time alone were better adjusted than those who spent little or a great deal of time alone. As a whole, the findings suggest that, while continuing to be a lonely time, in early adolescence solitude comes to have a more constructives role in daily life as a stratgic retreat that complements social experience.