Learning to cope with everyday instances of social exclusion: A review of emotional and cognitive strategies for children and adolescents

Abstract

Over 20 years of research has shown that social exclusion is a pervasive and powerful form of social threat. Social exclusion causes a wide variety of negative outcomes including negative emotions and threats to fundamental human needs (i.e., self-esteem). Most importantly, experiencing exclusion during childhood or adolescence can provoke long-term negative effects such as depression and anxiety disorders. Despite the growing interest in this domain, only recent studies have started to examine possible coping strategies to contrast the negative effects of exclusion. In this article, we first review the empirical findings concerning the consequences of social exclusion in children and adolescent populations. Second, we focus on cognitive and socio-emotional strategies that children and adolescents can use to deal with exclusion when it has occurred. Implications and future directions are discussed.