Similarity in depressive symptoms in adolescents' friendship dyads: selection or socialization?

This study examined friendship selection and socialization as mechanisms explaining similarity in depressive symptoms in adolescent same-gender best friend dyads. The sample consisted of 1,752 adolescents (51% male) ages 12-16 years (M = 13.77, SD = 0.73) forming 487 friend dyads and 389 nonfriend dyads (the nonfriend dyads served as a comparison group). To test our hypothesis, we applied a multigroup actor-partner interdependence model to 3 friendship types that started and ended at different time points during the 2 waves of data collection. Results showed that adolescents reported levels of depressive symptoms at follow-up that were similar to those of their best friends. Socialization processes explained the increase in similarity exclusively in female dyads, whereas no evidence for friendship selection emerged for either male or female dyads. Additional analyses revealed that similarity between friends was particularly evident in the actual best friend dyads (i.e., true best friends), in which evidence for socialization processes emerged for both female and male friend dyads. Findings highlight the importance of examining friendship relations as a potential context for the development of depressive symptoms.     

The Best Friend and Friendship Group Influence on Adolescent Nonsuicidal Self-injury

This study examined associations of peer socialization and selection, over time, with nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) among 5,787 (54.2 % females) Chinese community adolescents. Both effects were tested using two aspects of adolescents’ friendship networks: the best friend and the friendship group. Participants completed questionnaires assessing NSSI, depressive symptoms and maladaptive impulsive behaviors at two waves of time over a 6-month period. Results showed that even after controlling for the effects of depressive symptoms and maladaptive impulsive behaviors, the best friends’ engagement in NSSI still significantly predicted adolescents’ own engagement in NSSI. Adolescents’ friendship groups’ NSSI status also significantly predicted their own NSSI status and frequency. Additionally, adolescents with NSSI tended to join peer groups with other members also engaging in NSSI.     

Friendship Selection and Influence Processes for Physical Aggression and Prosociality: Differences between Single-Sex and Mixed-Sex Contexts

The present study examined to what extent selection and influence processes for physical aggression and prosociality in friendship networks differed between sex-specific contexts (i.e., all-male, all-female, and mixed-sex classrooms), while controlling for perceived popularity. Whereas selection processes reflect how behaviors shape friendships, influence processes reveal the reversed pattern by indicating how friends affect individual behaviors. Data were derived from a longitudinal sample of early adolescents from Chile. Four all-male classrooms (n = 150 male adolescents), four all-female classrooms (n = 190 female adolescents), and eight mixed-sex classrooms (n = 272 students) were followed one year from grades 5 to 6 (M _age = 13). Analyses were conducted by means of stochastic-actor-based modeling as implemented in RSIENA. Although it was expected that selection and influence effects for physical aggression and prosociality would vary by context, these effects showed remarkably similar trends across all-male, all-female, and mixed-sex classrooms, with physical aggression reducing and with prosociality increasing the number of nominations received as best friend in all-male and particularly all-female classrooms. Further, perceived popularity increased the number of friendship nominations received in all contexts. Influence processes were only found for perceived popularity, but not for physical aggression and prosociality in any of the three contexts. Together, these findings highlight the importance of both behaviors for friendship selection independent of sex-specific contexts, attenuating the implications of these gendered behaviors for peer relations.     

Adolescent girls' interpersonal vulnerability to depressive symptoms: a longitudinal examination of reassurance-seeking and peer relationships

A transactional, interpersonal framework involving adolescents' reassurance-seeking and peer experiences may be useful for understanding the emergence of gender differences in depression prevalence during the adolescent transition. Sociometric nominations of peer acceptance/rejection and ratings of friendship quality provided by adolescents and their friends were used to measure peer experiences among 6th-8th-grade adolescents (N=520) over 3 annual time points. After controlling for age and pubertal development, significant but small prospective effects offered mixed support for hypotheses: (a) depressive symptoms and negative peer relations predicted increasing levels of girls' reassurance-seeking; (b) initial levels of reassurance-seeking and depressive symptoms predicted deteriorating friendship quality among girls and low friendship stability, respectively; and (c) reassurance-seeking combined with poor peer experiences predicted increases in girls' depressive symptoms.     

Depression socialization within friendship groups at the transition to adolescence: the roles of gender and group centrality as moderators of peer influence

Tests of interpersonal theories of depression have established that elevated depression levels among peers portend increases in individuals' own depressive symptoms, a phenomenon known as depression socialization. Susceptibility to this socialization effect may be enhanced during the transition to adolescence as the strength of peer influence rises dramatically. Socialization of depressive symptoms among members of child and adolescent friendship groups was examined over a 1-year period among 648 youth in grades six through eight. Sociometric methods were utilized to identify friendship groups and ascertain the prospective effect of group-level depressive symptoms on youths' own depressive symptoms. Hierarchical linear modeling results revealed a significant socialization effect and indicated that this effect was most potent for (a) girls and (b) individuals on the periphery of friendship groups. Future studies would benefit from incorporating child and adolescent peer groups as a developmentally salient context for interpersonal models of depression.     

Multi-Informant Assessments of Adolescent Social Anxiety: Adding Clarity by Leveraging Reports from Unfamiliar Peer Confederates

Adolescent social anxiety (SA) assessments often include adolescent and parent reports, and low reporting correspondence results in uncertainties in clinical decision-making. Adolescents display SA within non-home contexts such as peer interactions. Yet, current methods for collecting peer reports raise confidentiality concerns, though adolescent SA assessments nonetheless would benefit from context-specific reports relevant to adolescent SA (i.e., interactions with unfamiliar peers). In a sample of 89 adolescents (30 Evaluation-Seeking; 59 Community Control), we collected SA reports from adolescents and their parents, and SA reports from unfamiliar peer confederates who interacted with adolescents during 20-minute mock social interactions. Adolescents and parents completed reports on trait measures of adolescent SA and related concerns (e.g., depressive symptoms), and adolescents completed self-reports of state arousal within mock social interactions. Adolescents’ SA reports correlated with reports on parallel measures from parents in the .30s and with peer confederates in the .40s to .50s, whereas reports from parent-confederate dyads correlated in the .07 to .22 range. Adolescent, parent, and peer confederate SA reports related to reports on trait measures of adolescent SA and depressive symptoms, and distinguished Evaluation-Seeking from Community Control Adolescents. Confederates’ SA reports incrementally predicted adolescents’ self-reported SA over and above parent reports, and vice versa, with combined Rs ranging from .51 to .60. These combined Rs approximate typical correspondence levels between informants who observe adolescents in the same context (e.g., mother-father). Adolescent and peer confederate (but not parent) SA reports predicted adolescents’ state arousal in social interactions. These findings have implications for clarifying patterns of reporting correspondence in clinical assessments of adolescent SA.     

Daily Peer Hassles and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury in Adolescence: Gender Differences in Avoidance-Focused Emotion Regulation Processes

This study aimed to examine the mediating role of rumination, experiential avoidance, dissociation and depressive symptoms in the association between daily peer hassles and non-suicidal self-injury among adolescents. Additionally, this study explored gender differences in these associations and tested whether the proposed model was invariant across genders. The sample consisted of 776 adolescents, of them 369 are males (47.6%) and 407 are females (52.4%), aged between 12 and 18 years old from middle and high schools in Portugal. Participants completed self-report questionnaires to assess daily peer hassles, rumination in its severe component (i.e., brooding), experiential avoidance, dissociation, depressive symptoms and non-suicidal self-injury. Path analysis showed that daily peer hassles indirectly impact on non-suicidal self-injury through increased levels of brooding, experiential avoidance, dissociation, and depressive symptoms. Results indicated significant gender differences in mean scores and path analysis. Male adolescents were more likely to engage in brooding and experiential avoidance in response to external distress (particularly, daily peer hassles), whereas female adolescents were more likely to engage in non-suicidal self-injury in response to internal distress (particularly, depressive symptoms). These findings suggest relevant preventive and intervention actions to address emotion dysregulation in adolescence, by teaching them acceptance and mindfulness skills as a way of coping with stressful experiences and internal distress.     

Peer Influence and Nonsuicidal Self Injury: Longitudinal Results in Community and Clinically-Referred Adolescent Samples

Research suggests that adolescents’ engagement in nonsuicidal self-injurious (NSSI) behaviors may be increasing over time, yet little is known regarding distal longitudinal factors that may promote engagement in these behaviors. Data from two longitudinal studies are presented to examine whether NSSI may be associated with peer influence processes. Study 1 included 377 adolescents from a community-based sample; Study 2 included 140 clinically-referred adolescents recruited from a psychiatric inpatient facility. In Study 1, adolescents’ NSSI was examined at baseline and one year later. Adolescents’ nominated best friend reported their own levels of NSSI. In Study 2, adolescents’ NSSI was examined at baseline as well as 9 and 18-months post-baseline. Adolescents’ perceptions of their friends’ engagement in self-injurious behavior (including suicidality) and depressed mood also were examined at all three time points. Baseline depressive symptoms were measured in both studies; gender and age were examined as moderators of peer influence effects. Results from both studies supported longitudinal peer socialization effects of friends’ self-injurious behavior on adolescents’ own NSSI for girls, but not for boys, even after controlling for depressive symptoms as a predictor. Study 1 suggested socialization effects mostly for younger youth. Results from Study 2 also suggested longitudinal socialization effects, as well as peer selection effects; adolescents’ NSSI was associated with increasing perceptions of their friends’ engagement in depressive/self-injurious thoughts and behavior. Findings contribute to the nascent literature on longitudinal predictors of NSSI and to work on peer influence.     

A Review and Reconceptualization of Social Aggression: Adaptive and Maladaptive Correlates

The emergence of a research literature exploring parallels between physical and nonphysical (i.e., social, relational, indirect) forms of aggression has raised many questions about the developmental effects of aggressive behavior on psychological functioning, peer relationships, and social status. Although both forms of aggression have been linked to problematic outcomes in childhood and adolescence, more recent findings have highlighted the importance of considering the possible social rewards conferred by socially aggressive behavior. This paper examines relevant theory and empirical research investigating the adaptive and maladaptive correlates specific to nonphysical forms of aggression. Findings are explored at the level of group (e.g., peer rejection), dyadic (e.g., friendship quality), and individual (e.g., depressive symptoms) variables. Key developmental considerations and methodological issues are addressed, and recommendations for future research integrating current theoretical conceptualizations and empirical findings on social aggression are advanced.     

A developmental-contextual model of depressive symptoms in Mexican-origin female adolescents

The current study tested a developmental-contextual model of depressive symptomatology among Mexican-origin, female early and middle adolescents and their mothers. The final sample comprised 271 dyads. We examined the interrelations among cultural (i.e., acculturation dissonance), developmental (i.e., pubertal development and autonomy expectation discrepancies), and interpersonal (i.e., mother-daughter conflict and maternal supportive parenting) factors in predicting adolescents' depressive symptoms. For both early and middle adolescents, maternal support was negatively associated with mother-daughter conflict and depressive symptoms. Mother-daughter autonomy expectation discrepancies were positively associated with mother-daughter conflict, but this association was found only among early adolescents. Further, mother-daughter acculturation dissonance was positively associated with mother-daughter conflict but only among middle adolescents. Findings call for concurrently examining the interface of developmental, relational, and cultural factors in predicting female adolescents' depressive symptomatology and the potential differences by developmental stage (e.g., early vs. middle adolescence).     

Depressive Symptoms and Conversational Self-Focus in Adolescents’ Friendships

This multi-method, longitudinal study considered the interplay among depressive symptoms, aversive interpersonal behavior, and interpersonal rejection in early and middle adolescents’ friendships. In particular, the study examined a newly identified interpersonal process, conversational self-focus (i.e., the tendency to redirect conversations about problems to focus on the self). Traditional interpersonal theories of depression suggest that individuals with depressive symptoms engage in aversive behaviors (such as conversational self-focus) and are rejected by others. However, in the current study, not all adolescents with depressive symptoms engaged in conversational self-focus and were rejected by friends. Instead, conversational self-focus moderated prospective relations of depressive symptoms and later friendship problems such that only adolescents with depressive symptoms who engaged in conversational self-focus were rejected by friends. These findings are consistent with current conceptualizations of the development of psychopathology that highlight heterogeneity among youth who share similar symptoms and the possibility of multifinality of outcomes.     

MAOA基因T941G多态性与同伴侵害对男青少年早期抑郁的交互作用:COMT基因Val158Met多态性的调节效应

抑郁具有复杂的多基因遗传基础,然而既有研究大多采用单基因以及单基因-环境交互设计(G×E)考察抑郁的遗传机制。以757名男青少年为被试(初次测评时Mage=11.32岁,SD=0.49岁),采用多基因-环境交互(G×G×E)设计,本研究考察了MAOA(monoamine oxidase A,单胺氧化酶A)基因T941G多态性、COMT(catechol-O-methyltransferase,儿茶酚胺氧位甲基转移酶)基因Val158Met多态性与同伴侵害对青少年早期抑郁的影响。结果显示,MAOA基因T941G多态性与同伴侵害交互作用于青少年抑郁,同伴侵害仅显著正向预测G等位基因(而非T等位基因)青少年抑郁。而且,MAOA基因T941G多态性与同伴侵害的交互作用受到COMT基因Val158Met多态性的调节,上述交互作用仅存在于COMT Met等位基因而非Val/Val基因型携带者中。研究结果显示,抑郁的产生与个体差异存在多基因与环境间的复杂交互机制。     

Exploratory study of best friendship dissolution characteristics and psychological difficulties during early adolescence

Few studies have evaluated best friendship dissolutions and especially the circumstances surrounding the dissolutions. In this exploratory study of young adolescents (N = 273, M_age = 11.83 years; 51% boys), we investigate young adolescents' experiences with two types of best friendship dissolution (complete dissolutions, downgrade dissolutions) and two characteristics of such experiences: initiation status (self- versus friend-initiation) and emotional reactions (degree of happiness, anger, sadness, and embarrassment). We also consider whether these characteristics of best friendship dissolutions are related to psychological difficulties (loneliness, depressive symptoms). Results indicated that most young adolescents perceive their friends initiated their recent complete and downgrade dissolutions. When young adolescents did initiate their complete dissolutions, however, they reported less negative (anger) and more positive (happiness) emotional responses. Initiation status was not related to psychological difficulties, but variability in several types of emotional responses (e.g., embarrassment) was related to variability in loneliness and depressive symptoms. Findings underscore the importance of considering not only the type of dissolution, but also the circumstances surrounding dissolutions, during early adolescence.     

Associations Between Mixed-Gender Friendships,Gender Reference Group Identity and Substance Use in College Students

We investigated the associations between same-gender friendship, gender reference group identity, and substance use in college students (54 % male, M age?=?19.23, SD?=?1.23) from the northeastern United States using an online survey. Male students reported greater weekly marijuana, but not alcohol use than female students. Regression analyses revealed that having a greater proportion of same-gender friendships was associated with greater weekly alcohol use for male students and lesser weekly alcohol and marijuana use for female students. Gender reference group identity was negatively associated with weekly marijuana use for male and female students. For female students, gender reference group identity mediated the association between proportion of same-gender friendships and weekly marijuana use. Our study highlights the importance of considering the social context (e.g., the gender of friends) and individual variables relating to gender (e.g. gender reference group identity) in substance use research. Our findings fit within social constructionist models of social development that suggest participation in gendered contexts (e.g., same-gender or other-gender-peer contexts) over time cue gender-typed behaviors such as using marijuana.     

Lonely Adolescents and Their Best Friend: An Examination of Loneliness and Friendship Quality in Best Friendship Dyads

Friendship experiences have been shown to be important predictors of adolescents’ loneliness. The current study examined selection and socialization effects of loneliness within reciprocal best friendships, while controlling for friendship quality. Analyses were conducted on a sample of 884 adolescents (42.08% boys), making up 442 dyads, who were on average 13.51 years old (SD?=?1.37). Adolescents completed the peer-related loneliness subscale of the Loneliness and Aloneness Scale for Children and Adolescents as well as the Friendship Qualities Scale. A longitudinal actor-partner interdependence model, which accounts for the interdependencies in the data of best friends, suggested the presence of a selection effect for loneliness but no socialization effect. This finding within best friendships contrasts with studies on friendship networks where both selection and socialization were established.     

越轨同伴交往与青少年问题性网络使用的交叉滞后分析

本研究采用交叉滞后设计探讨越轨同伴交往与青少年问题性网络使用之间的双向关系。通过越轨同伴交往、问题性网络使用诊断工具对广东省某地区886名青少年（44.0%男生; M = 15.55）进行为期一学年的追踪研究。在控制性别后发现:（1）学年初始的越轨同伴交往可以显著正向预测青少年学年末的问题性网络使用（b1 = .05, SE = .03, p < .05）,即青少年在学年初始越轨同伴交往越多,学年末则表现出更多的问题性网络使用;（2）学年初始的青少年问题性网络使用可以显著正向预测其学年末的越轨同伴交往（b2 = .08, SE = .03, p < .05）。（3）越轨同伴交往与青少年问题性网络使用的双向关系存在性别差异。     

越轨同伴交往与青少年问题性网络使用的交叉滞后分析

本研究采用交叉滞后设计探讨越轨同伴交往与青少年问题性网络使用之间的双向关系。通过越轨同伴交往、问题性网络使用诊断工具对广东省某地区886名青少年（44.0%男生; M = 15.55）进行为期一学年的追踪研究。在控制性别后发现:（1）学年初始的越轨同伴交往可以显著正向预测青少年学年末的问题性网络使用（b1 = .05, SE = .03, p < .05）,即青少年在学年初始越轨同伴交往越多,学年末则表现出更多的问题性网络使用;（2）学年初始的青少年问题性网络使用可以显著正向预测其学年末的越轨同伴交往（b2 = .08, SE = .03, p < .05）。（3）越轨同伴交往与青少年问题性网络使用的双向关系存在性别差异。     

Reciprocal, Longitudinal Associations Among Adolescents' Negative Feedback-Seeking, Depressive Symptoms, and Peer Relations

This study examined reciprocal associations among adolescents' negative feedback-seeking, depressive symptoms, perceptions of friendship quality, and peer-reported social preference over an 11-month period. A total of 478 adolescents in grades 6–8 completed measures of negative feedback-seeking, depressive symptoms, friendship quality, global-self-esteem, and social anxiety at two time points. Peer-reported measures of peer status were collected using a sociometric procedure. Consistent with hypotheses, path analyses results suggested that negative feedback-seeking was associated longitudinally with depressive symptoms and perceptions of friendship criticism in girls and with lower social preference scores in boys; however, depressive symptoms were not associated longitudinally with negative feedback-seeking. Implications for interpersonal models of adolescent depression are discussed.     

Situational Peer effects on Adolescents’ Alcohol Consumption: The Moderating Role of Supervision,Activity Structure,and Personal Moral Rules

Using five waves of unique space-time budget data, this study investigates the relevance of peer presence and behavior on adolescents’ alcohol consumption at a situational level, addressing to which degree these situational peer effects are moderated by the setting and by individual differences. Multilevel models, predicting the probability of alcohol consumption in a given hour, show that peers’ alcohol misuse is most relevant during unstructured activities while unsupervised. However, individuals differ in their susceptibility to these situational processes, with adolescents holding strong moral convictions against alcohol consumption being basically immune to situational peer effects, even during unstructured and unsupervised activities.     

青少年友谊网络与受欺凌的共同变化关系：一项纵向社会网络分析研究

欺凌是一种涉及多类行为和多主体互动的群体过程, 但是已有研究很少在同伴的群体互动和关系变化过程中研究欺凌相关行为的发展。尤其是受欺凌作为一种被动承受而非主动选择的行为结果, 对其在同伴情境中的变化过程研究更为有限。本研究从青少年的友谊网络与其受欺凌的共变关系入手, 采用纵向社会网络分析法, 对来自26个班1406名学生进行为期1年的3个时间点(七年级末、八年级上学期末、八年级下学期末)的追踪研究, 结果发现：(1)受欺凌影响群体内友谊关系的建立：受欺凌水平高的青少年更难以与同伴建立朋友关系(同伴回避效应), 且更倾向于选择同样受欺凌水平高的个体作为朋友(同伴选择效应); (2)友谊关系影响受欺凌水平的变化：在群体中拥有更多朋友关系的青少年, 其受欺凌水平会逐渐降低(同伴保护效应); 但另一方面, 拥有高受欺凌水平朋友的青少年, 自己的受欺凌水平会随着时间呈增高趋势(同伴影响效应); (3)随着时间的发展, 女生的受欺凌水平比男生更容易降低(性别影响效应)。研究结果揭示了友谊网络和受欺凌的共变关系, 为校园欺凌群体干预提供启示。