Longitudinal associations between depression symptoms and peer experiences: Evidence of symptoms-driven pathways
Section snippets
Depression symptoms and poor peer experiences
Depression and symptoms of depression in childhood and adolescence are strongly linked to two separate but related constructs: peer victimization and peer rejection (Choukas-Bradley & Prinstein, 2014). Peer victimization occurs when an individual is the repeated recipient of intentional aggression, in the presence of a power imbalance (Olweus, 2001). Peer rejection is defined as being actively disliked by peers (Coie, Dodge, & Coppotelli, 1982). Although peer victimization and peer rejection
Interpersonal risk model
Research on the link between peer victimization, peer rejection, and depression symptoms has tended to focus on the interpersonal risk model in which the stressor of poor peer relations confers a risk for increased symptoms of depression (Cole, 1990, Nolan et al., 2003, Schwartz et al., 2015, Schwartz et al., 2005, Ttofi et al., 2011, Zimmer-Gembeck et al., 2010). For example, Schwartz et al. (2005) found that peer victimization (peer- and teacher-reported) was linked to depression symptoms
Symptoms-driven model
Less research attention has been paid to a symptoms-driven pathway in which the reverse relation is observed (i.e., depression symptoms conferring a risk for maladaptive interpersonal outcomes, particularly in the area of peer relations; Agoston and Rudolph, 2013, Kochel et al., 2012, Rudolph, 2009, Sourander et al., 2000, Vaillancourt et al., 2013). The scar hypothesis predicts that those who have experienced an episode of depression (or symptoms of depression) will experience long-lasting
Transactional model
There is also evidence supporting a transactional model (Sameroff, 2009) in which qualities of the individual (i.e., depression symptoms) and the environment (i.e., peer relations) share a bidirectional relation over time (Kaltiala-Heino et al., 2010, Platt et al., 2013, Sweeting et al., 2006). The transactional model emphasizes the changing nature of the environment and the changing nature of the individual where the individual influences the environment and their own development (Sameroff,
Present study
In the present study, we addressed these limitations by examining the relations between symptoms of depression and two types of peer relations difficulties (i.e., peer victimization and perceived peer rejection) across 8 years of development beginning in grade 5 and ending in grade 12 in a large cohort of Canadian youth and using multiple informants (i.e., youth and parents). Moreover, we examined the direction of association between these constructs by comparing three different theoretical
Participants and procedures
Participants were drawn from the McMaster Teen Study, a large longitudinal study examining the stability and change of social experiences and mental health from childhood into adolescence. Data collection began in the spring of 2008 when youth were in grade 5 and continued annually until the spring of 2015, when youth were in grade 12. Grade 5 classrooms were selected from a random sample of 51 schools. Parents and youth were asked for consent and assent respectively each year and the study has
Results
Data were tested for assumptions of normality. Most values of skewness and kurtosis were under recommended ranges of 3 and 10 respectively (Kline, 2011) but kurtosis values for peer victimization in grades 11 and 12 were higher than 10 (grade 11 = 11.53; grade 12 = 10.41). This appeared to be due to few extreme scores of peer victimization; however, upon examining cases, the scores were consistent with previous years. That is, there were some individuals who were chronically bullied by their peers
Discussion
In the current study we examined the temporal priority of depression symptoms and poor peer experiences (i.e., perceived peer rejection and peer victimization) across late childhood to late adolescence using a multiple-informant cascade modelling approach spanning eight years of annual assessments. To date, most studies examining the longitudinal sequence between depression symptoms and poor peer experiences have suffered from notable problems such as being short-term, having long periods of
Acknowledgement
This research is supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (201009MOP-232632-CHI-CECA-136591), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (435-2016-1251 and 833-2004-1019), the Ontario Mental Health Foundation (PA-13-303) and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship Program. We thank the parents and youth for their continued support and participation in the McMaster Teen Study. We also thank Heather Brittain and Patricia McDougall for their invaluable
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Bullying before and during the COVID-19 pandemic
2023, Current Opinion in PsychologyLongitudinal associations between academic achievement and depressive symptoms in adolescence: Methodological considerations and analytical approaches for identifying temporal priority
2023, Advances in Child Development and BehaviorLongitudinal association of peer victimization with aggression and self-injury in adolescence: The mediating role of belief in a just world
2022, Personality and Individual DifferencesCitation Excerpt :Peer victimization is defined as being constantly influenced by negative actions, including physical victimization, verbal victimization, relationship victimization, property victimization, and cyber victimization, conducted by at least one individual at the same age as the victim (Williford, Orsi, DePaolis, & Isen, 2018). There are numerous studies has been embarked on by researchers suggesting that peer victimization leads to not only various internalizing problems such as depression and low self-esteem (Krygsman & Vaillancourt, 2017), but externalizing problems as well such as aggression (Krygsman & Vaillancourt, 2019). Meanwhile, although it's well-known that peer victimization happens at all ages, the majority of research on peer victimization has been mainly focus on the adolescence since it's an important period for physical, psychosocial, sexual and other significant aspects of development (Steinberg & Morris, 2001).
Transactional associations among adolescents' depressive symptoms and self- and friend-reported friendship experiences
2021, Journal of Applied Developmental PsychologyCitation Excerpt :Although these studies provide important information about transactional associations over time, they are limited in their ability to provide full support for interpersonal theories of depression. First, only the Oppenheimer and Hankin (2011) and Vannucci et al. (2018) studies included measures of close relationship functioning that is directly addressed by interpersonal theories of depression; the other two studies included measures addressing more general social adjustment (Verboom et al., 2014) and peer group functioning (Krygsman & Vaillancourt, 2017). Additionally, although Vannucci et al. (2018) addressed one aspect of negative friendship quality (e.g., conflict), the study assessed daily depressed mood state, as opposed depressive symptoms.