Abstract
Objectives
As peers become more salient during early adolescence, the perception of supportive parenting may become an important buffer against peer-related stressors, such as peer victimization. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether perceived supportive parenting moderates the association between peer victimization and depressive symptoms among early adolescents. The study contributes to the literature by specifically addressing both the source of supportive parenting (mothers vs. fathers) and the type of victimization (physical vs. relational).
Methods
Survey data on peer victimization, depressive symptoms, and perceived supportive parenting were collected from 237 middle school students (50% female; Mage = 12.21 years) in a mid-Atlantic metropolitan area.
Results
Regression analyses indicated that both relational (b = 0.45, p = 0.0005) and physical victimization (b = 0.35, p = 0.0265) were positively associated with depressive symptoms and that perceived supportive parenting from both parents was negatively associated with depressive symptoms (mothers: b = −0.20, p = 0.0006; fathers: b = −0.14, p = 0.0093). Perceived supportive parenting from mothers, but not fathers, moderated the association between each form of victimization and depressive symptoms (relational: b = −0.28, p = 0.0258; physical: b = −0.03, p = 0.0275), such that the associations were non-significant when perceived supportive parenting by mothers was high.
Conclusions
The results underscore the link between relational victimization and depressive symptoms among early adolescents. Supportive parenting, especially from mothers, may serve as a potential buffer against the harmful effects of peer victimization.
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Author Contributions
B.A.K.: Co-designed and executed the larger project from which this study was derived, conducted the data analyses, and wrote the initial draft of the paper. A.A.P.: Co-designed the larger study, assisted with data analysis and writing of the paper. C.N.: Assisted with data collection, conducted more limited but similar analyses with a subset of the current dataset for her master’s thesis which served as the foundation for the conceptualization of the manuscript. S.L.J.: Conducted literature searches, contributed to editing and formatting of the final manuscript.
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American Psychological Association guidelines for research with human subjects were followed throughout the study to ensure participant safety and well-being, and the study protocol was approved by the Loyola University Maryland Institutional Review Board (IRB).
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Kotchick, B.A., Papadakis, A.A., Nettles, C. et al. Peer Victimization and Depressive Symptoms in Early Adolescents: The Protective Role of Perceived Supportive Parenting. J Child Fam Stud 29, 1350–1362 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01610-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01610-6