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School Achievement and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescence: The Role of Self-efficacy and Peer Relationships at School

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Abstract

Depressive symptoms are common during adolescence. Failure at school often relates to low self-efficacy that, in turn, is associated with depressive symptoms. Several studies have supported the role of friends in counteracting depression in adolescence. The present study tested a mediation model in which the indirect effect between school achievement and depressive symptoms, mediated by perceived self-efficacy, was moderated by peer relationships at school. Self-report questionnaires were administered to 1004 adolescents aged 14 to 18 years (M = 15.5; SD = 1.2). The moderated mediation model showed that the mediation of self-efficacy in the relation between school achievement and depressive symptoms was moderated by peer relationships. Higher self-efficacy was associated to lower depressive symptoms, in particular in adolescents with more school friends. Conversely, the magnitude of this association is weaker for those with fewer school friends. Programs aimed at reducing psychological malaise should focus on fostering positive relationships among classmates.

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Notes

  1. The study was approved by the Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Valle d’Aosta, protocol #6 on January 19th, 2015.

  2. In order to test possible alternative models, we checked whether biological sex and age could be further moderators. No interaction effect of biological sex and age was significant; however, peer relationships at school remained a significant moderator. Furthermore, we also tested for possible three-way interactions (i.e., self-efficacy*biological sex*peer relationships; self-efficacy*age*peer relationships); again, the only significant interaction effect was the two-way interaction between self-efficacy and peer relationships at school.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human and Social Science, University of Valle d’Aosta, Strada Cappuccini, 2/A, Aosta, Italy

    Elena Cattelino & Mara Morelli

  2. Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Antonio Chirumbolo

  3. Department of Developmental & Social Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Roberto Baiocco

  4. Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

    Emanuela Calandri

Authors
  1. Elena Cattelino
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  2. Antonio Chirumbolo
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  3. Roberto Baiocco
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  4. Emanuela Calandri
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  5. Mara Morelli
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Correspondence to Mara Morelli.

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Cattelino, E., Chirumbolo, A., Baiocco, R. et al. School Achievement and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescence: The Role of Self-efficacy and Peer Relationships at School. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 52, 571–578 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-020-01043-z

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