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Conceptualizing the Prospective Relationship Between Social Support, Stress, and Depressive Symptoms Among Adolescents

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Abstract

The goal of the current study is to examine the relationship amongst social support, stress, and depressive symptoms within a transactional and diathesis-stress framework using a multi-wave, longitudinal design. At the initial assessment, adolescents (n = 258) completed self-report measures assessing social support (peer, classmate, parent, and total), dependent interpersonal stress, anxious symptoms, and depressive symptoms. Additionally, participants reported stress and symptomology in each of the four waves spanning six months. Results of time-lagged, idiographic, multilevel modeling indicated that stress mediated the relationship between lower parental, classmate, and total social support and subsequent depressive, but not anxious, symptoms. In contrast, lower levels of peer support were not associated with higher levels of stress and subsequent depressive symptoms. Additionally, only classmate support deficits significantly moderated the relationship between stress and depressive symptoms. Overall, the results suggest that deficits in parental and classmate support may play a greater role in contributing to adolescent depression as compared to deficits in peer support.

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Notes

  1. The single, simultaneous models is from Bauer et al. (2006, p. 146).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School—McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA

    Randy Patrick Auerbach & Joseph S. Bigda-Peyton

  2. RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA, USA

    Nicole K. Eberhart

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Christian A. Webb

  4. Division of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Moon-Ho Ringo Ho

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  1. Randy Patrick Auerbach
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  2. Joseph S. Bigda-Peyton
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  3. Nicole K. Eberhart
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  4. Christian A. Webb
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  5. Moon-Ho Ringo Ho
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Correspondence to Randy Patrick Auerbach.

Additional information

The research reported in this article was supported by a McGill University Social Sciences and Humanities Student Research Grant Awarded to Randy P. Auerbach and a Canadian Psychiatric Research Foundation (CPRF) awarded to John R.Z. Abela.

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Auerbach, R.P., Bigda-Peyton, J.S., Eberhart, N.K. et al. Conceptualizing the Prospective Relationship Between Social Support, Stress, and Depressive Symptoms Among Adolescents. J Abnorm Child Psychol 39, 475–487 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-010-9479-x

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