ArticlePloS one2016
Friendships and Family Support Reduce Subsequent Depressive Symptoms in At-Risk Adolescents.
Article in PloS one, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 94 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
94 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 248 citations in OpenAlex.
- The impact of social support on anxiety and depression under the context of COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Investigating the Role of Friendship Interventions on the Mental Health Outcomes of Adolescents: A Scoping Review of Range and a Systematic Review of Effectiveness.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Association between friendship quality and subjective wellbeing among adolescents: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2022Pooled it
- Autonomic reactivity to social rejection, peer difficulties, and the buffering effects of adolescent friendships following early psychosocial deprivation.Emotion (Washington, D.C.) · 2022Trial
- Long-Term Effects of Institutional Care and Enhanced Attachment Relationships on Close Adolescent Friendships.Child development · 2021Trial
- Social Connectedness Buffering the Interaction Between Problematic Internet Use and Psychopathological Symptoms Among Adolescents: Undirected and Bayesian Network Analyses.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Behavioral and Psychosocial Correlates of Gender Differences in Adolescent Mental Health: A Regional Cross-Sectional Study in Northern Italy.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Ecological Factors Associated With Psychological Distress Among Adolescents: The Role of Educational Stress, Peer Victimization, and Physical Activity.Brain and behavior · 2026Article
- Parental Resilience and Adolescent Mental Well-Being: A Population-Based Study.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Identifying patterns and predictors of social health in adolescence using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study.Developmental psychology · 2026Article
- Loneliness and adolescent mental health: a multilevel examination of socio-ecological factors across Czech schools.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2026Article
- Family structure, adolescent mental health, and the role of advisors in the cultural and social context of South Korea.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Syndemic pathways linking juvenile delinquency, structural vulnerability, and mental health: implications for exploitation risk.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- The Relationship between Perceived Friendship Quality and Self-Judgements in Adolescent Girls from London.The Journal of early adolescence · 2025Article
- Trajectories of psychosocial functioning across maltreatment levels: A group-based modeling approach to resilience.Development and psychopathology · 2025Article
- Mediating Roles of Self-Control and Social Support in the Relationship Between Problematic Internet Use and Depression Among Korean Children and Adolescents.Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry · 2025Article
- Longitudinal association between parent-child relationship and depression among Chinese adolescents: the role of psychological resilience and school climate.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2025Article
- The impact of perceived social support on children's problem behaviors: the parallel mediating roles of attentional bias.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Adverse childhood friendship and depression in later life: findings from a national survey in China.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Examining longitudinal associations between interpersonal outcomes and general psychopathology factors across preadolescence using random intercept cross-lagged panel model.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2025Article
34 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundEarly life stress (ELS) consists of child family adversities (CFA: negative experiences that happened within the family environment) and/or peer bullying. ELS plays an important role in the development of adolescent depressive symptoms and clinical disorders. Identifying factors that may reduce depressive symptoms in adolescents with ELS may have important public mental health implications.
methodsWe used structural equation modelling and examined the impact of adolescent friendships and/or family support at age 14 on depressive symptoms at age 17 in adolescents exposed to ELS before age 11. To this end, we used structural equation modelling in a community sample of 771 adolescents (322 boys and 477 girls) from a 3 year longitudinal study. Significant paths in the model were followed-up to test whether social support mediated or moderated the association between ELS and depressive symptoms at age 17.
resultsWe found that adolescent social support in adolescence is negatively associated with subsequent depressive symptoms in boys and girls exposed to ELS. Specifically, we found evidence for two mediational pathways: In the first pathway family support mediated the link between CFA and depressive symptoms at age 17. Specifically, CFA was negatively associated with adolescent family support at age 14, which in turn was negatively associated with depressive symptoms at age 17. In the second pathway we found that adolescent friendships mediated the path between peer bullying and depressive symptoms. Specifically, relational bullying was negatively associated with adolescent friendships at age 14, which in turn were negatively associated with depressive symptoms at age 17. In contrast, we did not find a moderating effect of friendships and family support on the association between CFA and depressive symptoms.
conclusionsFriendships and/or family support in adolescence mediate the relationship between ELS and late adolescent depressive symptoms in boys and girls. Therefore, enhancing affiliate relationships and positive family environments may benefit the mental health of vulnerable youth that have experienced CFA and/or primary school bullying.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.