ArticleFrontiers in child and adolescent psychiatry2023
Turning to friends in preference to parents for support in early adolescence: does this contribute to the gender difference in depressive symptoms?
Article in Frontiers in child and adolescent psychiatry, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Parent-child alienation, peer alienation, and sleep disturbance in Chinese college students: a longitudinal study of bidirectional relationships and gender differences.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Support system networks: how support systems shape problematic social media use, mental health, and substance use in Czech adolescents.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2026Article
- COVID-19 pandemic impact on adolescent mental health: a reassessment accounting for development.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
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Abstract
Introduction: Based on established evidence of gender differences in friendship patterns, and the vulnerability associated with early reliance on friends, we hypothesized that in 13-year-olds, a preference for turning to friends rather than parents for emotional support contributes to the gender difference in depressive symptoms. Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, 671 adolescents (53.7% girls; mean age 13.11 ± 0.52 years) in a UK birth cohort [Wirral Child Health and Development Study (WCHADS)] reported turning to their parents and to their friends when distressed [Network of Relationships Inventory (NRI)] and depressed [Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ)]. Preferentially turning to friends was assessed as turning to friends minus turning to parents for support. Analyses used path analysis using the gsem command in Stata. Results: Girls had higher depressive symptoms than boys ( Conclusions: In young adolescents, preferentially turning to friends over parents when distressed is common, and the association between preferentially turning and depressive symptoms is markedly higher in girls than in boys. This reflects either a gender difference in social vulnerability to depression or a greater impact of depression on the reliance on friends instead of parents in girls. While clarifying the directions of influence requires prospective study, these findings provide the first evidence that the assessment of depression in young adolescents should consider the degree of reliance on friends and parents.
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