ArticleThe British journal of clinical psychology2026
The role of social safety schemas in the persistence of mental health difficulties during adolescence.
Article in The British journal of clinical psychology, 2026. 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.
- Adolescent social media use and psychiatric outcomes: a longitudinal mediation analysis via interpersonal distrust, sleep, and self-image.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- Adolescent loneliness in the United States: Prevalence, sociodemographic correlates, and psychological health over time.SSM - population health · 2026Article
- The role of social safety schemas in the persistence of mental health difficulties during adolescence.The British journal of clinical psychology · 2026Article
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4 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundEmotional and behavioural problems (i.e., mental health difficulties and their decomposition into internalizing and externalizing symptoms) often emerge in adolescence and can persist into adulthood if not addressed. Identifying modifiable social-cognitive processes that influence the persistence of psychopathology across the lifespan is thus essential.
methodUsing data from the Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative birth cohort of UK youths born in 2000-2002, we examined whether social safety at age 14 mediated the association between mental health difficulties at age 11 and mental health difficulties at age 17. The sample included 10,782 participants (50% female, 20% non-White, 21% in poverty).
resultsMental health difficulties (total symptoms) at age 11 predicted both mental health difficulties at age 17 (b = .41, p < .001) and negative social safety schemas at age 14 (b = .02, p < .001). Negative social safety schemas in mid-adolescence partially mediated the persistence of difficulties from early to late adolescence (ab = .01, p < .001). In sex-stratified analyses, we found that negative social safety mediated the persistence of internalizing problems only for females and the persistence of externalizing problems only for males. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: These findings highlight the important role of social safety schemas in the persistence of adolescent emotional and behavioural problems over time. Based on these results, investments in improving early adolescent mental health by bolstering social safety perceptions may be effective for reducing mental health risks.
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