ERIC Number: EJ1403811
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0009-3920
EISSN: EISSN-1467-8624
Does Having Vulnerable Friends Help Vulnerable Youth? The Co-Evolution of Friendships, Victimization, and Depressive Symptoms in Chinese Adolescents' Social Networks
Child Development, v94 n6 p1531-1549 2023
This study examined whether having vulnerable friends helps or hurts victimized and depressed (i.e., vulnerable) adolescents and whether this depends on classroom supportive norms. Students (n = 1461, 46.7% girls, 93.4% Han nationality) were surveyed four times from seventh and eighth grade (M[subscript age] = 13 years) in 2015 and 2016 in Central China. Longitudinal social network analyses indicated that having vulnerable friends can both hurt and help vulnerable adolescents. Depressed adolescents with depressed friends increased in victimization over time. Victimized adolescents with victimized friends increased in victimization but decreased in depressive symptoms. These processes were most likely in classrooms with high supportive norms. Having friends and a supportive classroom may hurt vulnerable adolescents' social position but help victims' emotional development.
Descriptors: Adolescents, Grade 7, Grade 8, At Risk Students, Foreign Countries, Depression (Psychology), Symptoms (Individual Disorders), Friendship, Peer Influence, Victims, Classroom Environment, Social Support Groups, Social Status, Emotional Development, Social Networks
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2191/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 7; Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Secondary Education; Grade 8
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: China
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A