Poster #61 - Predicting Teens’ Development of Depressive Symptoms from Friendship Quality and Familial Emotional Abuse

• In Event: 3-003 - Poster Session 09
  In Poster Session: PS 09 Section - Developmental Psychopathology

Integrative Statement

It is widely accepted that having high quality friendships predicts better overall adjustment and functioning in adolescents, but the quality of adolescents’ best friendships can function in both helpful and harmful ways with regard to psychological outcomes. In adolescence, a high-quality friendship features high levels of prosocial behavior, intimate exchanges, self-esteem support, and loyalty (Berndt, 2002). Additionally, it has been found that highly empathic, prosocial adolescents are more likely to exhibit internalizing symptoms in the face of adverse or stressful situations. This study considers the possibility that adolescents who are more likely to develop higher quality friendships are individuals with highly empathic, prosocial characteristics in the first place, and thus more vulnerable to the effects of stress on internalizing symptoms.
The present three-year longitudinal study seeks to examine how friendship quality moderates the effects of familial emotional abuse on changes in adolescents’ reports of depressive symptoms over time. A socio-economically diverse community sample of 184 teenagers (86 males, 98 females) was assessed twice over a three-year period to test the following hypotheses: First, adolescent report of friendship quality will moderate the interaction between familial emotional abuse and relative change in depressive symptoms from age 15 to age 17, such that the link between abuse and depressive symptoms will be stronger for adolescents with higher friendship quality. Second, peer-reported friendship quality will also moderate the interaction between familial emotional abuse and change in depressive symptoms over time in similar fashion.
At age 15, friendship quality was assessed using the Friendship Quality Questionnaire. Both the target adolescents and their closest peer reported on the quality of their friendship (Parker & Asher, 1993).
At age 17, familial emotional abuse was assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (Bernstein et al., 1994).
At age 15 and 17, self-reported depressive symptoms were assessed using the Childhood Depression Inventory (Kovacs & Beck, 1977).
Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that adolescents’ reported levels of friendship quality at age 15 moderated the interaction between familial emotional abuse and relative changes in depressive symptoms from age 15 to 17 (β = 0.22, p = 0.001). Higher levels of familial emotional abuse were related to greater relative increases in depressive symptoms for adolescents who reported high quality friendships than adolescents who reported low quality friendships. Similar results were found when using the adolescent’s friend’s report of their friendship quality (β = 0.20, p = 0.001).
We proposed a model in which friendship quality serves as an indicator of an empathic disposition that undercuts one’s resilience against internalizing symptoms in stressful contexts. High levels of friendship quality are typically associated with resilience and higher overall functioning. This study’s results suggest that these friendships do not always predict positive outcomes, particularly for adolescents who experience high stress or trauma at home. By shedding light on possible negative correlates of higher friendship quality, we can better identify who may be at greater risk for internalizing disorders and develop appropriate interventions.

Authors

• Caroline Fowler, University of Virginia
  Presenting Author

• Joseph Allen, University of Virginia
  Non-Presenting Author

• Meghan Costello, University of Virginia
  Non-Presenting Author