Peer Victimization, Supportive Parenting, and Depression Among Adolescents in South Korea: A Longitudinal Study

The aims of this study were to examine relationships among peer victimization, supportive parenting, and depression in South Korean adolescents and the moderating effect of supportive parenting on the peer victimization-depression relationship.

Data were drawn from the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey performed from 2010 to 2016. The first-year middle-school panel collected from the first year of middle school to the first year of university was used, and the final sample size was 1750. Generalized estimating equation models were employed to examine relationships among peer victimization, supportive parenting, and depression.

About 6% of participants reported the experience of peer victimization at least once during the previous year. Females were more likely to report higher level of depression compared to males. Participants who were from lower family income, reported the past experience of peer victimization, and reported less supportive parenting were more likely to report higher level of depression compare to the counterpart. The moderating effect of supportive parenting on the association between peer victimization and depression was not statistically significant.

Participants who had experienced of peer victimization and less supportive parenting showed higher levels of depression. The supportive parenting did not have significant moderating effect on the relationship between peer victimization and depression.

Future research on adolescent depression should include development of interventions targeting both adolescent students' behaviors and their parents' styles of parenting aimed at the reducing the rate of peer victimization and the level of depression among adolescents in South Korea.