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Pre-Pandemic Peer Relations Predict Adolescents' Internalizing Response to Covid-19
Fanny Mlawer1, Christina C Moore1, Julie A Hubbard2
1Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, US.
Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology
|October 26, 2021
Summary
Adolescents with high peer victimization or aggression before COVID-19 showed smaller increases in depressive and anxious symptoms during the pandemic. This suggests negative peer experiences may buffer against pandemic-related mental health declines.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Public Health
- Sociology
Background:
- The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted adolescent mental health, increasing rates of depressive and anxious symptoms.
- Pre-existing peer victimization and aggression are known risk factors for adolescent internalizing symptoms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine how peer victimization and aggression experienced by adolescents before the COVID-19 pandemic influenced changes in their depressive and anxious symptoms from pre- to mid-pandemic.
- To test the hypothesis that high pre-pandemic peer victimization or aggression would attenuate the increase in internalizing symptoms during the pandemic.
Main Methods:
- A longitudinal study involving 96 racially/ethnically diverse adolescents (average age 16.79 years).
- Data collected at two time points: pre-pandemic (June 2019-Feb 2020) and mid-pandemic (May-July 2020).
- Self-report measures assessed peer aggression, peer victimization, depressive symptoms, and anxious symptoms.
Main Results:
- Adolescents, on average, reported an increase in anxious and depressive symptoms from pre- to mid-pandemic.
- Adolescents with higher pre-pandemic peer victimization showed less positive change in anxious symptoms.
- Adolescents with higher pre-pandemic aggression reported less positive change in depressive symptoms.
Conclusions:
- Pre-pandemic peer victimization and aggression may act as a buffer against the negative mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Restrictions on in-person interactions during the pandemic might have reduced distress for adolescents previously experiencing negative peer relations.
- Findings highlight the complex interplay between peer relationships and adolescent mental health in the context of major societal disruptions.
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