Depression, anxiety, and peer victimization: bidirectional relationships and associated outcomes transitioning from childhood to adolescence

Miriam K. Forbes*, Sally Fitzpatrick, Natasha R. Magson, Ronald M. Rapee

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    99 Citations (Scopus)
    179 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    Experiences of depression, anxiety, and peer victimization have each been found to predict one another, and to predict negative outcomes in the domains of school connectedness, social functioning, quality of life, and physical health. However, the common co-occurrence of depression, anxiety, and peer victimization experiences has made it difficult to disentangle their unique roles in these associations. The present study thus sought to characterize the precise nature of the bidirectional relationships between depressive symptoms, anxiety, and victimization over time, and to examine their unique sequelae during the transition from childhood to early adolescence. Longitudinal multi-informant (child-reported, parent-reported, and teacher-reported) data from a nationally representative sample were analyzed using path analysis when the study child was aged 10–11 (n = 4169; Mage= 10.3; 48.8% female) and aged 12–13 (n = 3956; Mage = 12.4; 48.2% female). Depressive symptoms, anxiety, and peer victimization had small but significant unique bidirectional relationships. All three constructs also uniquely and prospectively predicted poorer life functioning across all domains examined. These results demonstrate that current interventions should broaden their scope to simultaneously target depression, anxiety, and peer victimization, as each of these experiences independently act as additive risk factors for subsequent negative outcomes.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)692–702
    Number of pages11
    JournalJournal of Youth and Adolescence
    Volume48
    Issue number4
    Early online date18 Sept 2018
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Apr 2019

    Keywords

    • depression
    • anxiety
    • peer victimization
    • internalizing symptoms
    • longitudinal research

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