Peer Experiences and Depression Symptoms: Conditions of Association in Preschool, Childhood, and Adolescence

Abstract

Depression is one of the most disabling mental disorders with respect to years living with symptoms and life lost prematurely. Understanding the development of depression symptoms in childhood and adolescence is important considering the increase in prevalence in adolescence and the substantial continuity of depression symptoms over time. Interpersonal perspectives on depression emphasize the interpersonal environment in the development, and remission of symptoms. In the present dissertation, the interpersonal environment focus was peer experiences. Specifically, the conditions under which peer experiences and depression symptoms were associated concurrently and longitudinally were examined in preschool, childhood, and adolescence. Different types of peer experiences were associated with depression symptoms in specific ways. In Study 1, the type of aggression and informant mattered where relational peer victimization and depression symptoms were associated in the presence of relational aggression when data were reported by teachers. In Study 2, informant and type of peer experience mattered such that when examining competing models of directional association of peer experiences and depression symptoms, depression symptoms predicted peer rejection across reporters and depression predicted peer victimization when data were self-reported. In Study 3, the type of aggression mattered again but peer-reported peer victimization was associated with self-reported depression symptoms in the presence of overt aggression for girls concurrently and over time. The effect was stronger for those who transitioned to high school. The conditions under which peer experiences and depression symptoms were associated depended on type of aggression (i.e., relational peer victimization and relational aggression in preschool and overt aggression for girls in late childhood and adolescence), type of relationship disturbance (i.e., peer victimization and peer rejection), informant, and whether individuals transitioned to high school.