Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, 200 Sherbrooke St. W, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
Department of Psycho-Education, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada.
Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol. 2024 Nov;52(11):1737-1751. doi: 10.1007/s10802-024-01229-2. Epub 2024 Aug 21.
This study examined the moderating role of descriptive and status norms in the stability of youth's antisocial behavior, and the link between initial antisocial behavior and the development of depressive symptoms over the course of one academic year, while controlling for initial depression levels. A total of 1081 students (51.06% girls; grades 4 through 6) in schools in low to average socio-economic status neighborhoods completed self-reports and a peer nomination inventory in the fall (T1) and spring (T2) of one year. Descriptive norms were operationalized as the classroom- and sex-specific mean level of antisocial behavior. Status norms were operationalized as the classroom- and sex-specific correlation between antisocial behavior and social preference. Descriptive norms moderated the link between T1 and T2 antisocial behavior, such that youth exhibiting high levels of antisocial behavior showed a greater increase in antisocial behavior in classrooms where descriptive norms strongly favored such behavior (i.e., + 1 SD) than in classrooms with neutral or weak descriptive norms (i.e., - 1 SD). Status norms moderated the association between T1 antisocial behavior and T2 depressive symptoms, such that youth with high levels of antisocial behavior had higher depressive symptoms in classrooms where status norms disfavored antisocial behavior than in classrooms with neutral or favorable norms. No moderating effects of sex or grade were observed. These results suggest that both descriptive norms and status norms play important, albeit distinct, roles in exacerbating youth's depressive symptoms and antisocial behavior, but they may also mitigate these same outcomes in favorable contexts.
本研究考察了描述性规范和地位规范在青少年反社会行为稳定性中的调节作用，以及初始反社会行为与抑郁症状在一学年内发展之间的联系，同时控制了初始抑郁水平。共有 1081 名来自社会经济地位较低的学校的学生（51.06%为女生；4 至 6 年级）在一年中的秋季（T1）和春季（T2）完成了自我报告和同伴提名清单。描述性规范被定义为课堂和性别特定的反社会行为平均水平。地位规范被定义为反社会行为与社会偏好之间的课堂和性别特定相关性。描述性规范调节了 T1 和 T2 反社会行为之间的联系，例如，表现出高水平反社会行为的青少年在描述性规范强烈支持这种行为的课堂（即+1SD）比在具有中性或较弱描述性规范的课堂（即-1SD）上表现出更大的反社会行为增加。地位规范调节了 T1 反社会行为与 T2 抑郁症状之间的关联，例如，反社会行为水平较高的青少年在地位规范不赞成反社会行为的课堂上比在具有中性或有利规范的课堂上有更高的抑郁症状。没有观察到性别或年级的调节作用。这些结果表明，描述性规范和地位规范都在加剧青少年的抑郁症状和反社会行为方面发挥着重要作用，尽管作用不同，但在有利的环境中，它们也可能减轻这些相同的结果。
