Li Jinwen, Xue Dini, Xu Chengrui, Liu Xia
Institute of Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
J Youth Adolesc. 2025 Jul 3. doi: 10.1007/s10964-025-02213-9.
Adolescence is a period marked by significant changes in friendships; however, while existing research has focused on developmental trajectories of friendship quality, relatively less attention has been paid to fluctuations in friendship quality and their impact on psychological well-being. The present study sought to address this gap by examining whether and how friendship quality trajectories and fluctuations distinctly affect adolescent depressive symptoms. A sample of 1083 seventh-grade Chinese students (39.1% girls; baseline M = 12.91 years, SD = 0.40) from three public junior high schools participated in a four-wave longitudinal study. Results indicated that a declining friendship quality trajectory contributed to increased depressive symptoms, primarily through the mechanisms of reduced self-esteem and heightened insecurity. Beyond the influence of mean initial friendship quality and its trajectory, friendship quality fluctuations also predicted depressive symptoms through reduced self-esteem and heightened insecurity. These findings highlight the critical and distinct roles of friendship quality decline and fluctuations during adolescence, revealing how friendship quality changes shape adolescent depressive symptoms and providing valuable insights for developing targeted interventions to mitigate adolescent depression.
青春期是友谊发生重大变化的时期；然而，尽管现有研究关注友谊质量的发展轨迹，但相对较少关注友谊质量的波动及其对心理健康的影响。本研究旨在通过考察友谊质量轨迹和波动是否以及如何分别影响青少年抑郁症状来填补这一空白。来自三所公立初中的1083名七年级中国学生（女生占39.1%；基线年龄M = 12.91岁，标准差SD = 0.40）参与了一项四波纵向研究。结果表明，友谊质量轨迹下降会导致抑郁症状增加，主要是通过自尊降低和不安全感增强的机制。除了平均初始友谊质量及其轨迹的影响外，友谊质量波动也通过自尊降低和不安全感增强来预测抑郁症状。这些发现凸显了青春期友谊质量下降和波动的关键且独特的作用，揭示了友谊质量变化如何塑造青少年抑郁症状，并为制定有针对性的干预措施以减轻青少年抑郁提供了有价值的见解。
