Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T14:33:05.675Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Affiliation with depressive peer groups and social and school adjustment in Chinese adolescents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 August 2019

Lingjun Chen  and
Xinyin Chen
Lingjun Chen*
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Xinyin Chen
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
*
Author for Correspondence: Xinyin Chen, Human Development and Quantitative Methods Division, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, 3700 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA19104-6216. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of depressive peer group context in individual social and school adjustment in a sample of 1,430 Chinese adolescents (672 boys, mean age = 15.43 years) from middle (n = 430) and high (n = 1000) schools. Peer groups were identified using the Social Cognitive Map technique. One-year longitudinal data on depression and social and school adjustment were obtained from self-reports, peer nominations, teacher ratings, and school records. Multilevel analyses showed that group-level depression positively predicted later individual depression. Moreover, group-level depression negatively predicted later social competence, peer preference, school competence, and academic achievement, and it positively predicted later peer victimization and learning problems. The results suggest that affiliation with more depressive peer groups contributes to more psychological, social, and school adjustment problems in a cascading manner among Chinese adolescents.

Keywords

adjustmentChinese adolescentsdepressionpeer groups
Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 32 , Issue 3 , August 2020 , pp. 1087 - 1095
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agoston, A. M., & Rudolph, K. D. (2013). Pathways from depressive symptoms to low social status. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 41, 295–308. doi:10.1177/0272431611423017CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bagwell, C. L., Coie, J. D., Terry, R. A., & Lochman, J. E. (2000). Peer clique participation and social status in preadolescence. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 46, 280–305. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9507.2011.00620.xGoogle Scholar
Borelli, J. L., & Prinstein, M. J. (2006). Reciprocal, longitudinal associations among adolescents' negative feedback-seeking, depressive symptoms, and peer relations. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34, 154–164. doi:10.1007/s10802-005-9010-yCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, B. B. (1990). Peer groups and peer culture. In Feldman, S. S. & Elliott, G. R. (Eds.), At the threshold: The developing adolescent (pp. 171–196). Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Bureau of Statistics of Huangshan (2017). Huangshan statistical yearbook 2017. Bureau of Statistics of Huangshan of China. http://tjj.huangshan.gov.cn/Content/show/JA031/60889/1/959485.htmlGoogle Scholar
Bureau of Statistics of Suzhou (2017). Suzhou statistical yearbook 2017. Bureau of Statistics of Suzhou of China. http://www.sztjj.gov.cn/SztjjGzw/tjnj/2017/indexch.htmGoogle Scholar
Cairns, R. B., & Cairns, B. D. (1994). Lifelines and risks: Pathways of youth in our time. New York: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.5860/choice.33-2432Google Scholar
Cairns, R. B., Gariepy, J. L., & Kindermann, T. (1991). Identifying social groups in natural settings. Unpublished manuscript, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.Google Scholar
Chen, X. (2010). Socioemotional development in Chinese children. In Bond, M. H. (Ed.), Handbook of Chinese Psychology (pp. 37–52). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Chen, X., Chang, L., He, Y., & Liu, H. (2005). The peer group as a context: moderating effects on relations between maternal parenting and social and school adjustment in Chinese children. Child Development, 76, 417–434. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2005.00854.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, X., Chang, L., Liu, H., & He, Y. (2008). Effects of the peer group on the development of social functioning and academic achievement: A longitudinal study in Chinese children. Child Development, 79, 235–251. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01123.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, X., & He, H. (2004). The family in mainland China: Structure, organization, and significance for child development. In Roopnarine, J. L. & Gielen, U. P. (Eds.), Families in global perspective (pp. 51–62). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.Google Scholar
Chen, X., & Liu, C. (2016). Culture, peer relationships, and developmental psychopathology. In Cicchetti, D. (Ed.), Developmental Psychopathology (pp. 723–769). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.Google Scholar
Chen, X., Liu, J., Ellis, W., & Zarbatany, L. (2016). Social sensitivity and adjustment in Chinese and Canadian children. Child Development, 87, 1115–1129. doi:10.1111/cdev.12514CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, X., Rubin, K. H., & Li, B. (1995). Depressed mood in Chinese children: Relations with school performance and family environment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63, 938–947. doi:10.1037/0022-006x.63.6.938CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, X., Rubin, K. H., & Sun, Y. (1992). Social reputation and peer relationships in Chinese and Canadian children: A cross-cultural study. Child Development, 63, 1336–1343. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1992.tb01698.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chung-Hall, J., & Chen, X. (2010). Aggressive and prosocial peer group functioning: Effects on children's social, school, and psychological adjustment. Social Development, 19, 659–68. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9507.2009.00556.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, J. (1988), Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.), New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Coie, J. D., Dodge, K. A., & Coppotelli, H. (1982). Dimensions and types of social status: A five-year longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology, 18, 557–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coie, J. D., Terry, R., Lenox, K., Lochman, J., & Hyman, C. (1995). Childhood peer rejection and aggression as predictors of stable patterns of adolescent disorder. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 697–713. doi:10.1017/S0954579400006799CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conway, C. C., Rancourt, D., Adelman, C. B., Burk, W. J., & Prinstein, M. J. (2011). Depression socialization within friendship groups at the transition to adolescence: The roles of gender and group centrality as moderators of peer influence. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 120, 857–867. doi:10.1037/a0024779CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ellis, W. E., & Zarbatany, L. (2007). Peer group status as a moderator of group influence on children's deviant, aggressive, and prosocial behavior. Child Development, 78, 1240–1254. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01063.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fergusson, D. M., Wanner, B., Vitaro, F., Horwood, L. J., & Swain-Campbell, N. (2003). Deviant peer affiliations and depression: Confounding or causation?. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 31, 605–618. doi:10.1023/A:1026258106540CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fischer, A. H., & Manstead, A. S. R. (2000). The relation between gender and emotion in different cultures. In Fischer, A. H. (Ed.), Gender and emotion: Social psychological perspectives (pp. 71–98). New York: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/cbo9780511628191.005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Han, L., & Li, T. (2009). The gender difference of peer influence in higher education. Economics of Education Review, 28, 129–134. doi:10.1016/j.econedurev.2007.12.002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hankin, B. L., Young, J. F., Abela, J. R., Smolen, A., Jenness, J. L., Gulley, L. D., … & Oppenheimer, C. W. (2015). Depression from childhood into late adolescence: Influence of gender, development, genetic susceptibility, and peer stress. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 124, 803–813. doi:10.1037/abn0000089CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harris, J. R. (1995). Where is the child's environment? A group socialization theory of development. Psychological Review, 102, 458–489. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.102.3.458CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hightower, A. D., Work, W. C., Cowen, E. L., Lotyczewski, B. S., Spinell, A. P., Guare, J. C., & Rohrbreck, C. A (1986). The Teacher-Child Rating Scale: A brief objective measure of elementary children's school problem behaviours and competences. School Psychology Review, 15, 393–409. doi:10.1037/t05347-000Google Scholar
Hodges, E. V., Boivin, M., Vitaro, F., & Bukowski, W. M. (1999). The power of friendship: protection against an escalating cycle of peer victimization. Developmental Psychology, 35, 94–101. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.35.1.94CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hofmann, D. A., & Gavin, M. B. (1998). Centering decisions in hierarchical linear models: Implications for research in organizations. Journal of Management, 24, 623–641. doi:10.1177/014920639802400504CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joiner, T. E., & Timmons, K. A. (2009). Depression in its interpersonal context. In Gotlib, I. H. & Hammen, C. L. (Eds.), Handbook of depression (2nd ed., pp. 322–339). New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Kandel, D. B. (1978). Homophily, selection, and socialization in adolescent friendships. American Journal of Sociology, 84, 427–436. doi:10.1086/226792CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kindermann, T. A. (1993). Natural peer groups as contexts for individual development: the case of children's motivation in school. Developmental Psychology, 29, 970–977. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.29.6.970CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kindermann, T. A., & Gest, S. D. (2018). The peer group: Linking conceptualization, theories, and methods. In Bukowski, W. M., Laursen, B., & Rubin, K. H. (eds.), Handbook of peer interactions, relationships, and groups (pp. 84–105). New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Kovacs, M. (1992). Children's Depression Inventory (CDI). New York, NY: Multi-Health Systems.Google Scholar
Krygsman, A., & Vaillancourt, T. (2017). Longitudinal associations between depression symptoms and peer experiences: Evidence of symptoms-driven pathways. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 51, 20–34. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2017.05.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liang, L., Zhou, D., Yuan, C., Shao, A., & Bian, Y. (2016). Gender differences in the relationship between internet addiction and depression: A cross-lagged study in Chinese adolescents. Computers in Human Behavior, 63, 463–47. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2016.04.043CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, J., Bullock, A., Coplan, R. J., Chen, X., Li, D., & Zhou, Y. (2018). Developmental cascade models linking peer victimization, depression, and academic achievement in Chinese children. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 36, 47–63. doi:10.1111/bjdp.12212CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Liu, M., & Chen, X. (2003). Friendship networks and social, school and psychological adjustment in Chinese junior high school students. Psychology in the Schools, 40, 5–17. doi:10.1002/pits.10066CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, J., Chen, X., Coplan, R. J., Ding, X., Zartany, L., & Ellis, W. (2015). Shyness and unsociability and their relations with adjustment in Chinese and Canadian children. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 46, 371–386. doi:10.1177/0022022114567537CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, W. M., & Iwamoto, D. K. (2006). Asian American men's gender role conflict: The role of Asian values, self-esteem, and psychological distress. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 7, 153–164. doi:10.1037/1524-9220.7.3.153CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Low, S., Polanin, J. R., & Espelage, D. L. (2013). The role of social networks in physical and relational aggression among young adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42, 1078–1089. doi:10.1007/s10964-013-9933-5CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luo, G. (1996). Chinese traditional social and moral ideas and rules. Beijing, China: University of Chinese People Press.Google Scholar
Maccoby, E. E. (1998). The two sexes: Growing up apart, coming together (Vol. 4). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Masten, A. S., & Cicchetti, D. (2010). Developmental cascades. Development and Psychopathology, 22, 491–495. doi:10.1017/s0954579410000222CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Masten, A. S., Morison, P., & Pellegrini, D. S. (1985). A revised class play method of peer assessment. Developmental Psychology, 21, 523–533. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.21.3.523CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nolen-Hoeksema, S., Girgus, J. S., & Seligman, M. E. (1992). Predictors and consequences of childhood depressive symptoms: A 5-year longitudinal study. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 101, 405–422. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.101.3.405CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prinstein, M. J. (2007). Moderators of peer contagion: A longitudinal examination of depression socialization between adolescents and their best friends. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 36, 159–17. doi:10.1080/15374410701274934CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Raudenbush, S. W., & Bryk, A. S. (2002). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods. Newbury Park: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Rose, A. J. (2002). Co-rumination in the friendships of girls and boys. Child Development, 73, 1830–1843. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00509CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rose, A. J., Carlson, W., & Waller, E. M. (2007). Prospective associations of co-rumination with friendship and emotional adjustment: Considering the socioemotional trade-offs of co-rumination. Developmental Psychology, 43, 1019–1031. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.43.4.1019CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rose, A. J., & Rudolph, K. D. (2006). A review of sex differences in peer relationship processes: potential trade-offs for the emotional and behavioral development of girls and boys. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 98–131. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.132.1.98CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rubin, K. H., Bukowski, W., & Bowker, J. (2015). Children in peer groups. In Bornstein, M. H. & Leventhal, T. (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology and developmental science (7th ed., Vol. 4): Ecological settings and processes (pp. 175–222). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Rudolph, K. D., Lansford, J. E., Agoston, A. M., Sugimura, N., Schwartz, D., Dodge, K. A., … & Bates, J. E. (2014). Peer victimization and social alienation: Predicting deviant peer affiliation in middle school. Child Development, 85, 124–139. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.132.1.98CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schwartz, D., Gorman, A. H., Nakamoto, J., & Toblin, R. L. (2005). Victimization in the peer group and children's academic functioning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97, 425–435. doi:10.1111/cdev.12112CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steinberg, L., & Silverberg, S. B. (1986). The vicissitudes of autonomy in early adolescence. Child Development, 57, 841–851. doi:10.2307/1130361CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stevens, E. A., & Prinstein, M. J. (2005). Peer contagion of depressogenic attributional styles among adolescents: A longitudinal study. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 33, 25–37. doi:10.1007/s10802-005-0931-2CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sweeting, H., & West, P. (2001) Being different: Correlates of the experience of teasing and bullying at age 11. Research Papers in Education, 16, 225–246. doi:10.1080/02671520110058679CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Terry, R., & Coie, J. (1991). A comparison of methods for defining sociometric status among children. Developmental Psychology, 27, 867–880. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.27.5.867CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Zalk, M. H. W., Kerr, M., Branje, S. J., Stattin, H., & Meeus, W. H. (2010). It takes three: selection, influence, and de-selection processes of depression in adolescent friendship networks. Developmental Psychology, 46, 927–938. doi:10.1037/a0019661CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Zalk, N., Van Zalk, M. H. W., & Kerr, M. (2011). Socialization of social anxiety in adolescent crowds. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 39, 1239–1249. doi:10.1007/s10802-011-9533-3CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Way, N. (2013). Boys’ friendships during adolescence: Intimacy, desire, and loss. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 23, 201–213. doi:10.1111/jora.12047CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whang, L. S. M., Lee, S., & Chang, G. (2003). Internet over-users’ psychological profiles: A behavior sampling analysis on internet addiction. Cyber Psychology & Behavior, 6, 143–15. doi:10.1089/109493103321640338CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Young, R., & Sweeting, H. (2004). Adolescent bullying, relationships, psychological well-being, and gender-atypical behavior: A gender diagnosticity approach. Sex Roles, 50, 525–537. doi:10.1023/b:sers.0000023072.53886.86CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhao, S., Chen, X., Ellis, W., & Zarbatany, L. (2016). Affiliation with socially withdrawn groups and children's social and psychological adjustment. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 44, 1279–129. doi:10.1007/s10802-015-0120-xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zhong, B. L., Ding, J., Chen, H. H., Li, Y., Xu, H. M., Tong, J., … Zhu, J. H. (2013). Depressive disorders among children in the transforming China: An epidemiological survey of prevalence, correlates, and service use. Depression and Anxiety, 30, 881–892. doi:10.1002/da. 2210CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed