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. 2021 Sep;31(3):692-702.
doi: 10.1111/jora.12662.

Friend Support and Internalizing Symptoms in Early Adolescence During COVID-19

Affiliations

Friend Support and Internalizing Symptoms in Early Adolescence During COVID-19

Esther L Bernasco et al. J Res Adolesc. 2021 Sep.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted adolescents' psychosocial adjustment and social relationships across the world. This prospective longitudinal study examined whether internalizing problems during the pandemic could be predicted by precrisis friend support, and whether this effect was moderated by the time adolescents spent with their friends and COVID-19-related stress. 245 Dutch adolescents (Mage = 11.60) participated before and during COVID-19. Higher pre-COVID-19 friend support predicted less (self-reported and parent-reported) internalizing problems during COVID-19, and this effect was not moderated by the time adolescents spent with friends or COVID-19-related stress. Friends may thus protect against developing internalizing symptoms in times of crisis. We also found the reverse effect: Internalizing problems before COVID-19 were predictive of friend support during COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; friendship; internalizing problems.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Proposed model for the links between friend support and internalizing problems before and during the COVID‐19 crisis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Graphical representation of results for Model 1 (self‐reported internalizing problems). Note. Not all terms that were included in the model are displayed in the figure. *p < .05, ***p < .001.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Graphical representation of results for Model 4 (parent‐reported internalizing problems). Note. Not all terms that were included in the model are displayed in the figure. ***p < .001.

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