Premium
Interdependence of depressive symptoms, school involvement, and academic performance between adolescent friends: A dyadic analysis
Author(s) -
Chow Chong Man,
Tan Cin Cin,
Buhrmester Duane
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
british journal of educational psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.557
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 2044-8279
pISSN - 0007-0998
DOI - 10.1111/bjep.12075
Subject(s) - intrapersonal communication , psychology , mediation , association (psychology) , depressive symptoms , interpersonal communication , developmental psychology , friendship , interpersonal relationship , academic achievement , clinical psychology , partner effects , social psychology , psychiatry , anxiety , psychotherapist , political science , law
Background Friendships play an important role in the development of school involvement and academic performance during adolescence. This study examined the interdependence of depressive symptoms, school involvement, and academic performance between adolescent same‐sex friends. Aims Using cross‐sectional data, we examined whether the link between depressive symptoms and academic performance would be mediated by school involvement at the intrapersonal (actor) and interpersonal (partner) levels. Sample Data came from 155 pairs of same‐sex adolescent friends (80 boys; M age = 16.17, SD = 0.44). The actor–partner interdependence model was used to examine the dyadic data and mediation hypotheses. Results Mediated actor effects showed that adolescents who had more depressive symptoms reported lower academic performance, and such an association was mediated by their own and their friend's lower school involvement. Mediated partner effects showed that adolescents who had more depressive symptoms also had a friend with lower academic performance, and such an association was mediated by both individuals' lower school involvement. Conclusions This study provided evidence to support the broader interpersonal framework for understanding school involvement and academic performance. The current findings also have potential practical implications, especially for programmes targeted at addressing adolescents' school problems.