Being Popular or Having Popular Friends, Which Is Better? A Longitudinal Social Network Analysis of Depressive Symptoms among Chinese Adolescents under Major Chronic Stress

Lin Fu, Yue Fan, Jin Cheng, Hao Zheng and Zhengkui Liu
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Lin Fu: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
Yue Fan: CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Jin Cheng: Beijing Institute of Education, Beijing 100097, China
Hao Zheng: Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada
Zhengkui Liu: CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 21, 1-14

Abstract: Background: Previous studies have found that adolescents’ depressive symptoms are influenced by social networks in a stressful context, especially focusing on the processes of social selection and social influence. The current study aimed to explore the coevolution of sociometric popularity and depressive symptoms among adolescents suffering from the stress attached to the Chinese gaokao . Methods: The analytical sample comprised 1062 Chinese adolescents who were under significant pressure to return to school for an additional year (returnees) to prepare for college entrance examinations. Students were assessed for depressive symptoms and asked to nominate up to five friends within their classes across four waves (six months). We employed stochastic actor-oriented models to investigate the interdependent relationships between popularity and depressive symptoms. Results: Adolescents’ depressive symptoms negatively predicted future friendship popularity in this stressful situation, but not vice versa. The results of this study also highlighted the importance of friends’ popularity, indicating that adolescents who nominated popular peers as friends tended to subsequently have lower depressive symptoms. Conclusion: These findings suggested that friends’ popularity may serve as a protective factor against depressive symptoms under major chronic stress. Network-based interventions may have practical implications for reducing depressive symptoms under major chronic stress.

Keywords: friendship networks; sociometric popularity; depressive symptoms; chronic stress; stochastic actor-based model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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