Perceived friend support buffers against symptoms of depression in peer victimized adolescents: Evidence from a population-based cohort in South Korea

Abstract

Background: Peer victimization is associated with an increased risk for depression, but there is less evidence on how certain factors such as friend support can buffer this association. This study investigated the associations between friend support and depressive symptoms among victimized and non-victimized adolescent girls and boys from South Korea. Methods: Participants includes 2258 students from the Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey, a nationally representative sample of middle school students in South Korea. Self-reported perceived friend support, depressive symptoms and peer victimization were measured using validated scales during middle school year 3 (mean age=15.7 years). Results: The association between peer victimization and depressive symptoms varied by sex (p for sex by peer victimization interaction<0.05). Peer victimization was more strongly associated with same year depressive symptoms in girls (beta=0.55) than boys (beta=0.24). After controlling for key confounders, including prior year mental health symptoms, higher levels of friend support were found to attenuate the association between peer victimization and depressive symptoms (p for friend support by peer victimization interaction <0.05). Peer victimization was associated with more depressive symptoms for adolescents with low and moderate friend support, but not those with high friend support. Limitations: Peer victimization, depressive symptoms, and friend support, were self-reported and measured the same year. Conclusions: Friend support protects victimized South Korean adolescents from the negative effect of peer victimization on depressive symptoms, hence contributes to closing the gap in depression between victimized and non-victimized adolescents.