Relationship Between Family and Friend Support and Psychological Distress in Adolescents.
Margaret M Fitzpatrick, Avery M Anderson, Christopher Browning and 1 others
PMID 39306785WHAT IT FOUND
Adolescents who felt more emotional support from family or friends reported fewer depressive and anxiety symptoms.
The links were similar for boys and girls. This is an association, not proof that support prevents distress.
Key findings
01Youth who reported higher family support reported lower depressive and anxiety symptoms.
02Youth who reported higher friend support reported lower depressive and anxiety symptoms.
03The relationships did not differ significantly by sex.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The analysis was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that low support causes distress or that raising support would reduce distress. Family support, friend support, anxiety, and depression were all measured by youth self-report at one time. A recent bad interaction with family or friends may have made current perceptions of support look worse than the usual relationship. The study used sex assigned at birth with male and female categories only, not gender identity. The final analytic sample excluded youth with missing anxiety or depression data, so it was smaller than the original cohort.
Declared interests
The authors reported no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that increasing family or friend support will prevent or reduce adolescent depression or anxiety. This study measured perceived support and symptoms at one time point, not an intervention.