Stressful Life Events, Social Support, and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents: The Mediating Role of School Connectedness

Abstract

Adolescence is a period marked by changes in social relationships as well as increased risk of poor mental health. Using three waves of the K-cohort of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (N = 4,048), we examined the role of familial stressful life events, parent support, friend support, and school connectedness on adolescent depressive symptoms. Using a cross-lagged panel structural equation model, we found that parent and school connectedness reduced adolescent depression over time. In contrast, friend support predicted higher depression over time. Additionally, in support of a stress-buffering effect, adolescents with more parent support were buffered from negative impacts from increased family stressful life events during mid-to-late adolescence. Finally, school connectedness emerged as a mediator between familial stressful life events and adolescent depression. These findings suggest that for adolescence, parent support and school connectedness are important factors in helping adolescents cope with stressful life events.