The Longitudinal Interplay Between Social Network and Psychopathology in Multi-Problem Young Adult Men; Separating Within-and Between-Person Effects.

Loïs Schenk,Sabine Severiens,Miranda Sentse,Arne Popma,Laura Van Duin,Godfried Engbersen,Reshmi Marhe

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.727432

Abstract

Young adulthood is characterized by many life changes. Especially for young men with problems across different life domains (i.e., multi-problem), these changes may entail obstacles. Incidences of psychopathology increase during young adulthood and at the same time important shifts in social networks – such as changing relations with peers and parents, isolation, or deviant peer affiliation – take place. The present study examined the longitudinal interplay between psychopathology and social network characteristics over the course of 1 year in multi-problem young adults, at both between-person and within-person level. A sample of 696 multi-problem young adult men (age 18–27) participated in this three wave study. We used traditional cross-lagged panel models (CLPM) to examine how social network characteristics and psychopathology are related at the between-person level, and random intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPM) to examine within-person links. Between-person associations between internalizing problems and social networks were bidirectional, and externalizing problems were related to problematic social network characteristics, but not vice versa. At the within-person level, no such cross-lagged paths were found. Overall, results indicated that in multi-problem young adults, social network characteristics and psychopathology are related. However, looking at within-person processes this relation is not reciprocal.

Highlights

Young adults’ lives are generally marked by the end of education, declines in parental support, and more self-sufficiency
Given the importance of the transition to adulthood, the current study investigated the interrelatedness of psychopathology andhealthy social networks among multi-problem young adult men
The current study provided insight in the relation between proximal indicators of young adult men’s social networks, and their psychopathology within the time span of 1 year

Summary

Introduction

Young adults’ lives are generally marked by the end of education, declines in parental support, and more self-sufficiency. At the same time young adulthood is marked by increased incidences of psychopathology which often co-occur with disadvantages and limited resources in multiple. Research shows that for so-called multi-problem young adults, problems across different life domains are present, such as delinquent friends, mental health problems, addiction, and personal delinquency (Zijlmans et al, 2021). For these multiproblem young adults, a growing emphasis on self-sufficiency can be overwhelming and may reveal a mismatch between individual needs and contextual resources, which makes the transition to adulthood challenging

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