title: Does supportive parenting mitigate the longitudinal effects of peer victimization on depressive thoughts and symptoms in children?
abstract: Cohen and Wills (Cohen, S., & Wills, T. A., 1985, Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 98, 310-357) described two broad models whereby social support could mitigate the deleterious effects of stress on health: a main effect model and stress-buffering model. A specific application of these models was tested in a three-wave, multimethod study of 1888 children to assess ways parental support (social support) mitigates the effects of peer victimization (stress) on children's depressive symptoms and depression-related cognitions (health-related outcomes). Results revealed that (a) both supportive parenting and peer victimization had main effects on depressive symptoms and cognitions; (b) supportive parenting and peer victimization did not interact in the prediction of depressive thoughts and symptoms; (c) these results generalized across age and gender; and (d) increases in depressive symptoms were related to later reduction of supportive parenting and later increase in peer victimization. Although supportive parenting did not moderate the adverse outcomes associated with peer victimization, results show that its main effect can counterbalance or offset these effects to some degree. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37203-5721, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Bilsky
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Cole
authors.forename: Tammy L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Dukewich
authors.forename: Nina C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Keneisha R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Sinclair
authors.forename: Cong V
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Tran
authors.forename: Kathryn M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Roeder
authors.forename: Julia W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Felton
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tilghman-Osborne
authors.forename: Amy S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Weitlauf
authors.forename: Melissa A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Maxwell
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D058445:Bullying / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D010379:Peer Group; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States