title: Adolescent interpersonal relationships, social support and loneliness in high schools: Mediation effect and gender differences.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore the associations between the qualities of different types of relationships in school, social support and loneliness in adolescence. Using a sample (N=1674) of adolescent students randomly selected from middle schools, we found boys' loneliness was influenced by the qualities of opposite-sex, teacher-student and same-sex relationships, whereas girls' loneliness was only influenced by same-sex relationships. Additionally, social support mediated the association between same-sex relationships and teacher-student relationships, and loneliness. Further, the quality of same-sex relationships showed stronger association with boys' loneliness than girls'. Finally, the quality of same-sex relationships showed the strongest association with boys' loneliness comparing with opposite-sex relationships and teacher-student relationships. These findings are discussed to illuminate the possible mechanisms by which interpersonal relationships could influence loneliness. In future research, causal relationships and other influencing factors on loneliness should be examined.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, China. Electronic address: zhangbs@snnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Baoshan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, China. Electronic address: daisyfair@163.com.
authors.forename: Qianyun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Department of Methods and Statistics, Leiden University, Netherlands. Electronic address: m.fokkema@fws.leidenuniv.nl.
authors.forename: Marjolein
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fokkema
authors.affiliation: Department of Management, University of Florida, United States. Electronic address: valterman@ufl.edu.
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Alterman
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University, China. Electronic address: xlqian88@163.com.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008132:Loneliness; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D000070777:School Teachers; D012574:Schools; D012737:Sex Factors; D012944:Social Support; D013334:Students
keywords: Adolescent loneliness; Gender difference; Interpersonal relationships; Social support