Perché i bambini hanno bisogno di amici?
Friends can protect youth from the effects of peer victimization
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Amicizie are important across the entire lifespan, but especially during childhood and adolescence. For youth, lack of close friendships means missing out on opportunities to develop social skills and a risk of being victimized by peers. When young people are targeted by their peers, it can lead to scarsa salute mentale. Noi esplorato di recente the ways that friendships matter for children and adolescents in Brazil.
Victimization is associated with symptoms of depression
We used data collected by il governo brasiliano in 2019 on young people’s health, including their mental health and experiences in schools. Over 165,000 children and adolescents were randomly selected to be part of this study. We wanted to gain a better understanding of why some students reported more symptoms of depression. The young people were asked, among other things, how often during the previous month they had experienced the following: feeling “sad; irritated, nervous, or moody about anything; that no one cares.” Thankfully, most students did not report concerning levels of depressive symptoms. Nevertheless, we were concerned about the minority of youth (10-16%) who responded to these questions with “always.”
The students also reported how often classmates had bullied or teased them during the past month so much that they were hurt, annoyed, offended, or humiliated. Here too, most students reported few experiences of victimization (44% reported none at all). However, those who reported more victimization were more likely to report symptoms of depression as well.
“Children with close friends are less depressed, which speaks to our inherently social nature as human beings.”
Close friendships can help
The youth in the study were also asked how many close friendships they had. Encouragingly, most (96%) reported having at least one close friend. However, those without any close friends were more likely to score in the top 40% for depression and in the top 40% for victimization by peers.
Importantly, the link between peer victimization and depression symptoms was less pronounced among those with more close friendships. Indeed, the impact on depression scores of those who were victimized was five times as large for students with no friends as for those with three or more. In other words, close friendships buffered the impact of peer victimization on depression in children and adolescents. These findings from Brazil are consistent with previous studies in other countries.
The power of friendship
It’s not surprising that close friendships play a crucial role in young people’s lives, although there’s a lot we still don’t know. Children with close friends are less depressed, which speaks to our inherently social nature as human beings. However, we don’t know exactly why that is.
What drives the relationship between victimization and symptoms of depression? And how do friends play a protective role? It may be that children and adolescents with friends are less likely to blame themselves when they are victimized. And when victimized, those with friends are also less likely to ruminate and dwell on their negative thoughts.
Friendships have real, measurable benefits for children and adolescents. Many researchers, including us, are working to find better ways to reduce bullismo and victimization in schools, but solutions take time. Meanwhile, encouraging strong, close friendships can help lessen the harm caused by negative experiences and support young people’s wellbeing. Strong friendships don’t just make childhood happier—they help young people weather challenges and grow into healthier, more resilient adults.
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