Peer Stressors and Gender Differences in Adolescents' Mental Health: The TRAILS Study

doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.10.002

Journal of Adolescent Health

Volume 46, Issue 5, May 2010, Pages 444-450

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.10.002 Get rights and content

Purpose

This study tested two hypotheses about gender-specific mental health effects of peer stressors during early adolescence: (1) boys and girls are sensitive to different types of peer stressors, and (2) peer stress is associated with different mental health problems in boys and girls.

Methods

These two hypotheses were tested in a prospective large population cohort of 2,084 Dutch young adolescents. Internalizing and externalizing problems were measured at baseline and follow-up, whereas stressful life events in the period between baseline and follow-up were measured retrospectively at follow-up. We performed the analyses with two types of peer stressors; victimization at school and relationship losses.

Results

Relationship losses were more strongly associated with internalizing and externalizing problems in girls than boys, supporting the first hypothesis. Peer victimization at school was also associated with both types of mental health problems, but equally strong in boys and girls.

Conclusions

Peer stress is unlikely to be associated with different mental health problems in boys and girls. Instead, boys and girls are more likely to be susceptible to different types of peer stressors.

Section snippets

Sample

Subjects were participants of the “TRacking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey” (TRAILS), a prospective cohort study of Dutch adolescents, aimed at explaining the development of mental health from preadolescence into adulthood. The TRAILS study was approved by the Central Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects (Dutch CCMO). Sample selection involved five municipalities in the North of the Netherlands, including both urban and rural areas. The five municipalities were requested to give

Descriptive statistics

The rate of friendship loss was higher in girls than in boys. Girls also reported more romantic breakups than boys. Being the victim of bullying and sexual harassment did not differ significantly between the genders. However, boys reported more physical violence and girls reported more negative gossip (Table 1). Girls reported significantly more peer victimization at school and relationship losses than boys, although the mean differences were small. Girls had more internalizing problems,

Main findings

In this study, we examined possible gender differences in the effect of peer victimization at school and peer-related relationship losses on two types of mental health problems, that is, internalizing and externalizing problems. We hypothesized that boys' mental health would be more affected by peer victimization at school, whereas the mental health of girls would be more affected by relationship losses. In addition, we hypothesized that peer victimization at school and relationship losses were

Implications and Conclusion

To the best of our knowledge, this study was the first to examine two plausible explanations for gender differences in mental health because of peer stressors in a large prospective population cohort of Dutch young adolescents.

An important result of this study is that gender per se does not predispose adolescents to either internalizing or externalizing problems in response to peer stress. Whether adolescents react to stressful events by developing internalizing or externalizing problems does

Acknowledgments

This research is part of the TRacking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS). Participating centers of TRAILS include various departments of the University Medical Center and University of Groningen, the Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam, the University of Utrecht, the Radboud Medical Center Nijmegen, and the Trimbos Institute, all in the Netherlands. Principal investigators are Professor Dr. J. Ormel (University Medical Center Groningen) and Professor Dr. F.C. Verhulst

References (40)

K.D. Rudolph
Gender differences in emotional responses to interpersonal stress during adolescence
J Adolesc Health
(2002)
D.C. Geary et al.
Evolution and development of boys' social behavior
Dev Rev
(2003)
A. Troisi
Gender differences in vulnerability to social stress: A Darwinian perspective
Physiol Behav
(2001)
A.J. Rose et al.
A review of sex differences in peer relationship processes: Potential trade-offs for the emotional and behavioral development of girls and boys
Psychol Bull
(2006)
B.E. Compas et al.
Psychosocial stress during adolescence: Intrapersonal and interpersonal processes
A.M. La Greca et al.
Adolescent peer relations, friendships, and romantic relationships: Do they predict social anxiety and depression?
J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol
(2005)
A.D. Pellegrini et al.
A longitudinal study of bullying, dominance, and victimization during the transition from primary school through secondary school
Br J Dev Psychol
(2002)
S. Graham et al.
Peer victimization and mental health during early adolescence
Theory Pract
(2007)
S.M. Monroe et al.
Life events and depression in adolescence: Relationship loss as a prospective risk factor for first onset of major depressive disorder
J Abnorm Psychol
(1999)
R.F. Baumeister et al.
The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation
Psychol Bull
(1995)

J. Bowlby

(1969)

J. Bowlby

(1973)

R.F. Baumeister et al.

What do men want? Gender differences and two spheres of belongingness: Comments on Cross and Madson

Psychol Bull

(1997)

J.M. Cyranowski et al.

Adolescent onset of the gender difference in lifetime rates of major depression: A theoretical model

Arch Gen Psychiatry

(2000)

C. Salmivalli et al.

Peer networks and bullying in school

Scand J Psychol

(1997)

R. Veenstra et al.

The dyadic nature of bullying and victimization: Testing a dual-perspective theory

Child Dev

(2007)

P.F. Gjerde et al.

Depressive symptoms and personality during late adolescence: Gender differences in the externalization-internalization of symptom expression

J Abnorm Psychol

(1988)

P.F. Gjerde

Alternative pathways to chronic depressive symptoms in young adults: Gender differences in developmental trajectories

Child Dev

(1995)

B.J. Leadbeater et al.

Gender-linked vulnerabilities to depressive symptoms, stress and problem behaviors in adolescents

J Res Adolesc

(1995)

M. Huisman et al.

Cohort profile: The Dutch “Tracking Adolescents' Individual Lives' Survey”; TRAILS

Int J Epidemiol

(2008)

Cited by (64)

Childhood stress
2023, Encyclopedia of Mental Health, Third Edition: Volume 1-3
This encyclopedia entry provides a brief history of the ways in which researchers have defined, conceptualized, and measured stress and provides recommended definitions and conceptualizations of stress for use in research and practice with children and adolescents. The entry also describes some of the most prevalent types of stressors experienced by young people and common effects of stress exposure. Both mental health and other types of outcomes, such as physical health and learning outcomes, are described. Finally, this entry summarizes what researchers have discovered about the processes through which stressors affect children and adolescents, as well as potential factors that might protect young people from the negative effects of stress.
Association of child maltreatment and bullying victimization among chinese adolescents: The mediating role of family function, resilience, and anxiety
2022, Journal of Affective Disorders
Citation Excerpt :
Family therapy programs to reduce child maltreatment is possibly efficacious interventions (Stith et al., 2021). A study based on a sample of 1116 pairs of twins aged 10–12 years in primary school provided strong evidence of an environmental effect of family relationships in protecting children from the adverse outcomes associated with being bullied (Bakker et al., 2010). We selected the family function as a mediating factor because family elements play a pivotal role in adolescence, and family function is manipulable and can be improved via interventions to diminish bullying victimization (Noller and Callan, 2016).
Among adolescents, child maltreatment is linked to being bullied at school. Nevertheless, little is known about the mediating mechanisms underlying this association. Therefore, our research aimed to explore and evaluate the potential mediators of the relationship between child maltreatment and bullying victimization among Chinese adolescents.
From October to December 2020, a population-based cross-sectional survey was conducted among 6247 adolescents (3401 males, 2846 females) in Anhui Province, China. The subjects of the survey were elementary and middle school students from grades 4 to 9. The data were collected through self-report questionnaires. Pearson correlation and linear regression were used to examine the relationships among child maltreatment, bullying victimization, family function, resilience, and anxiety. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to conduct mediation analyses.
The results indicated that child maltreatment positively predicted the later bullying victimization of adolescents. Resilience and anxiety were each shown to separately mediate this relationship. Moreover, the sequential mediating effects of family function, resilience, and anxiety also mediated the predictive effect of child maltreatment on bullying victimization.
Resilience and anxiety were both shown to be important independent mediators for the relationship between child maltreatment and bullying victimization. Furthermore, the combined mediating effects of family function, resilience, and anxiety were also of great significance. These findings provide additional evidence that family and individual factors are critical to understanding bullying victimization. Effective prevention and intervention strategies for school bullying should target family and individual vulnerabilities in adolescents.
Freedom through constraint: Young women's embodiment, space and wellbeing during lockdown
2022, Wellbeing, Space and Society
Following the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated lockdown restrictions in March 2020, young people were suddenly faced with a reduction and reconfiguration of the spaces in which they could ‘be’. This paper explores how in this lockdown context, young women (aged 10–20) experienced their bodies and wellbeing, where traditional social connections (particularly school and physical connections) were not possible. Based on qualitative responses (n = 511) from an online, open-ended survey on wellbeing, physical activity, body image and social media usage, we explore how a reduction and reconfiguration of space, understood relationally, contributes to an individual's wellbeing. Using abductive reasoning and taking a phenomenological approach, we concentrate on the embodied experience of wellbeing and how this links to the spaces in which the body is lived. We suggest that the removal of spaces during lockdown, which on the one hand can be seen as problematic for maintaining wellbeing, also enabled many young women to experience new connections – with their bodies, family, and the environment and nature, that supplemented previous connections and fostered positive relationships and wellbeing. The removal of specific performative modes of judgement associated with the school environment was a positive influence on many young women's relationships with their own bodies and their wider construction of wellbeing, but increased use of social media spaces were found to reconstitute these performative experiences. The benefits of the specific and newly delimited freedoms associated with the forced lockdown have implications for an understanding of embodied wellbeing that is not individual, instead embedded inextricably in relations of connectedness with others in space and the nature of these intersubjective experiences.
Peer victimization and adolescents’ suicidal ideation and suicide attempts: A moderated mediation model
2020, Children and Youth Services Review
Suicide is the second leading cause of adolescent death. Research has established that peer victimization is a significant contributor to adolescent suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. However, relatively little is known about the mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying these relations. To fill this gap, this study constructed a moderated mediation model to examine whether psychological security mediated the relationships between peer victimization and suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, and whether these mediating processes were moderated by family functioning and gender. A total of 795 Chinese adolescents (M_age = 14.41 years, SD = 1.70) reported their demographic information, peer victimization, psychological security, family functioning, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts. The results revealed that after controlling for demographic factors, peer victimization was positively associated with suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. Moreover, psychological security partially mediated the relationship between peer victimization and suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. Finally, family functioning moderated the relationship between peer victimization and psychological security in adolescent girls. Consistent with the reverse stress-buffering model, this negative relationship was stronger for girls with better family functioning. These findings highlight the importance of considering peer, family, and individual factors simultaneously to understand adolescent suicide when designing suicide prevention and intervention programs.
Social anxiety is associated with poorer peer functioning for girls but not boys with ADHD
2019, Psychiatry Research
Citation Excerpt :
Relatedly, even if conflicts do not arise, female friendships require more vigilance and maintenance than male friendships in order to be successful long-term (Benenson, 2019). Further, girls are more likely than boys to blame themselves for social difficulties (Rudolph, 2002), and relationship losses are more strongly associated with internalizing symptoms in girls than boys (Bakker et al., 2010). Given these considerations, it is possible that social anxiety may be especially likely to be associated with poorer peer functioning in girls compared to boys, with empirical evidence supporting this possibility in typically developing youth (La Greca and Lopez, 1998).
There is mixed evidence for whether or not co-occurring anxiety is associated with poorer peer functioning in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which may be partly due to studies typically using a global measure of anxiety and failing to consider possible sex differences. The present study examined child-reported social anxiety in relation to peer functioning and whether this association differs by sex in 93 children (66% male; ages 8–12) with ADHD. Children, parents, and teachers completed a measure of social acceptance, and teachers also completed measures of asociality, peer exclusion, peer dislike, and peer ignoring. Regression analyses examined the interaction between social anxiety and sex in relation to the peer functioning variables, with age, race, ADHD subtype, and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms included as covariates. Social anxiety was associated with lower parent-reported social acceptance, with no sex differences in the association. However, significant interaction effects were found for child- and teacher-rated social acceptance, as well as peer exclusion and peer ignoring such that social anxiety was associated with less competence, more exclusion, and greater ignoring for girls but not boys. Findings indicate that social anxiety is associated with poorer peer functioning for girls more so than boys with ADHD.
The indirect effect of bullying on adolescent self-rated health through mental health: A gender specific pattern
2019, Children and Youth Services Review
Citation Excerpt :
Prior research has consistently reported that sex plays a critical role in differentiating mental health consequences of bullying. Bakker, Ormel, Verhulst, and Oldehinkel (2010) tested sex-specific mental health effects of peer stressors during adolescence and found relationship losses (due to bullying) were more strongly associated with mental health problems in girls than boys. Another study (Turner, Exum, Brame, & Holt, 2013) examined the differential effects of bullying victimization by sex and concluded sex was a critical component in understanding adolescents' mental health consequences of bullying.
Bullying is a prevalent concern among adolescents and causes great mental/behavioral consequences. In addition to the direct association between bullying victimization and adolescent physical health (measured by self-rated health), this study investigates the indirect effect of mental health and the moderating role of gender to such relationship.
Study participants comprised a national sample of adolescents (n = 3435) aged 15 to 16 years old in the United States.
Structural equation modeling analyses showed that, in addition to the main effect of bullying on adolescents physical health, (based on joint significance test) mental health has an indirect effect on and gender moderates the relationship between bullying victimization and adolescents' self-rated health.
Bullying has negative impact on adolescent health. Prevention and intervention programs need to take into account the critical roles of gender and mental health in addressing the negative consequences of bullying victimization.

View all citing articles on Scopus

View full text

Original articlePeer Stressors and Gender Differences in Adolescents' Mental Health: The TRAILS Study

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Section snippets

Sample

Descriptive statistics

Main findings

Implications and Conclusion

Acknowledgments

J Adolesc Health

Dev Rev

Physiol Behav

A review of sex differences in peer relationship processes: Potential trade-offs for the emotional and behavioral development of girls and boys

Psychol Bull

Psychosocial stress during adolescence: Intrapersonal and interpersonal processes

Adolescent peer relations, friendships, and romantic relationships: Do they predict social anxiety and depression?

J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol

A longitudinal study of bullying, dominance, and victimization during the transition from primary school through secondary school

Br J Dev Psychol

Peer victimization and mental health during early adolescence

Theory Pract

Life events and depression in adolescence: Relationship loss as a prospective risk factor for first onset of major depressive disorder

J Abnorm Psychol

The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation

Psychol Bull

What do men want? Gender differences and two spheres of belongingness: Comments on Cross and Madson

Psychol Bull

Adolescent onset of the gender difference in lifetime rates of major depression: A theoretical model

Arch Gen Psychiatry

Peer networks and bullying in school

Scand J Psychol

The dyadic nature of bullying and victimization: Testing a dual-perspective theory

Child Dev

Depressive symptoms and personality during late adolescence: Gender differences in the externalization-internalization of symptom expression

J Abnorm Psychol

Alternative pathways to chronic depressive symptoms in young adults: Gender differences in developmental trajectories

Child Dev

Gender-linked vulnerabilities to depressive symptoms, stress and problem behaviors in adolescents

J Res Adolesc

Cohort profile: The Dutch “Tracking Adolescents' Individual Lives' Survey”; TRAILS

Int J Epidemiol

Original article
Peer Stressors and Gender Differences in Adolescents' Mental Health: The TRAILS Study