Youth Perceived Social Support and Symptom Distress: A Random-Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model

• Published in: Journal of youth and adolescence Vol. 53; no. 1; pp. 117 - 129
• Main Authors: Meuleman, Eline M., van der Veld, William M., Laceulle, Odilia M., van der Heijden, Paul T., Verhagen, Maaike, van Ee, Elisa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-01-2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Caregivers; Child and School Psychology; Clinical Psychology; Empirical Research; Female; Health Psychology; History of Psychology; Humans; Interpersonal Relationship; Law and Psychology; Male; Mental Health; Mental health services; Psychological Distress; Psychology; Social Support; Symptoms; Vulnerability; Young Adult; Youth; Caregivers; Youth; Symptom distress; Reciprocal relations; Social support
• ISSN: 0047-2891; 1573-6601
• DOI: 10.1007/s10964-023-01859-7

Although social support and mental health associations have been extensively investigated, their reciprocal relations in vulnerable youth remain understudied. This study investigated the relations between perceived social support and symptom distress over time whilst differentiating between support from caregivers and significant others. The sample included 257 youth (79% self-identified women
, M
age
 = 19.2,
SD
 = 2.5) who were receiving mental health treatment. Using a Random-Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model, results revealed no significant concurrent associations, between-person effects, or cross-lagged effects. The autoregressive effects suggested that perceived social support from caregivers was relatively stable over time, while symptom distress and support from a significant other were not. In all, this study challenged the validity of the social causation and social erosion models in the context of perceived social support and symptom distress among vulnerable youth, revealing an absence of significant reciprocal associations. The stable nature of perceived social support from caregivers compared to support from significant others was highlighted. The study design, hypotheses, and target analyses were preregistered under
https://osf.io/f4qpg
.