Teens who have a larger number of friends may be less likely to suffer from depression later in life, especially women, a new MSU research/Duke University study has found.
For female adolescents, popularity can lead to increased depression during the teen years, but can provide lasting benefits of fewer depressive symptoms later in life. Teens who reported fewer friends show higher rates of depression in adulthood, found MSU Sociology Assistant Professor Molly Copeland, who authored the article “The Long Arm of Social Integration: Gender, Adolescent Social Networks, and Adult Depressive Symptom Trajectories” with lead author Christina Kamis, a Sociology doctoral candidate at Duke University. It was published Sept. 14 in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.
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Department of Sociology
