In an East London adolescent cohort, adjusting for friend or family support barely changed the association between being bullied and boys' later depressive symptoms, which the authors read as support not being sufficient protection¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r3 · q3
Currency · newest study 2011 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? For boys, adjusting for friend support only slightly reduced the bullying–depressive symptoms odds ratio (from 2.34 to 2.17, still significant), and adjusting for family support did not attenuate it (OR 2.29). → Rothon Catherine 2011

Evidence¶

Rothon Catherine 2011¶

Rothon Catherine, Head Jenny, Klineberg Emily, Stansfeld Stephen. (2011). Can social support protect bullied adolescents from adverse outcomes? A prospective study on the effects of bullying on the educational achievement and mental health of adolescents at secondary schools in East London. Journal of Adolescence. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2010.02.007

q3 · i? · associational · r3

Prospective observational analysis: multivariate logistic models on RELACHS follow-up depressive symptoms. Being bullied was associated with depressive symptoms for boys (OR 2.34) but not girls (OR 1.11), so the support analyses concern boys. Adding friend support reduced the boys' odds ratio to 2.17 (1.31, 3.61) with bullying still significant (p = 0.004); "Adjusting for social support from family did not result in the impact of bullying on depression being attenuated (OR = 2.29, 95% CI 1.34, 3.93)". The test is whether adjusting for support attenuates the association, not a reported bullying × support interaction for depression, so it cannot show that support has no buffering effect; the authors conclude that support "was not sufficient to protect adolescents against mental health difficulties".

"Adjusting for social support from family did not result in the impact of bullying on depression being attenuated (OR = 2.29, 95% CI 1.34, 3.93)."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Social Supports — moderator: an instructional effect differs with it

Related Claims¶

• Bullying predicts depressive symptoms two years later for boys but not for girls — related
• Adolescents with moderate or high friend support are about half as likely to report being bullied — related
• High family social support is associated with lower odds of depressive symptoms — related
• Findings are mixed on whether friendship buffers the negative effects of peer rejection for children with ADHD — related
• Students perceive peer interaction—companionship, support as a social buffer, and cooperation toward shared goals—as a key element of fun in learning — related
• High levels of support from friends protect bullied adolescents from poor academic achievement, but moderate or low friend support does not — related
• Protective factors attenuate the effects of risk as risk rises, producing gap-closing effects represented analytically as Risk × Protective Factor interactions — related