Best Friend Support and Peer Victimization (1 CE)

This course is for: Clinical Psychologists, Marriage & Family Therapists, and Counselors

Course By: Ken Springer, PhD

Content By:  Schacter, H., & Juvonen, J. (2020). When do friendships help versus hurt? Perceived best friend victimization and support as moderators of peer victimization-related distress. Journal of Early Adolescence, 40(6), 804-827.

Course Description: Friendships promote adolescent adjustment, but prior research does not consistently indicate that friendships help adolescents cope with peer victimization. The present study examined whether emotional support from best friends provides a buffer against the effects of peer victimization, and whether the extent of buffering is influenced by adolescents' perceptions of their best friends. Study participants consisted of a large group of middle school students in a low-income urban district. Surveys were administered to 6th through 8th grade students twice per year. The researchers found that having an emotionally supportive best friend protected adolescents from victimization-related increases in internalizing symptoms, and that the experiences of boys and girls differed when they also perceived their best friends as victimized. These findings have clinical implications for both prevention and intervention respective of adolescent peer victimization.

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe the conceptual model which identifies that emotional support from best friends reduces the impact of peer victimization on depressive and social anxiety symptoms among adolescents
2. Describe the main study findings concerning the relationship between the emotional supportiveness of best friends and victimization-related internalizing symptoms, and note the key gender difference in how these variables are related
3. Integrate the study strengths and limitations and summarize the clinical implications for the prevention of adolescent peer victimization as well as for the development of social support-based interventions for victimized adolescents

Course Outline:

• Read and understand When do friendships help versus hurt? Perceived best friend victimization and support as moderators of peer victimization-related distress
• Review the Course Description and Learning Objectives
• Analyze the conceptual model concerning the emotional supportiveness of best friends and the reduced impact of peer victimization on internalizing symptoms among adolescents
• Integrate the study's key findings, strengths, limitations, and clinical implications
• Work through the post-test questions using the article as the sole basis for your answers
• Revisit the article for any missed questions and/or to better understand the relationship between the perceived supportiveness of best friends and the negative emotional effects of peer victimization among adolescents

Approvals: