The effects of friendship networks on adolescent depressive symptoms

Previous studies have demonstrated that individuals who are socially integrated have better mental health, but these studies have been mostly limited to the adult population. Using data based on a nationally representative sample of adolescents (N = 11,023), I investigate whether those who are integrated into friendship networks have better mental health, as measured by number of depressive symptoms. The study also extends the literature by utilizing a variety of network measures of integration. The analyses showed that, consistent with previous findings in the adult studies, higher levels of integration were associated with fewer depressive symptoms, although the association was very weak. Number of friends, the simplest and most frequently used measure of integration in mental health research, had a stronger and more consistent effect than other variables which measured more complex aspects of egocentric and school-level network structure. The results also showed that the relationship between having more friends and fewer depressive symptoms was largely mediated by a sense of belonging, which provided support for the often assumed but rarely tested argument that social integration promotes mental health by inducing positive feelings about one's relationships with others in society.