Network based associations between peer rejection and adolescent depression: evidence from general population and clinical samples

BACKGROUND: Peer rejection is a significant risk factor for adolescent depression, but most studies have examined their associations treating them as unitary constructs. Considering their conceptional complexity, our study employs network analysis to examine the associations between different types of peer rejection and specific depressive symptoms at the dimension level and their changes from the general population to clinical samples. METHODS: A total of 23,995 adolescents from general population (primary dataset, 11,577 males, age = 13.90 ± 2.19) were recruited through online advertisements. The network of peer rejection and depressive dimensions was first constructed in this sample, followed by comparisons across age- and sex-stratified subsamples. In addition, separate network analyses were performed in clinically depressed adolescents (n = 610, 155 males, age = 14.86 ± 1.96) and a subsample of high-risk adolescents from the general population (n = 7,523, 3,416 males, age = 14.53 ± 2.09), and subsequently a network comparison test was performed between them. RESULTS: The edge between ignore and anhedonia exhibited the highest bridge expected influence in the primary dataset, the clinical depression and high-risk adolescent groups. Adolescents in different age and sex groups showed distinct patterns of specific edges within the dimension-level networks. Clinically depressed adolescents exhibited significantly stronger network connections than high-risk adolescents, particularly the edges between insult and interpersonal problems and between ignore and anhedonia. CONCLUSIONS: Ignore and anhedonia were crucial bridges connecting peer rejection to adolescent depression, and the connection was stronger in clinically depressed adolescents. These findings may provide a theoretical basis for guiding future research on interventions targeting peer relationships in adolescent depression.