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The impact of family and peer relationships on developmental trajectories of depressive and anxiety symptoms among young people: a person-oriented approach
Mälardalen Univ, Sch Hlth Care & Social Welf, Div Publ Hlth, Box 883, Västerås, Sweden..
Stockholm Univ, Dept Publ Hlth, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden..
Uppsala University, Disciplinary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy, Disciplinary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy, research centers etc., Centre for Clinical Research, County of Västmanland. Uppsala University, Disciplinary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Sciences, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8853-2508
Uppsala University, Disciplinary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Social medicine/CHAP. Uppsala University, Disciplinary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy, Disciplinary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy, research centers etc., Centre for Clinical Research, County of Västmanland.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-3589-6113
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2026 (English)In: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, E-ISSN 1753-2000, Vol. 20, no 1, article id 37Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Adolescent mental health is a growing global concern, with depressive and anxiety symptoms on the rise over recent decades. The significance of supportive social relationships, particularly within family and peer groups, is well-established in research. However, limited evidence exists on the impact of social relationships in predicting the developmental trajectories of mental health problems over time. This study aims to fill this gap by identifying groups with distinct trajectories of depressive and anxiety symptoms among adolescents and exploring the impact of various factors, including family relationships, peer relationships, sex, and country of origin, on predicting individuals' likelihood of belonging to specific trajectories. Data come from a community sample of Swedish young people born in 1997 and 1999 (N = 1834, 50% female) and followed over 12 years (four waves conducted at three-year intervals). The Group-Based Trajectory Modeling (GBTM) was used to identify profiles of young people longitudinally. Moreover, multinomial logistic regression models were conducted to examine the predictive effects of social relationships, sex and country of origin on depressive and anxiety symptom trajectories. Four groups were identified for both depression (Stable-Low, Declining, Rising-D, Persistent High) and anxiety (Low and Declining, Stable-Moderate, Rising-A, High). Positive social relationships with family and peers emerged as robust predictors across depressive and anxiety symptom trajectories. Female participants consistently exhibited higher mean scores of depressive and anxiety symptoms than males, while participants originating from countries outside the Nordic region were at higher risk of belonging to risky depressive symptom trajectory groups. These findings highlight the critical importance of strengthening supportive family and peer environments for preventive strategies and targeted interventions in adolescent mental health.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer Nature, 2026. Vol. 20, no 1, article id 37
Keywords [en]
Depressive symptoms, Anxiety, Trajectory, Social relationships, Adolescents, Group-Based Trajectory Modeling
National Category
Public Health, Global Health and Social Medicine Psychiatry
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-583303DOI: 10.1186/s13034-026-01033-4ISI: 001716526700001PubMedID: 41673686Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105033839257OAI: oai:DiVA.org:uu-583303DiVA, id: diva2:2054065
Available from: 2026-04-20 Created: 2026-04-20 Last updated: 2026-06-12Bibliographically approved

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Nilsson, Kent W.Åslund, Cecilia

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