Study says teenagers with similar mental issues are likely to remain friends

According to new study teenagers with similar mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression, does not ruin their friendship, but dissimilarities can create some instability. The Professor at the Florida Atlantic University Brett Laursen explained, “An important takeaway from our study is that children’s personal struggles need not adversely impact their social relationships.”


Brett Laursen further said, “Mental health issues do not necessarily ruin chances of making and maintaining worthwhile friendships. Youth who resembled one another were more likely to remain friends from one year to the next. A behavioural similarity is tremendously important to a friendship. Shared feelings and shared experiences are the glue that holds a friendship together.”


The study has been published in the Journal of Research on Adolescence, the team included 397 adolescents (194 boys, 203 girls) in 499 same-sex friendships, who were followed from grade seven (median age 13), through to the end of high school in grade 12.


Brett Laursen added, “Compared with girls, boys are more competitive and confrontational in interactions with friends, suggesting that dissimilarity on submissiveness may be a liability when it comes to the activities that many boys prefer such as sports and games.”


Brett Laursen concluded by saying, “Compared to boys, girls tend to favour extended dyadic exchanges, and so they may respond to submissive behaviour with support and empathy, which may strengthen friendship ties.”