Mind & behavior · 2002
How is repeatedly dwelling on problems with friends linked to closeness, depression, and anxiety in young people?
It was linked to closer, higher-quality friendships, but also to aspects of depression and anxiety. In a questionnaire study of 608 students in third, fifth, seventh, and ninth grades, students who reported more of this pattern also reported better friendships and more emotional difficulties. The study does not establish that dwelling on problems together caused either outcome.
Details
Researchers examined a pattern of extensively discussing and revisiting problems with friends, speculating about those problems, and focusing on negative feelings. They asked whether this pattern could be connected to both positive friendships and emotional difficulties, rather than simply whether talking to friends is good or bad.
Students completed questionnaires, including a new measure of this pattern. More of this repeated discussion was associated with closer, higher-quality friendships and aspects of depression and anxiety. Girls reported more of this pattern than boys did. That difference statistically helped account for girls’ more positive friendship adjustment and greater emotional symptoms.
These questionnaire associations do not establish which came first or whether either caused the other. The abstract does not report the size of the associations. The findings concern repeatedly dwelling on problems and negative feelings together, not every conversation in which a friend shares a concern.
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