
Although social support and mental health associations have been extensively investigated, their reciprocal relations in vulnerable youth remain understudied. This study investigated the relations between perceived social support and symptom distress over time whilst differentiating between support from caregivers and significant others. The sample included 257 youth (79% self-identified women, Mage = 19.2, SD = 2.5) who were receiving mental health treatment. Using a Random-Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model, results revealed no significant concurrent associations, between-person effects, or cross-lagged effects. The autoregressive effects suggested that perceived social support from caregivers was relatively stable over time, while symptom distress and support from a significant other were not. In all, this study challenged the validity of the social causation and social erosion models in the context of perceived social support and symptom distress among vulnerable youth, revealing an absence of significant reciprocal associations. The stable nature of perceived social support from caregivers compared to support from significant others was highlighted. The study design, hypotheses, and target analyses were preregistered under https://osf.io/f4qpg.
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 0 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Average | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Average | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Average |
