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Friendship Quantity and Social Status: Associations with Internalizing Disorders in Victimized Children

Hakkers, Romy (2025) Friendship Quantity and Social Status: Associations with Internalizing Disorders in Victimized Children. Master thesis, Pedagogical and Educational Sciences.

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Abstract

Bullying is a common problem in schools, affecting many children world-wide. Victims of bullying are more likely to experience internalizing problems, which can persist into adulthood. Friendship quantity has been linked to better well-being in adolescence. However, victimized children often have fewer friends, and their friends tend to have a lower social status, which may limit the protective benefits of these relationships. The current study investigates the effect of friendship quantity and social status of friends on internalizing symptoms in children who are victimized. Data of a subsample of regularly victimized children (n = 1090, Mage = 9.87 years) from a big nationwide study in the Netherlands were used to evaluate whether the presence of friends, the number of friends, and the social status of friends were related to depressive and social anxiety symptoms. Results show that both friendship quantity and friends’ social status are not significantly associated with depressive and social anxiety symptoms. Several possible explanations for these null findings are discussed, but further research is necessary to clarify these findings and explore other aspects of friendships that may influence internalizing symptoms in victimized children.

Item Type: Thesis (Master)
Supervisor name: Ploeg, R. van der
Degree programme: Pedagogical and Educational Sciences
Differentiation route/Track: Youth 0-21, Society and Policy [Master Pedagogical and Educational Sciences]
Date Deposited: 19 Jun 2025 09:17
Last Modified: 19 Jun 2025 09:17
URI: http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/4951

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