How Observed Personality Traits in (Mildly) Depressed Adolescents Relate to Nonverbal Responses of Peers

TL;DR

This study explores how personality traits in mildly depressed adolescents affect how their peers respond to them nonverbally.

Contribution

The study identifies how specific personality traits moderate peer responses to mildly depressed adolescents, particularly in girls.

Findings

Peers responded more negatively to mildly depressed adolescents.

Neuroticism strengthened the link between depression and negative peer responses in girls.

Expressivity reduced the link between depression and negative peer responses in girls.

Abstract

Depression in adolescence is related to negative social responses. Previous studies indicate that negative responses precede, co-occur and follow depressive episodes, indicating that more stable characteristics of depressed(to-be) adolescents may trigger such responses. This study examines whether personality traits, as observed in behavior, mediate or moderate responses of peers towards (mildly) depressed adolescents. Nonverbal responses of peers were observed during two short semi-structured interactions, one with a (mildly) depressed partner and one with a nondepressed partner, matched for age and gender. Personality traits of partners were observed. Results show that peers responded more negatively towards (mildly) depressed partners. Personality traits moderated the link between depression and peer responses. In general, but particularly for (mildly) depressed girls, neuroticism strengthened the link between depression and negative peer responses, while expressivity diminished the link between depression and negative peer responses. For boys, small and counterintuitive moderation effects were found which merit further research.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10578-024-01669-3.