Katharina Buczek
Afterward, the researchers were able to compare those findings against the information from the coders to spot patterns that connect past peer adversity with the present.
Through this analysis, the team ultimately found that teenage girls’ interpersonal needs are definitely a result of past experiences.
In turn, knowledge of teens’ peer history may allow for a better understanding of how to nurture those needs via intervention.
“This study is invaluable in our efforts to identify who is the most vulnerable and pinpoint when and where that vulnerability originates,” Rudolph stated.
The participants who had a more recent history of peer adversity reported feeling an elevated need for peer approval, regardless of whether or not there was a history of lifelong adversity.
On the flip side, participants who did have a lifelong history of peer adversity reported more sustained threats to their sense of belonging as opposed to participants without.
So, while the researchers recognize that it is impossible to prevent negative peer experiences during teenhood, they believe the study’s findings can help teens better respond to these instances.
“We can encourage adolescents to find self-worth internally, and we can equip them with coping mechanisms they need to create a stable foundation of well-being,” Skymba underscored.
In this vein, the researchers now plan to design an intervention program that is aimed at helping teenagers manage intense and fluctuating emotions.
To read the study’s complete findings, which have since been published in Wiley Online Library, visit the link here.
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A Guy Asked Her Out On A Date And When She Said She Was Starving, He Said He Already Ate
