The Company You Keep: The Relationship between Friendship Qualities and Mental Health among Undergraduates
Date
2019-04
Advisors
Zucker, Nancy
Gaither, Sarah
Putallaz, Martha
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Abstract
Prior research has shown that stress and mental illnesses increase during college
years. Strong social support may contribute to better mental health while weak social
support may exacerbate mental illnesses. Because college students tend to be in an
environment away from family and childhood friends, I hypothesize that college friendships
have an important impact on mental health. This study investigated how friendship
qualities contributed to mental conditions among Duke University undergraduates. Data
were collected through a mixed methods online survey. Positive Friendship Qualities
(PFQ) was composed of measures of stimulating companionship, help, intimacy, reliable
alliance, self-validation, and emotional security. Negative Friendship Qualities was
composed of measures of conflict resolution ease, conflict resolution frequency, dishonesty,
competitiveness, and superficiality. Depression, loneliness, social anxiety, and positive
affect were used to measure mental conditions. Participants answered the friendship
qualities questions for their closest friend at Duke. As predicted, PFQ significantly
predicted depression, loneliness, social anxiety, and positive affect. PFQ was also
inversely correlated with depression, loneliness, and social anxiety. All the correlations
between friendship qualities and mental conditions were significant and strong among
women, freshmen, and underrepresented minorities. Participants who were not part of
a friend group reported feeling less intimate with their closest friend compared with
those with a friend group. These results suggest that women, freshmen, and underrepresented
minorities who have a positive and fulfilling relationship with a close friend may
have stronger ability to navigate life stressors. Implications for this study include
suggestions for maintaining student retention rates by introducing interventions for
students whose mental health are dependent on social support but do not have fulfilling
friendships at Duke.
Type
Honors thesisDepartment
Psychology and NeurosciencePermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/19090Citation
Oke, Oluwadamilola (Damilola) (2019). The Company You Keep: The Relationship between Friendship Qualities and Mental Health
among Undergraduates. Honors thesis, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/19090.Collections
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