When does problem talk help or hurt victimized youth? The effects of problem-talk strategies and friends’ victimization

Victimization has been associated with increased internalizing symptoms, but this effect may be stronger for some adolescents than for others. For example, friendships may protect against the effects of victimization, as supportive relationships have been shown to buffer against stressors. However, not all friendships may be beneficial, as some studies have found that supportive friendships can exacerbate the consequences of victimization (Schacter et al., 2021). In the current study, we aim to examine two aspects of friendships that may either help or hurt victimized youth: Problem talk between friends and friends’ victimization. Although having someone to talk to about your victimization may help with one’s distress, not all forms of problem talk may be equally beneficial. Co-rumination (excessively discussing negative aspects of a problem) may provide adolescents with a temporary sense of relief and feelings of closeness towards the problem-talk partner, but it is also associated with increases in internalizing symptoms across time (although not all studies replicate this finding). Other forms of problem talk with a friend may be more or less beneficial. Social reappraisal, which involves friends trying to view negative emotional events in a more optimistic light, is effective at reducing the negative emotions linked to those events (Sahi et al., 2023). Co-problem solving and co-distraction are also more effective at reducing negative affect and anxiety compared to co-rumination (Zelic et al., 2017). These findings mirror research on individual coping, which suggests that reappraisal and problem solving may reduce internalizing symptoms, whereas rumination may increase them (e.g., Kraft et al., 2023). Another aspect of friendships that may modify the effect of an individual’s victimization on internalizing symptoms is their friend’s own level of peer victimization. One study found that the effect of victimization on internalizing symptoms was stronger when friends were more victimized (Schacter et al., 2020). One of the possible explanations is that friends who are both victimized may talk about problems in more maladaptive ways (compared to victimized youth with non-victimized friends), such as co-rumination. Excessive rehashing problems with a focus on their negative aspects may cause each friend to ruminate and self-blame more in response to victimization, increasing the effect of victimization on their well-being. Indeed, a study specifically focused on problem-talk partners found a similar pattern of friends’ victimization exacerbating the link between victimization and depressive symptoms. Notably, however, for adolescents with non-victimized problem-talk partners, the effect was in the opposite direction: Adolescents who reported more victimization experienced fewer depressive symptoms (Schwartz et al., 2023). Both problem talk and friends’ victimization may independently moderate the effect of victimization on internalizing symptoms, but they may also interact with one another. For example, co-rumination may be more maladaptive when both friends are victimized, whereas some adaptive coping strategies, such as problem solving or distraction, may be more beneficial when the friend is not victimized. How both friends’ victimization and different types of problem-talk or social coping may interact to predict internalizing symptoms is still largely unclear. In the current study, we aim to explore the interplay between victimization and problem talk. Specifically, we aim to examine how different problem-talk strategies and problem-talk partner’s victimization may exacerbate or mitigate the effect of victimization on internalizing symptoms, both separately as well as in interaction with each other.