Shigeo Sakurai

Social Goal Orientations, Interpersonal Stress, and Depressive Symptoms Among Early Adolescents in Japan: A Test of the Diathesis-Stress Model Using the Trichotomous Framework of Social Goal Orientations

This longitudinal study investigated whether depression among early adolescents (aged 12-14 years, N = 116; 65 girls) can be predicted by interactions between social goal orientations and interpersonal stress. Based on Kuroda and Sakurai (2001), this study applied Elliot and Harackiewicz’s (1996) trichotomous framework of achievement goals to Dweck and Leggett’s (1988) model of social goals and investigated three types of social goals: social learning goals (to grow through interpersonal experiences), social performance-approach goals (to obtain positive evaluations), and social performance-avoidance goals (to avoid negative evaluations). The results indicated that social learning goals reduced the effects of interpersonal stress, thus protecting against depression, whereas social performance-avoidance goals exacerbated the effects of interpersonal stress, thereby developing depression. Social performance-approach goals neither reduced nor exacerbated the effects of interpersonal stress. The nature and functioning of these goals were discussed.

Do not overlook lonely children

The present article investigated the longitudinal influence of loneliness on peer acceptance in school through two longitudinal studies; specifically, we hypothesized a bidirectional view on the relationship between loneliness and peer acceptance. In Study 1, a total of 383 Japanese elementary school students in fourth and fifth grades (207 boys and 176 girls, aged 9–11) at three public schools in Japan participated in an 18-month longitudinal study. Through a comparison of hypothetical models, the accepted model showed a ripple effect of loneliness on peer acceptance. Subsequently, in Study 2, a total of 506 Japanese elementary school students in fourth to sixth grades (253 boys and 253 girls, aged 9–12) at two public schools in Japan participated in a 6-month longitudinal study. The statistically accepted cross-lagged model indicated a bidirectional influence between loneliness and peer acceptance. These findings indicate a strong link between loneliness and peer acceptance from a longitudinal bidirectional perspective and suggest the importance of early educational practices for lonely children to prevent them from entering this vicious cycle.