Adolescence is a time when teens may start to experience higher moodiness or sadness. It is also a time when friends take on greater significance in each other’s lives, as adolescents spend more time with peers and friends become a primary source of social support. These peer and friendship relationships can have a strong impact on adolescents’ health and mental health outcomes.

Drs. Bastin and Sheeber are examining the extent to which friends may ’catch’ each other’s emotions. This includes looking at how communication between friends may influence emotions and examining whether catching emotions from friends may make some teens more likely to develop emotional difficulties like depression.

Investigators are using a process called experience sampling wherein each member of adolescent-friend pairs receive prompts via smartphones throughout the day, instructing them to respond to brief questions about their moods and interactions with their close friend. Findings from this study will be used when developing programs to help prevent and treat adolescent mood difficulties.