Friendship Quality Matters: Understanding its Impact on Mental Health of Adolescents with Mindfulness as a Mediator

Abstract

Positive friendships offer adolescents a platform to vocalize their emotions, fostering the acquisition of emotional regulation skills. Through these relationships, adolescents can freely articulate their feelings, receive affirmation, and acquire constructive coping mechanisms, ultimately enhancing their mental health. The aim of this research is to investigate the impact of friendship quality on the mental health of adolescents, with mindfulness as a mediating factor. In total, 600 adolescents were recruited from five districts of Punjab, Pakistan (Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan, and Bahawalpur) through multi-stage random sampling. Three research instruments were used in data collection: the Friendship Quality Questionnaire, the Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale, and the Mental Health Inventory. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS (27.0) and Smart PLS (4.0.9.6).  The results of correlation analysis revealed that friendship quality (including subscales such as safety, closeness, acceptance, and help) was significantly positively correlated with mindfulness, mental health, and psychological well-being. Conversely, friendship quality was negatively significantly associated with psychological distress. Furthermore, mindfulness was positively significantly linked with mental health and psychological well-being, and negatively significantly associated with psychological distress. The results of structural equation modeling showed that mindfulness played a significant mediating role between friendship quality and mental health, friendship quality and psychological distress, and friendship quality and psychological well-being. Additionally, friendship quality was a significant direct and indirect predictor of mental health, psychological distress, and psychological well-being. This research will be beneficial for psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, parents, and government agencies in policymaking. Similarly, teachers will benefit from this research as they will understand the importance of friendship quality and its role in adolescent mental health, ultimately improving academic outcomes.