Childhood emotional neglect and adolescent depression: Roles of maladaptive self-cognition and friendship quality

•Childhood emotional neglect is a risk factor of adolescent depression.•Maladaptive self-cognition is a potential explanatory factor underlying this relation.•Friendship quality plays a moderating role, with the effect being stronger for adolescents with lower levels of friendship quality. It has become the responsibility of the whole society to protect adolescents from depression. Based on an integration of attachment theory and stress-buffering model, the present study aimed to examine (a) whether childhood emotional neglect (CEN) would be significantly associated with depression; (b) whether maladaptive self-cognition would mediate the association between CEN and depression; and (c) whether friendship quality would moderate the direct and indirect associations between CEN and depression via maladaptive self-cognition. Participants were 1639 Chinese adolescents (Mage = 14.49 years, SD = 1.11). They completed questionnaires regarding demographics, CEN, maladaptive self-cognition, and friendship quality at Time 1. After 7 months, they finished the measure of depression at Time 2. Results showed that CEN was positively associated with adolescent depression, and this relation was mediated by maladaptive self-cognition. Furthermore, friendship quality moderated the association between CEN and maladaptive self-cognition, with the relation being stronger for adolescents with lower levels of friendship quality. However, friendship quality did not moderate the association between maladaptive self-cognition and depression, as well as the direct association between CEN and depression. This study contributes to a better understanding of adolescent depression and provide important guidance for treating this disorder.