This study examines how family communication is associated with adolescent depression through self-esteem and peer victimization in a time-lagged path model. Data were drawn from the 15th wave (T1: second year of middle school) and 16th wave (T2: third year of middle school) of the Panel Study on Korean Children (PSKC), including 1,215 adolescents (51.4% boys, 48.6% girls) who participated in both waves. Mediation and sequential mediation effects were tested using Model 6 of the PROCESS macro for SPSS(Hayes, 2022). The results indicated that family communication at T1 was positively associated with self-esteem at T1, and self-esteem at T1 was negatively associated with peer victimization at T2. Family communication at T1 was also directly associated with depression at T2, and peer victimization at T2 was positively associated with depression at T2. Both self-esteem and peer victimization served as significant mediators, and a sequential mediation pathway through self-esteem and peer victimization was supported. These findings suggest that family communication may be linked to adolescent depression through individual psychological resources and peer-related risk experiences.