Connecting the Dots: How Connectedness to Multiple Contexts Influences the Psychological and Academic Adjustment of Urban Youth

Abstract

Cluster analyses and hierarchical linear modeling were used to investigate the impact of perceptions of connectedness to family, school, and neighborhood contexts on academic and psycho-social outcomes for 437 urban ethnically diverse adolescents. Five profiles of connectedness to family, school, and neighborhood were identified. Two profiles were characterized by reports of either strong or weak connectedness to all contexts. The other three profiles were anchored by reports of low family connectedness, low neighborhood connectedness, or average connectedness. Race=ethnic differences were found in profiles and outcomes. Hierarchical linear models showed that each profile of connectedness was significantly associated with adolescents' self-report of grades, self-esteem, and depressive symptoms after adjusting for correlates, suggesting that the domain and number of contexts matter for positive youth development. These analyses underscore the importance of considering the independent and joint effects of family, schools, and neighborhoods on adolescent well-being. Implications for research and intervention are discussed.

Social Connectedness, Academic, Non-Academic Behaviors Related To Self-Regulation among University Students in Saudi Arabia

“…This is consistent with prior studies that investigated the relationships between the variables (e.g. Witherspoon et al, 2009;Whittakur, 2008;Hamedani, 2013;Pintrich & DeGroof, 1990).The second and third hypotheses were focused on the social connectedness, self-efficacy and self-control prediction of self-regulation-based on the results, both hypotheses were partially confirmed. Specifically, social connectedness and self-control was found to predict self-regulation but not self-efficacy.…”

“…School connectedness perceptions are deemed to be a sense of safety and belonging to the school community and learning engagement (Witherspoon, Schotland, Way, & Hughes, 2009). Students who perceive connections with their school environment are reported to be motivated in their academics and they have fewer tendencies to engage in antisocial behavior.…”

Community factors influencing child and adolescent depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Four observational studies (Caughy et al, 2008;Simons et al, 2002;Witherspoon et al, 2009;Xue et al, 2005) used individual reports of community connectedness. Using the Stouffer method, the combined effect on child depressive symptoms was not significant (N = 3800, p = 0.241, ES = 0.051).…”

“…Observational studies that examined sub-sets of the population (k = 9) included the following: children from politically violent areas in the Gaza Strip and West Bank (Al-Krenawi and Graham, 2012), children of Latin American background (Behnke et al, 2010), children of mothers exposed to partner violence (Kennedy et al, 2010), child soldiers of war (Kohrt et al, 2010); children of African American background (Lambert et al, 2010;Simons et al, 2002), children of African American background who are at risk of or have been abused (Lindsey et al, 2008), children from Hispanic and African American backgrounds (Rosario et al, 2008) (Ialongo et al, 1999); BPI: Behaviour Problems Index (Zill, 1985); BSI: Brief Symptom Inventory (Derogatis and Melisaratos, 1983); C: Children's reports; CAPA: Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment ; CBCL: Child Behaviour Checklist (Achenbach, 1991); CDI: Child Depression Inventory (Kovacs, 1984); CES-D: Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (Radloff, 1977); CI: Confidence Interval; DAWBA: Development and Well-being Assessment (Goodman and Ford, 2000); DSRS: Depression Self Rating Scale (Birleson et al, 1987); DISC: Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (Shaffer et al, 1993) and children from low-socio-economic backgrounds (Witherspoon et al, 2009). Details of participants in studies examining community interventions are provided in Table 4.…”

“…A total of nine observational studies (AlKrenawi and Graham, 2012;Caughy et al, 2008;Kennedy et al, 2010;Kohrt et al, 2010;Lambert et al, 2010;Meltzer et al, 2007;Rosario et al, 2008;Witherspoon et al, 2009;Zinzow et al, 2009) included individual reports of community safety. Using the Stouffer method, the combined effect on child depressive symptoms was significant (N = 7951, p = 0.027, ES = 0.069).…”