Does Social Connectedness Promote a Greater Sense of Well‐Being in Adolescence Over Time?

2012/02/27 by Paul E. Jose, Nicholas P. Ryan, Nicholas Ryan +1 · 8 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Health disparities and outcomes #Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction #Psychological and Temporal Perspectives Research

paper · doi:10.1111/j.1532-7795.2012.00783.x

openalex publication_date 2012/02/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29

Abstract

This longitudinal study was designed to investigate whether or not social connectedness predicts psychological well‐being over time. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the temporal relations between these constructs assessed yearly for 3 years for a sample of 1,774 10‐ to 15‐year‐olds (at Time 1). Results indicated that global connectedness (i.e., connectedness combined across the domains of family, school, peers, and neighborhood) predicted well‐being, but no reciprocal relation was found. However, reciprocal relations were revealed by analyses that examined connectedness at the domain level, that is, for family and school contexts. The results suggest that youth who reported higher levels of social connectedness at one point in time would subsequently report higher well‐being (i.e., life satisfaction, confidence, positive affect, and aspirations).

Citations

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• Autonomy and Relatedness as Fundamental to Motivation and Education
• Resilience in the Face of Catastrophe: Optimism, Personality, and Coping in the Kosovo Crisis
• Subjective well-being: The science of happiness and a proposal for a national index.
• Sense of relatedness as a factor in children's academic engagement and performance.
• Positive Youth Development in the United States: Research Findings on Evaluations of Positive Youth Development Programs
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