Review articleConnectedness in the Lives of Children and Adolescents: A Call for Greater Conceptual Clarity
Section snippets
Levels of Abstraction
The origins of the connectedness construct can be found in a number of areas of research. While characterizing American society as disconnecting and alienating, sociologist Philip Slater [1] noted the human desires for interaction with others and for the development of a sense of community. In developmental psychology, researchers have examined adolescents' beliefs about the importance of independence and about the significance of social institutions [2], [3]. More recently, researchers have
Analogues to Connectedness
To add to this variety of conceptualization and measurement, there are several related constructs that researchers invoke when describing connectedness. However, like for the reference to the Grotevant and Cooper [8] study, current definitions or, moreso, operationalizations, of connectedness are not entirely consistent with the labeling or conceptualization. For example, the term attachment is often used interchangeably with the term connectedness, despite the fact that many attachment
Refining the Research on Connectedness
Despite the disparity and inconsistency with which connectedness has been rendered and studied, two themes are evident that could be pursued to advance its study, in part because they both are consonant with much relevant existing literature that has been developed outside the specific domains of adolescent health. The first theme has to do with the consistent reference in the reviewed literatures to two basic elements of connectedness: (1) a relational component, that is, the connection or
Connection, Regulation, and Respect for Individuality
One current research project serves as an illustration of how several of the issues of concern raised here about the study of connectedness can be addressed. The Cross-National Adolescence Project (C-NAP) [51], a large-scale, adolescent reported study has focused explicitly on identifying central dimensions of parenting. It drew from the extensive parent–child socialization literatures in developmental psychology and sociology in formulating and testing a framework of how specific dimensions of
Conclusion
The increasing accumulation of studies in adolescent and school health journals on connectedness demonstrates a welcome recognition of and appreciation for the value to children and adolescents of their social experiences with individuals and with institutions. The solid consistency of the findings that these connections are positively related to a variety of indices of health and development meaningfully endorses this attention and recommends continued efforts to expand the work. To be most
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