Department of Health and Welfare, Halmstad University, 301 18 Halmstad, Sweden.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jun 25;20(13):6223. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20136223.
The social environment that adolescents interact in has undoubtedly changed over the past decades. The latent constructs of social capital that have been described in theory may be universal, but it is necessary to reveal sociocultural specific pathways and manifestation in order to validly operationalize social capital for adolescents. There is a call for qualitative data to enhance our understanding of social capital for adolescents today and the specific sociocultural context they live in. The aim of this study was to explore social capital from the perspective of adolescents in relation to mental health. Twenty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted in a school setting with a sample of adolescents aged 11 and 15 years. Qualitative content analysis was applied, and analysis remained on a manifest level. From having adolescents describe their social relations and networks in relation to mental health, three main categories were formed: accessing a safe space, with sub-categories of trusting enough to share, having someone close to you, and being part of an inclusive and honest environment; feeling connected to others, with sub-categories of hanging out and having things in common; and maintaining control, with sub-categories of deciding for yourself, dealing with change, and having social skills. Having access to a safe space is vital for adolescents' mental health, by providing resources such as mutual trust, honesty, and unconditional access. Feeling connected to others is important in close relationships and reveals the glue that holds networks together, but also links to sociability in a wider sense. Predictability in adolescents' social relationships and networks, influenced by internal and external factors, may be a resource of increasing importance in todays' society and an interesting subject for intervention and future research on social capital and adolescent mental health.
青少年所处的社会环境无疑在过去几十年中发生了变化。理论中描述的潜在社会资本结构可能是普遍存在的，但为了有效地将社会资本应用于青少年，有必要揭示其社会文化特有的途径和表现形式。现在需要定性数据来增强我们对青少年社会资本的理解以及他们所处的特定社会文化背景。本研究旨在从与心理健康相关的青少年视角探讨社会资本。在学校环境中，对 11 岁和 15 岁的青少年样本进行了 23 次半结构化访谈。采用定性内容分析法，分析仍停留在明显水平。通过让青少年描述他们的社会关系和网络与心理健康的关系，形成了三个主要类别：获得安全空间，包括有足够的信任分享、有亲近的人、处于包容和诚实的环境；与他人建立联系，包括闲逛和有共同之处；以及保持控制，包括自己做决定、应对变化和具备社交技能。获得安全空间对青少年的心理健康至关重要，因为它提供了相互信任、诚实和无条件的支持等资源。与他人建立联系在亲密关系中很重要，它揭示了网络联系的纽带，但也与更广泛的社交能力有关。青少年的社会关系和网络的可预测性受到内部和外部因素的影响，这可能是当今社会越来越重要的资源，也是干预和未来关于社会资本和青少年心理健康研究的一个有趣主题。
