Civic development within the peer context: Associations between early adolescent social connectedness and civic engagement

Social connectedness is theorized to contribute to civic development and in turn, civic engagement is thought to cultivate social connectedness. The current study utilized a social network research design to examine associations between early adolescent social connectedness via their position within their school peer network and their civic engagement. Middle-school students (N = 213) aged 11-15 years (M=12.5; 57% female) provided nominations for peer connections and reported on multiple aspects of civic engagement. Early adolescents who had identified more peer nominations had higher civic efficacy. Youth who had fewer connections with different peer groups and fewer connections with popular peers were more engaged in political behavior. Greater popularity was associated with higher political engagement for boys, but not girls. Greater connections with different peer groups was associated with greater environmentalism for younger but not older teens. Findings highlight the need to consider adolescent civic development within the peer context.