A study explored how an ecological perspective in human development, as conceptualized by Urie Bronfenbrenner, could be used as an analytic framework for discerning patterns of relationships among the environments of home, school, and work and resulting implications for youth development. Three hypotheses were tested regarding how linking youth participation in the settings of home, school, school activities, community activities, work experience programs, and work may account for variations in scores on two scales measuring youths' perceptions of their communications with adults. Three hundred twenty high school juniors and seniors from Gainesville (Georgia) High School completed the questionnaires. Analysis of covariance was used to determine patterns in the way the environments of home, school, and work are linked and how they relate to more positive scores on the dependent measures. In addition, school personnel prepared in-depth descriptions of three programs which placed youth in work settings as part of their education. The most significant finding was that there is an ecology of youth development that appears related to performance on such measures as the two used. Recommendations for research were developed. (The questionnaire is appended.) (A technical report of all phases of the study is available as CE 027 941.) (YLB)