ERIC Number: EJ1174517
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-May
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0044-118X
EISSN: N/A
Social Network Implications of Normative School Transitions in Non-Urban School Districts
Temkin, Deborah A.; Gest, Scott D.; Osgood, D. Wayne; Feinberg, Mark; Moody, James
Youth & Society, v50 n4 p462-484 May 2018
This article expands research on normative school transitions (NSTs) from elementary to middle school or middle to high school by examining the extent to which they disrupt structures of friendship networks. Social network analysis is used to quantify aspects of connectedness likely relevant to student experiences of social support. Data were drawn from 25 communities followed from sixth to ninth grades. Variability in timing of NSTs permitted multi-level longitudinal models to disentangle developmental effects from transition effects. Results indicated that friendship networks were most interconnected in smaller schools and among older students. Beyond these effects, transitions from a single feeder school to a single higher level school were not associated with changes in friendship patterns. Transitions from multiple feeder schools to a single higher level school were associated with diminished friendship stability, more loosely connected friendship networks, increased social distance between students, and friendship segregation between students who formerly attended different schools.
Descriptors: Student Adjustment, Friendship, Social Networks, Age Differences, School Size, Grade 6, Grade 7, Grade 8, Grade 9, Questionnaires, Quasiexperimental Design, Student Characteristics, Longitudinal Studies, Statistical Analysis
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 6
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Institute on Drug Abuse (DHHS/PHS); Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (NIH); National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) (NIH)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: R01DA018225; R24HD041025; RO1DA013709; AA14702; T32DA017629