Youth Connectedness:

Social Connectedness, Transitions and Wellbeing.

In December 2003 we heard the exciting news that our project on youth connectedness had been successful in the FRST funding round. The Research has been carried out by the Roy McKenzie Centre and the New Zealand Council for Educational Research.

The overall aim of this project was to optimise the chances of youth having positive experiences in adolescence and of overcoming the inevitable challenges of this life stage to become healthy and productive adults.

We have focussed on youth feeling connected to key institutions, on their positive participation in these domains, and on the measurable benefits of positive connection. The main focus has been on young people's connectedness to: communities and wider society; families and whanau; and schools.

The project's two major objectives - to examine how connectedness supports youth in negotiating the challenges of adolescence, and to identify modifiable factors that foster and enhance connectedness.

The research approach is a mixed-method, cross-lagged longitudinal design. Measures of connectedness, which are sensitive to NZ’s unique social and cultural context, will be developed with youth. We have quantitatively and qualitatively followed three cohorts of youth starting at ages 10, 12, and 14, for three years. We have provided snapshots of NZ youth each year, and will analyse the causal links across time among potentially protective factors and positive outcomes.

The development of a body of local contemporary knowledge about youth in their social context, and the identification of specific areas where practice and policy can be changed in order to enhance optimal development will be the basis for informing end-users of this research.

This research will be completed in September 2009.

Presentations and Papers from the Youth Connectedness Research:

Family

Youth Connectedness Project Families and Whānau
Powerpoint Presentation

Presenter: Dr Carla Crespo
Auckland University, 6 July 2009

Tea Time! Family rituals and their links to family functioning and youth wellbeing in New Zealand
Powerpoint Presentation

Presenters: Dr Carla Crespo, Jan Pryor and
Paul Jose
SASP Wellington, 2008

How Do I Look?
Links amongst body image, family functioning and parent-child relationships in teenage girls.
Powerpoint Presentation

Presenters: Dr Carla Crespo, Jan Pryor, Magda Kielpikowski and Paul Jose
Victoria University of Wellington

Families/Whānau - Year 1 Data
Powerpoint Presentation

Presenter: Dr Carla Crespo
Victoria University of Wellington, June 2007

Family Data from the Youth Connectedness Project
Powerpoint Presentation

Presenter: Jan Pryor
Victoria University of Wellington, October 2007

Family / Community Workshop - "Connectedness in Youth"
Powerpoint Presentation

Presenter: Jan Pryor
Victoria University of Wellington, October 2007

Schools

School, Bullying & Technology
Powerpoint Presentation

Presenter: Jo Kleeb

General

Introduction to the Youth Connectedness Project
Powerpoint Presentation

Presenter: Paul Jose, Senior Researcher
Victoria University of Wellington, October 2007

Stress and Coping by adolescents in the
Youth Connectedness Project
Powerpoint Presentation

Presenter: Paul Jose, Senior Researcher
Victoria University of Wellington, October 2007

The prediction of well-being in early adolescents by four domains of social connectedness

Adolescent Wellbeing and Connectedness to
School, Family, Peers, and Community over Time
Powerpoint Presentation

Presenters: Paul E. Jose and Jan Pryor
Victoria University of Wellington, March 2008

Youth Connectedness Project: Methodology and dissemination strategies
Powerpoint Presentation

Presenters: Dr Carla Crespo, Jan Pryor, Jo Kleeb and Paul Jose
6th Australia & New Zealand Health Conference, September 2007

Methodology - what we did and what we learned
Powerpoint Presentation

Presenters: Paul Jose and the YCP Team
Victoria University of Wellington

Youth Connectedness Project: A selection of results from Year 1 Data
Powerpoint Presentation

Presenters: Jo Kleeb, Jan Pryor, Dr Carla Crespo and Paul Hose
6th Australia and New Zealand Health Conference, September 2007

Youth Connectedness Project: A Kaupapa Māori approach to understanding rangatahi Māori connectedness and wellbeing
Powerpoint Presentation

Presenters: Keri Newman, Timoti Brown, Garrick Cooper, Wally Penetito, Chelsea Grootveld and Matthew Gifford

Youth Connectedness Project

View our full list of Conference Presentations.