Social context and adolescent well-being: The interplay of the friendship group with the family, immigrant status, and romantic activity

This study of American adolescents aims at providing a more contextualized view of adolescent social life. It does so by examining the interdependent and interactive nature of various social contexts that define this life stage, especially the friendship group, and exploring their role in shaping adolescent development. This dissertation is organized around three research studies, all using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.; The first analytic chapter investigates the intersection between family structure history and characteristics of the friendship group and the potential consequence of this intersection on adolescent well-being. The structure of American families has undergone tremendous change over the past 50 years, changes that may have altered the developmental significance of the friendship group. Most research on adolescent well-being, however, has dealt with these two contexts as independent of or, at best, in tension with the other. This study focuses on the intersection between them, exploring ways the friendship group can moderate the association between family structure change and the internalizing and externalizing behaviors of adolescent boys and girls. Findings from this study suggest that these contexts intersect for girls, with those in stepparent families reporting lower levels of depression and delinquent acts embedded in larger and more involved friendship groups.; The second analytic chapter explores the role of the friendship group in the lives of immigrant youth. Contrary to conventional models of immigration that assert that assimilation leads to increased well-being over time, current research suggests that immigrant youth do better on a host of indicators but seem to lose this advantage the longer they live in the U.S. Focusing on academic achievement, this study investigates whether aspects of the friendship group mediate the association between generational status and academic achievement for Chinese American and Mexican American youth. It also examines whether generational differences in achievement vary according to friendship group characteristics. Findings from this study suggest little evidence of a generation decline in academic achievement for either Chinese American and Mexican American youth. Other analyses, however, show that the ecology of friendship groups differs by ethnicity and generational status and that, for Chinese Americans, these differences modestly explain their academic advantage relative to Whites. Moreover, aspects of the friendship group moderate the association between generational status and academic achievement for Mexican Americans in both positive and negative ways.; The final analytic chapter explores the intersection between characteristics of the friendship group and romantic relationships. Romantic relationships represent a key social context in adolescence, one for which the friendship group likely serves as an incubator. This study explores the association between the friendship group and different types of romantic relationships, paying close attention to the structural contexts of gender and age. Findings from this study suggest that these contexts are linked, with friendship group size, cross-sex friendships, and cross-sex friendship involvement predicting adolescent romantic activity, especially for girls and older adolescents.