The Impact of Social Capital and Personal Agency on Psychosocial Development among Adolescents from Poor Families: A Study in Zhongshan, Guangdong, China

There has been an increasing concern on the development of adolescents form economically disadvantaged families. However, the policy and service for this group of young people remain in the forms of financial assistance and home visit. With the development of social work service in mainland China, the government and public have more expectation on its implementation for serving this group. This research provided empirical evidence for related service.;Based on social capital theory, this study explored the influences of social capital embedded in the networks of family, school, peers, and community. It also integrated the self-efficacy theory and resilience theory into the theoretical framework to examine the role of personal agency in mobilizing various forms social capital. Moreover, by comparing the differences between the poor and the non-poor group, the study established a theoretical model of how social capital and personal agency jointly affected adolescents' psychosocial development in a Chinese context. It thereby potentially informs future professional services. This study adopted the quantitative method with social survey, and drew a sample of 1,627 students from 22 senior high schools, with 571 students forming the poor group and the other 1056 students forming the non-poor group. The study tried to address four research questions: 1) Are there any significant differences between the poor and non-poor groups in terms of psychosocial development, social capital, self-efficacy and resilience? 2) How do different forms of social capital influence adolescents' psychosocial development? 3) What are the mechanism by which self-efficacy and resilience mediate the effects of social capital on adolescents' psychosocial development? 4) Are there any significant differences on the mechanisms between these two groups?;Results of t-tests indicated that the students from economically disadvantaged families had better performance in pro-social behavior and academic achievement, while there were no significant differences in terms of mental health and social competence. This group of students also exhibited higher possessions of school social capital, peer social capital, and community social capital, while with no significant difference in access to family social capital. Moreover, they showed a higher level of resilience.;Results of structural equation modeling analysis supported the hypotheses that family social capital, school social capital, and peer social capital had direct positive effects on adolescents' psychosocial development. Furthermore, different forms of social capital could influence the outcomes of psychosocial development indirectly through individuals' self-efficacy and resilience. However, community social capital showed a negative direct effect on mental health and social competence.;Results of the multi-group structural equation modeling suggested that the effects of social capital and personal agency on adolescents' psychosocial development were mostly similar between the poor and non-poor groups, except for a few paths. It implied the particular importance on differentiating the effects of various forms of social capital and personal agency factors on psychosocial development and when designing assistance programs for adolescents from lowincome families. It also suggested the reciprocity of social capital. In addition, it further highlighted that the norms and effective sanctions of social capital might produce disempowerment on personal agency to the groups labeled as disadvantaged ones in the society.;Integrating social capital theory, self-efficacy theory, and resilience theory, this research has explored the influences of social capital, self-efficiency and resilience on psychosocial development of adolescents from economically disadvantaged families. It advanced the application of social capital theory in understanding youth development in the Chinese socio-cultural. It also proposed an effective way to promote adolescents' optimal development through investing social capital and improving their self-efficacy and resilience. This study challenged the existing stereotypes of adolescents from economically disadvantaged families. Moreover, it gave a further thought on the positive contribution and potential downside of social capital and the stigmatization in social welfare provision process.