Premium
FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH CIVIC ENGAGEMENT IN ADOLESCENCE: THE EFFECTS OF NEIGHBORHOOD, SCHOOL, FAMILY, AND PEER CONTEXTS
Author(s) -
Rossi Giulia,
Lenzi Michela,
Sharkey Jill D.,
Vieno Alessio,
Santinello Massimo
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/jcop.21826
Subject(s) - civic engagement , context (archaeology) , psychology , youth engagement , social engagement , social psychology , public engagement , multilevel model , developmental psychology , sociology , political science , public relations , politics , social science , geography , archaeology , machine learning , computer science , law
Research on youth civic engagement has emphasized the importance of growing up in a civic context. We examined the relative influence of neighborhood characteristics (neighborhood opportunities and intergenerational closure), civic education at school, friends’ civic engagement, and parents’ civic engagement on civic attitudes and civic behaviors among youths. Participants were 403 11‐ to 15‐year‐old adolescents randomly selected from the city register of a midsized city in Italy. The hierarchical regression analysis found that all analyzed contexts were related to adolescent civic engagement. In particular, intergenerational closure, friends’ civic engagement, and parents’ civic engagement were associated with both civic attitudes and civic behaviors. Findings highlighted the importance of considering multiple contexts to understand what factors are associated with youth civic engagement. We discuss ways that findings can be transmitted into further research and practice to address the multiple contexts in which youths are embedded and their relative influence on adolescent civic engagement.