College students with foster care backgrounds have demonstrably lower graduation rates than peers, and resources obtained through their social networks are vital to their college success. Our study explores the social networks and social capital among a sample of first-year college students with foster care histories who were participating in a campus-based support program (CSP) at a Midwestern university (n = 26, response rate = 93%). Data were collected from a novel social network instrument called FC-Connects, which was designed for students with foster care histories. We find that, early in their college career, students have ample bonding capital (emotional support, practical support, and personal advice) but bridging capital (college advice and academic support) is in shorter supply. Consistent with social capital theory, bonding support was commonly accessed through close relationships with family and peers, while bridging support was leveraged through distant relationships with professionals. Diverging from theory, professionals and mentors from the CSP were key sources of bridging capital but also had close relationships with students. About three-fifths of all nominated individuals provided more than one type of social capital. Our whole-network analysis identified a small number of students who were important connectors in the network and found that roughly one-in-three students were isolates, having no connections to their classmates in the CSP. Finally, students high in avoidant attachment (emotional guardedness and self-reliance) were less likely than their peers to report having enough emotional support and viewed their support nominees as less dependable.

具有寄养背景的大学生的毕业率明显低于同龄人，并且通过社交网络获得的资源对于他们的大学成功至关重要。我们的研究探索了具有寄养历史的一年级大学生样本的社交网络和社会资本，这些学生参加了中西部大学的校园支持计划（CSP）（n = 26，回复率= 93％）。数据是从一种名为FC-Connects的新型社交网络工具收集的，该工具是为有寄养历史的学生设计的。我们发现，在大学生涯的早期，学生拥有充裕的联结资本（情感支持，实践支持和个人建议），而桥接资本（大学建议和学术支持）的供应则更短。与社会资本理论一致，通过与家庭和同龄人的亲密关系通常可以得到联系支持，而通过与专业人士的疏远关系可以利用桥接支持。与理论不同的是，CSP的专业人士和导师是桥接资金的主要来源，但与学生之间也有着密切的关系。在所有提名的个人中，约有五分之三提供了一种以上的社会资本。我们的全网分析发现少数学生是网络中的重要连接者，发现大约三分之一的学生是孤立的，与CSP中的同学没有任何联系。最后，回避依恋感强（情绪谨慎和自力更生）高的学生比同龄人报告获得足够的情感支持的可能性更低，并认为其支持提名的人不太可靠。