Social connectedness is theorized to contribute to civic development and in turn, civic engagement is thought to cultivate social connectedness. Little research has examined how social connectedness is linked with early adolescent civic engagement. The current study used a social network research design to examine associations between early adolescent social connectedness via their position within their peer network and their civic engagement. Middle-school students (N = 213) aged 11–15 years (M = 12.5; 57% female) were recruited from a remote US community and provided nominations for peer connections and reported on multiple aspects of civic engagement. Early adolescents who had identified more peer nominations had higher civic efficacy. Youth who had fewer connections with different peer groups and fewer connections with popular peers were more engaged in political behavior. Greater popularity was associated with higher political engagement for boys, but not girls. Greater connections with different peer groups was associated with greater environmentalism for younger but not older teens. These findings highlight the need to consider adolescent civic development within the peer context.

从理论上讲，社会联系有助于公民发展，反过来，公民参与被认为可以培养社会联系。很少有研究研究社会联系如何与早期青少年公民参与相关联。目前的研究使用社交网络研究设计，通过他们在同龄人网络中的位置和他们的公民参与来检查早期青少年社交联系之间的关联。 11-15岁的中学生（N =213）（M = 12.5; 57% 的女性）是从美国偏远社区招募的，并为同伴联系提供提名，并报告了公民参与的多个方面。获得更多同伴提名的早期青少年具有更高的公民效率。与不同同龄人的联系较少以及与受欢迎的同龄人的联系较少的青年更倾向于参与政治行为。更大的人气与男孩更高的政治参与度有关，但与女孩无关。与不同同龄人的更多联系与更年轻但不是年长的青少年的更大的环保主义有关。这些发现强调了在同龄人环境中考虑青少年公民发展的必要性。