Because diverse school settings provide students with opportunities to form same- and cross-group relationships with youth of various ethnicities and races, an important question arises: How are these opportunities taken up, and what are the developmental implications of doing so? Accumulating evidence suggests that these connections are beneficial to youth. Yet, we currently have a limited understanding of the specific peer mechanisms that produce these benefits. Addressing this gap requires adopting a relational perspective and using social network analysis (SNA) tools to characterize the theorized developmental mechanisms through which intergroup connections promote adolescent psychological and academic adjustment. To do so, we present an integrative account in which intergroup connections are viewed as developing and influencing adolescent outcomes in the context of broader peer networks. We then discuss the need to disentangle peer network selection from peer influence dynamics to provide an accurate account of multiple processes through which intergroup connections shape development and briefly explore how these goals are achieved by using statistical approaches to modeling of social networks. This review seeks to guide the next generation of research to more thoroughly test and refine the developmental theory and advance knowledge that will inform interventions to promote intergroup connections and their academic and socio-emotional benefits.

中文翻译：

---

青少年群体间联系及其发展益处：探索社交网络分析的贡献

由于不同的学校环境为学生提供了与不同种族和种族的青年建立相同和跨群体关系的机会，因此出现了一个重要问题：如何利用这些机会，这样做对发展有何影响？越来越多的证据表明，这些联系对年轻人有益。然而，我们目前对产生这些好处的特定对等机制了解有限。解决这一差距需要采用关系视角并使用社会网络分析 (SNA) 工具来描述理论化的发展机制，通过这些机制，群体间的联系促进青少年心理和学业调整。为此，我们提出了一个综合说明，其中群体间的联系被视为在更广泛的同伴网络的背景下发展和影响青少年的结果。然后，我们讨论了将同伴网络选择与同伴影响动态分开的必要性，以准确描述群体间联系塑造发展的多个过程，并简要探讨如何通过使用统计方法对社交网络建模来实现这些目标。本综述旨在指导下一代研究更彻底地测试和完善发展理论并推进知识，这些知识将为干预措施提供信息，以促进群体间联系及其学术和社会情感利益。然后，我们讨论了将同伴网络选择与同伴影响动态分开的必要性，以准确描述群体间联系塑造发展的多个过程，并简要探讨如何通过使用统计方法对社交网络建模来实现这些目标。本综述旨在指导下一代研究更彻底地测试和完善发展理论并推进知识，这些知识将为干预措施提供信息，以促进群体间联系及其学术和社会情感利益。然后，我们讨论了将同伴网络选择与同伴影响动态分开的必要性，以准确描述群体间联系塑造发展的多个过程，并简要探讨如何通过使用统计方法对社交网络建模来实现这些目标。本综述旨在指导下一代研究更彻底地测试和完善发展理论并推进知识，这些知识将为干预措施提供信息，以促进群体间联系及其学术和社会情感利益。