Poster #109 - Prosociality and social connectedness to others during the COVID-19 pandemic

• In Event: Poster Session 18

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically impacted nearly all facets of young people’s lives and wellbeing in unprecedented ways, yet little research has examined youth’s tendency to engage in prosocial behavior, such as helping or giving, on their social connectedness to others. Previous studies that assessed the immediate effects of the pandemic lockdown showed that adolescents willingly increased acts of giving to others, particularly to those in need (van de Groep et a., 2020, Sweijen et al., 2022). On the other hand, quarantine and physical distancing policies reduced and altered youth’s opportunities to connect with their peers, friends, and family, during the formative years of development (Masten & Motti-Stefanidi, 2020). Adolescents are also in a unique position of adhering to social distancing restrictions to benefit the collective health of the broader society. Engaging in prosocial behavior and forming social connections with others during changing social contexts may further promote youth’s resiliency during the pandemic (Nitschke et al., 2021). The goal of the present study was to examine whether adolescents’ prosocial behavioral tendencies are associated with social connectedness to peers, friends, family, and family outside of their household during the first year of the pandemic when many social distancing restrictions were in place.
METHOD: We utilized a sample of 148 young adolescents (Ages = 9-13 years) from an ongoing longitudinal study to assess the association between prosocial tendencies before the pandemic (Wave 1) and social connectedness during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic two years later (Wave 2). Data collection for both waves is complete and an exploratory factor analysis was conducted to analyze the underlying constructs from the prosocial tendencies measure (Carlo & Randall, 2003) and compute prosocial tendencies subscales (dire/distress, public, emotional, and anonymous). Social connectedness measures gauge social interaction levels with peers, friends, and family in person relative to not in person, and the extent to which they feel socially connected to them.
HYPOTHESES: It is hypothesized that youth who report higher prosocial behavioral tendencies across all subscales (dire/distress, public, emotional, and anonymous) will engage in greater overall social connectedness, and even more so with their peers and friends relative to their family. Moreover, it is hypothesized that youth who report higher prosocial behavioral tendencies when they see someone in a dire situation and in public will predict greater social connectedness to their peers, friends, and family when they saw them in person relative to not in person. These predictions draw from previous research that suggested that adolescents who feel motivated to connect with others at the daily level behave more prosocially (Armstrong-Carter & Telzer, 2021).
ANALYSIS: Longitudinal multiple regression analyses will be used to examine whether prosocial behavioral tendencies across all subscales will predict social connectedness to peers, friends, and family two years later during the first year of the pandemic.

Authors

• Jasmine Hernández, University of California - Los Angeles
  Presenting Author

• Maira Karan, University of California - Los Angeles

• Lee Lazar

• Naomi Eisenberger, University of California - Los Angeles

• Adriana Galván, University of California - Los Angeles

• Andrew J Fuligni, University of California - Los Angeles