Comparing Justice-Involved and Community Adolescents’ Emotional Well-Being and Feelings of Social Connection During COVID-19: A Daily Diary Study of Adolescents’ Social Contact

What is it about?

In this daily diary study, we explored how virtual social interactions (i.e., via phone or online) affected the mood and mental health of justice-involved and community adolescents across the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that justice-involved youth especially benefitted from social connections during the pandemic, as they had better self-conceptions and stronger feelings of social connection (although more loneliness as well) on days with virtual social contact. Although JSI youth reported the greatest gains, in many instances this increase in well-being only brought them in line with community peers. This highlights the relative deprivation of social connection and well-being that youth on probation or who are incarcerated typically feel compared to their non-justice-involved peers. Social connection with others is a critical need - particularly during sensitive periods of development, like adolescence. These findings reveal the potential power for social connection to enhance well-being for particularly vulnerable youth, specifically those who are justice-involved. What does this mean for those working with justice-involved youth? The benefits of social connection are even greater for justice-involved youth, suggesting a need for more opportunities for such youth to engage in social contact, even if that contact is only possible through phone or video calls.

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