Exploring the dependency of type of school and age with adolescent connectedness

Abstract

The research aimed to explore the connectedness of South African adolescents and identify significant dependencies thereof with type of school and age (grade level). To this end, 486 Grade 8 and 330 Grade 11 students enrolled at four diverse schools completed the Hemingway Measure of Adolescent Connectedness (MAC) questionnaire. The questionnaire gauged student connectedness on 15 subscales. The students were best connected to the future, religion and themselves in the present. Regarding family, in rank order they were connected to their mothers, their siblings and lastly to their fathers. They were least connected to reading, their neighbourhoods and to romantic partners. Statistically significant differences were found between the connectedness of the students of the four schools, and of the two grade levels. In general, the students of school A, which served a high socio-economic area, were best connected. The Grade 8 students were also better connected than the Grade 11 students on several of the subscales. Some recommendations for improving adolescent connectedness and for future research were made.