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Supportive Non-Parental Adults and Adolescent Psychosocial Functioning: Using Social Support as a Theoretical Framework

  • Review Paper
  • Published:
American Journal of Community Psychology

Abstract

Supportive Non-Parental Adults (SNPAs), or non-parental adults who provide social support to youth, are present in the lives of many adolescents; yet to date, a guiding framework for organizing the existing literature on the provision of support provided by multiple types of SNPAS, such as teachers, natural mentors, and extended family members, as well as to inform future research efforts, is lacking. The aim of the current paper is to utilize the well-established lens of social support to integrate, across this broad range of literatures, recent findings regarding associations between SNPAs and four indices of adolescent psychosocial adjustment: academic functioning, self-esteem, and behavioral and emotional problems. Beyond offering an integrative framework for understanding the link between SNPAs and adolescent functioning, the issues reviewed here have potentially far-reaching consequences for adolescents and their families, as well as the professionals working with adolescents and their families in the health care, school, and community settings.

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Acknowledgments

Support for this project was provided to the first author by the American Psychological Association Minority Fellowship Program (DHHS Grant #5 T06 SM56564-04). Additional support was provided by the Ethnicity, Culture, and Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program, University Research Council, the College of Arts & Sciences at UNC Chapel Hill Junior Faculty Development Grant, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (Grant #5 T32 HD-49325-04). The authors would like to express their sincere appreciation to Drs. Andrea Hussong and Enrique Neblett for feedback on early drafts of this manuscript.

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3250, USA

    Emma M. Sterrett, Deborah J. Jones & Carlye Kincaid

  2. Department of Psychology, Clark University, Worcester, MA, USA

    Laura G. McKee

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  1. Emma M. Sterrett
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  2. Deborah J. Jones
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  3. Laura G. McKee
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  4. Carlye Kincaid
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Correspondence to Deborah J. Jones.

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Sterrett, E.M., Jones, D.J., McKee, L.G. et al. Supportive Non-Parental Adults and Adolescent Psychosocial Functioning: Using Social Support as a Theoretical Framework. Am J Community Psychol 48, 284–295 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-011-9429-y

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