Social Capital in Relation to Mental Health—The Voices of Adolescents in Sweden

Abstract

The social environment that adolescents interact in has undoubtedly changed over the past decades. The latent constructs of social capital that have been described in theory may be universal, but it is necessary to reveal sociocultural specific pathways and manifestation in order to validly operationalize social capital for adolescents. There is a call for qualitative data to enhance our understanding of social capital for adolescents today and the specific sociocultural context they live in. The aim of this study was to explore social capital from the perspective of adolescents in relation to mental health. Twenty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted in a school setting with a sample of adolescents aged 11 and 15 years. Qualitative content analysis was applied, and analysis remained on a manifest level. From having adolescents describe their social relations and networks in relation to mental health, three main categories were formed: accessing a safe space, with sub-categories of trusting enough to share, having someone close to you, and being part of an inclusive and honest environment; feeling connected to others, with sub-categories of hanging out and having things in common; and maintaining control, with sub-categories of deciding for yourself, dealing with change, and having social skills. Having access to a safe space is vital for adolescents’ mental health, by providing resources such as mutual trust, honesty, and unconditional access. Feeling connected to others is important in close relationships and reveals the glue that holds networks together, but also links to sociability in a wider sense. Predictability in adolescents’ social relationships and networks, influenced by internal and external factors, may be a resource of increasing importance in todays’ society and an interesting subject for intervention and future research on social capital and adolescent mental health.