(Am J. Public Health. 2004; 94:89-95) Adolescent well-being is largely the product of interactions among the multiple contexts in which, adolescents are embedded. Central contexts for adolescents include family, school, friendships, romantic relationships, peer groups, and larger social networks. The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health provides unique data on adolescents' relationships with their friends, in that it is the only national level data set to provide unique data set to provide information on network structure." (Bearman, Moody, 2004)
According to Duncan (2001), "We use nationally representative data to calculate correlations in achievement and delinquency between genetically differentiated siblings within a family, between peers as defined by adolescents, bestfriend nominations, between schoolmates living in the same neighbourhood, and between grademates within a school. The data suggests that family-based factors are several times more powerful than neighbourhood and school contexts in affecting adolescents' achievement and behaviour." (Duncan, 2001)
According to Demir (2003), "Loneliness is generally associated with negative feelings about problems in social relationships. Although loneliness has been described in numerous ways, the most common definition is an unpleasant experience that occurs when a person's network of social relationships is significantly deficient in either quality or quantity (Peplau & Perlman, 1984). It is the psychological state that results from discrepancies between one's desire for and one's actual composition of relationship. Although loneliness is an emotionally distressing experience, it can be a valuable signal that the personal relationships of an individual are inadequate in some important way (Ponzetti, 1990). It has been stated that although adolescents have more opportunities to establish new relationships, they have more unrealistic expectations about social opportunities (Peplau & Perlman, 1984). As they grow up, they establish more realistic expectations. Some adolescents are capable of establishing new relations very easily, whereas others may experience difficulty that results in feelings of loneliness. This loneliness may express itself in a lowering of self-esteem, overeating, dropping out of high school, drinking, or becoming depressed or suicidal (Brage & Meridith, 1994; Jackson & Cochran, 1991; Medora & Woodward, 1986; Page & Cole, 1991)....
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