Examining the Contribution of Personal and Environmental Characteristics to Adjustment of Vulnerable Youths

The present study focused on at-risk youth in the ”emerging adulthood” stage, and examined the resources contributing to their adaptation. The “emerging adulthood” stage is complex and challenging for any young person, but is even more challenging for youth at risk, who are often, both in terms of family background and personal resources, less resilient and face additional difficulties and risk factors (Zeira et al., 2012; Stein, 2006).

Based on theories of human capital and social capital, the present study examined the contribution of human capital (residence, education, and self-esteem), and social capital (sense of belonging to the community, parental conditional regard, and social support) to adaptation in at-risk youth. The adaptation was measured through the measures of sense of loneliness, personal well-being and perception of the future of the young people.

Moreover, in light of the literature findings describing the importance of residence stability, and in addition to the understanding that the population examined faces various difficulties that may affect their residence stability, another goal of the present study was to examine the relationship between residence (whether permanent or temporary) and adaptation measures and examining this variable as a moderating variable in relation to the other resources.

The study included 210 subjects who belong, or have previously belonged, to an organization which provides services to youth at risk. Most between the ages of 18-19 (54.8%), 123 men (58.6%) and 87 women (41.4%), 61.2% of the young people who answered the questionnaire indicated that they live in a permanent residence, while 38.8% of the young people indicated that they live in a temporary residence.

The sample for locating study participants was a convenience sample. Inquiries were made to various parties accompanying young people who are defined as youth at risk for assistance in the distribution of the questionnaires, and we even met some of them physically and were present while they filled out the questionnaire.

When each resource was examined individually, all the resources examined in the present study, with the exception of social support through social media, were found to be significantly correlated with the three adjustment measures. According to which, the more the young people reported a higher sense of self-esteem, a higher sense of belonging to the community, higher support from family and friends, and less conditional parental regard, the more positive their adjustment was (less loneliness, a higher sense of well-being, and a more positive perception of the future).

However, when examining the combined contribution, the young person's self-esteem is the only resource that is found to be a contributor to all three adjustment measures and throughout all the regression stages, even when the social capital measures were added to the model. Of the social capital resources examined, apart from social support through social media, each of the social capital resources was found to be a contributor to one or two of the adaptation measures, but not to all three together.

No contribution was found of social support through social media to adaptation measures. Despite the increasing use of the various social networks, the results of the study show that the surveyed population does not find in these networks a significant support factor which contributes to a reduction of loneliness, a sense of well-being or a positive future perception.

The young person's type of residence, whether permanent or temporary, was found to be significant in relation to the various variables. In terms of background variables, permanent residence is found to contribute to all three adjustment measures, in that a permanent residence contributes to a reduction of a sense of loneliness, a high sense of well-being and a positive perception of the future. Moreover, in regard to the young person's perception of the future, the residence variable has a positive and significant relationship throughout the regression model, even when the human and social capital resources are added to the model. When examining the residence variable as a moderating variable, it was found that as is commonly perceived but not researched to date, a permanent residence has implications for both protection against loneliness and the young person’s perception of the future.

We found that a temporary residence is problematic and may slow down the adaptability of the population. This study shows that a stable and permanent place of residence is one of the most important factors in the rehabilitation and adaptation of youth at risk. Despite the great importance of the place of residence, it seems that the existing theoretical material on the subject is significantly lacking, and the findings presented in the present study are in part a novelty and in part a significant addition to the body of existing knowledge on the subject.