Increasing Ties to Peers and Improving Social Emotional Outcomes: Insights from an Out-of-School Program Serving Latine Young Adolescents

Out-of-school activity participation has been found to support healthy development and friendship creation during early adolescence. Research on peer ties within school shows that these relationships can positively impact social emotional outcomes for adolescents. However, it remains unclear if the relationships fostered in extracurricular programming contribute to the positive development observed in these settings. To address this, we examined how peer ties within an out-of-school program serving Latine adolescents develop throughout the summer, alongside social emotional outcomes. At the program’s end, students had statistically significant increases in their ties to peers, as well as in their feelings of belonging, mattering, connection, and perceptions of program climate. Cross-sectional regression models revealed outgoing close ties were positively associated with mattering, connection, and program climate perceptions; these associations were not present in longitudinal models. These results showcase the association between adolescents’ perceptions of closeness to peers and social emotional outcomes in out-of-school activities.