† Jill Duncan, http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5936-2482 Received May 30, 2020; revisions received October 1, 2020; accepted October 2, 2020 © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com 223 Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 2021, 223–229 doi: 10.1093/deafed/enaa037 Advance Access Publication Date: 18 December 2020 Empirical Manuscript EMPIRICAL MANUSCRIPT Social Capital, Loneliness, and Peer Relationships of Adolescents who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing Jill Duncan 1, * ,† , Kim Colyvas 1 , and Renee Punch 2 1 University of Newcastle, Australia and 2 Southern Cross University, Australia *Correspondence should be sent to Jill Duncan, Faculty of Education and Arts, School of Education, University of Newcastle, University Dr, Callaghan NSW 2308, Australia (e-mail: Jill.Duncan@newcastle.edu.au) Abstract There are many documented benefits of social capital to adolescents in general, and for young people who are deaf or hard of hearing social capital can potentially have a buffering effect against adverse life outcomes. Using the Loneliness and Social Dissatisfaction Questionnaire (Asher et al., 1984; Cassidy & Asher, 1992) and the Looman Social Capital Scale (Looman, 2006), this research investigated changes in levels of social capital and loneliness and peer relationships of deaf or hard of hearing adolescents before attending a residential camp and then three, six- and 12-months post-camp. The camp was specifically for DHH adolescents whose primary communication mode was spoken language. The study also investigated associations between social capital and adolescents’ perceptions of loneliness and peer relationships. Results indicated no statistically significant change in social capital and loneliness and peer relations over the four-time points. There was a significant association between one social capital scale, common good, and loneliness. Implications of these findings are discussed, and recommendations are made for enhancing social capital development within a residential camp experience. There is growing interest in social capital in the lives of ado- lescents who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) because of its potential to have a buffering effect against adverse life outcomes (Byatt, Dally, & Duncan, 2019). Social capital can be defined as the benefits people derive from personal relationships and networks that provide positive outcomes, such as emotional support and an exchange of ideas and resources (Wong, Ching, Whitfield, & Duncan, 2018). Based on the work of Putnam (2000), social capital is often conceptualized as two types: bonding social capital and bridging social capital. Bonding social capital involves the close and strong networks of family and friends and can provide emotional and other support. Bridging social capital involves weaker networks with a wider range of people, providing the opportunity for developing connections, and new perspectives and knowledge. Social capital has been associated with positive outcomes for youth in areas including psychological well-being (O’Connor et al., 2011; Yamaguchi, 2013), academic achievement (Behtoui & Neergaard, 2016; Dufur, Parcel, & Troutman, 2013), and life aspirations and career planning (Ellison, Wohn, & Greenhow, 2014). It may be of particular importance to young people who are DHH, many of whom face specific challenges in these areas (Brown & Cornes, 2015; Fellinger, Holzinger, Sattel, & Laucht, 2008; Punch, 2016). There has been little research conducted on the role of social capital in the lives of young people who are DHH, as a recently published systematic review has reported (Byatt et al., 2019). The review used a broad search strategy to include studies that had examined social capital in relation to individuals of any age who were DHH, and social capital in relation to adolescents with any disability. The majority of the 18 articles, the authors Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jdsde/article/26/2/223/6041172 by guest on 01 December 2023