This presentation provides a theoretical and empirical perspective on how metacognitive approaches can be tapped to boost students’ functioning in peer contexts. The presentation draws on existing literature on metacognition linked to social cognition and socio-emotional learning to distill key insights that can guide the formulation of approaches that tap on metacognitive strategies to facilitate the development of students’ pro-social skills such as empathy, emotional regulation, perspective-taking and conflict resolution. The second part of the presentation elucidates the results of a socio-metacognitive intervention that aimed to enhance students’ ability to form and maintain friendship relations. The intervention included metacognitive strategies such as reflection and prompts, along with other socio-cognitive strategies (i.e., modeling and collaboration), to enhance students’ awareness of the thoughts and emotions of oneself and others, awareness of the nature of friendship and friendship formation, awareness of one’s strategies to manage conflict, managing negative thoughts or mind traps. The study followed the equivalent group pretest-posttest experimental research design. Surveys on students personal peer networks and socio-emotional competencies were administered before and after the intervention. Semi-structured interviews were conducted on 29 students after they participated in the intervention. Thematic analysis was carried on students’ interview transcripts indicate the following key themes: (1) awareness of overthinking and mind traps; (2) self-regulation to manage and reduce mind traps; (3) awareness of beliefs and attitude towards relationships; (4) awareness of other’s thoughts and intentions within social settings. The students also self-reported an increase in their personal friendship networks and closeness with friends. The results of the study underscore the potential role of metacognition as a component of socio-cognitive interventions in enhancing the students’ socio-emotional competencies and social participation.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of student sociability and young adult isolation in public discourse. However, these phenomena remain understudied in France, particularly from a quantitative, national-level perspective. While sociology has extensively examined selection mechanisms, segregation, and social disparities in higher education, limited research has investigated how these inequalities affect social relationships during a pivotal period often described as a relational peak in biographical trajectories.

This research aims to provide an initial measure of student sociability in France while examining its variations within a heterogeneous educational system. Drawing on personal network sociology and taking a “supply-side perspective” of social relationships influenced by Peter Blau and Scott Feld, we strive to analyze how higher education segmentation impacts students' sociability opportunities and forms. Our central hypothesis posits that diverse study environments and modalities (institutions, disciplines, material and organizational conditions) follow differentiated levels of sociability and relational configurations, challenging the assumption of uniform student sociability.

To test this hypothesis, a mixed methodology was chosen. The latter is based on a series of in-depth semi-structured interviews, supplemented by a detailed mapping of the personal network using specialized software, allowing a precise visualization of personal networks. In parallel, an online questionnaire uses a new approach to self-assessment of personal networks, adapted to the constraints of collecting relational data over the Internet. Data collection will begin in February 2025, this presentation will thus provide an opportunity to share and discuss both the initial empirical results and the ad hoc methodology developed.

Adolescence is a critical period for lifelong mental health, when peers’ influence is particularly important for individual mental health outcomes. But, both – peers and mental health may vary across situations. However, most studies rely on unsituated (not situation specific) school friendship data and mental health measures, overlooking how stability of social ties across different situations relates to mental health outcomes. This study, part of the SOCial sITuational Systems (SOCITS) project, explores this gap through methodological advancements in understanding influences on adolescent mental well-being.

Conducted in two Scottish secondary schools (N = 338, three school years), students reported on their friends, negative ties, but also on “who is usually around them” in four school situations: school’s courtyard, library, canteen and having lunch elsewhere in the school. They also reported on both general (unsituated) and situation-specific (situated) mental health (depression, loneliness, anxiety, and stress) in those four situations.

To understand the effect of network stability on measures of mental health, we will classify students into groups based on their ego-network stability across situations, using various metrics of differences between friendships and situated networks. These groups will be compared on general mental health measures and their situational variation to examine how changes in social networks across school contexts relate to individual mental health.

We will employ multiple analytical strategies, including various ego-network difference metrics, classification methods, and group comparisons. Finally, we will discuss how these findings could inform school-level interventions aimed at improving adolescents’ mental health.

Despite similar academic performance, girls exhibit significantly lower interest in STEM subjects than boys. Beyond early socialization processes, the school environment plays a key role in shaping students’ STEM interests: On the one hand, friends’ and classmates’ adherence to gender-normative beliefs can affect adolescents’ STEM interests, as gender-atypical interests may be socially sanctioned. On the other hand, organizational and structural factors at the school-level can influence the development of gendered STEM interests. In this study, we conceptualize the gender gap in STEM interests as a relational phenomenon that varies across different educational environments. By bridging two previously separate research strands—one examining peer dynamics as a universal amplifier of gender disparities and the other exploring school-level variations in STEM interest gaps—we provide a more nuanced understanding of how locally specific, gendered STEM peer cultures emerge.

Our empirical analyses are based on the German Trends in Achievement 2018 study, which contains data on the friendship networks of over 44,000 ninth-graders across 1,462 schools in Germany. First, we quantify and model gendered STEM peer cultures using exponential random graph models. Second, we apply variance decomposition methods to determine the contextual levels at which gendered STEM peer cultures emerge. Finally, we inductively identify the institutional and compositional school features that predict the development of these cultures. By taking a relational and contextualized approach, our study provides both theoretical and practical insights into the key conditions shaping the emergence of gender disparities in STEM interest.

Children are raised in a community. Nonetheless, the vast majority of existing studies have explained childcare primarily through socio-economic characteristics. While a growing body of research acknowledges the role of interpersonal relationships, empirical evidence on childcare relationships at the community level remains limited. We explore the role of community-level social networks in shaping childcare experiences, focusing on two South Korean cities with contrasting fertility rates: Sejong and Seoul. We employ a mixed-methods approach, including semi-structured interviews (N=18) for qualitative approach and social network analysis using a name generator survey for quantitative approach. The interview findings reveal that Sejong City, with higher fertility rates, fosters a strongly bonded childcare community, leading to more satisfying childcare experiences compared to Seoul, which has lower fertility rates. Social network analysis further indicates that networks among children and parents are larger in Sejong than in Seoul. Additionally, while casual networks for children’s playdates are present in both cities, these relationships associate with deep networks of parents primarily in Sejong. By shifting from individual- to community-level analysis, we highlight the significance of cohesive social networks for childcare satisfaction, offering valuable insights into addressing fertility and childcare challenges in low-fertility contexts.