Identifying Social Capital Dimensions Using National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 Data

Abstract

Adolescence is an important time to develop and use social capital. Research indicates adolescents with disability who have access to social capital have improved long-term outcomes. However, special education lacks systemic measurement of social capital dimensions to better understand how schools can improve social capital access for adolescents with disability. Given this, we utilized a social capital measurement framework and data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 to identify items related to the social capital dimensions of personal relationships and social network support. Personal relationships contained two subdimensions: frequency and sources of personal relationships. Social network support yielded three subdimensions: feelings of social support, sources of social support, and types of social support. The subdimension factor structures using our confirmatory factor analysis models yielded satisfactory loadings and model-data fit. We discuss strategies for assessing social capital that could result in improved psychometric properties and future research on social capital outcomes. This includes the integration of social capital subdimensions in individualized education programs and transition plans, school inclusion policies, and community participation.