CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Human Developmental Psychology
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Power of Relationships in Human Development: From Prenatal Bonding to Attachment Across the LifespanView all 17 articles
The Protective Power of Connection: A Proposed Conceptual Model of Social Supports in the Context of Youth Adversity, Disrupted Attachment, and Trauma Symptoms
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Virginia School of Education and Human Development, Charlottesville, United States
- 2University of Virginia School of Law, Charlottesville, United States
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Youths’ exposure to adversity is a significant contributor to the current pediatric mental health crisis. Social support is believed to have the power to promote positive developmental outcomes for young people, even helping to mitigate the risks associated with adversity experiences. However, both internal and environmental ecological systems shape how youth perceive and access the social supports available within their network. This paper draws upon various foundational theorists to propose a theoretically and empirically supported conceptual model that works to disentangle these nuanced and complicated factors influencing young people’s perceptions of social support and related developmental outcomes. This paper also discusses future implications for practice.
Keywords: adversity, Attachment, Bronfenbrenner ecological systems theory, social support, trauma symptoms
Received: 19 Sep 2025; Accepted: 22 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Sox, Deutsch, Jennings and Min. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Dana M. Sox
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