Collaboration in strenghtening social relationships and flourishing of students (part of Stronger2Gether)

Project within the NWA consortium Stronger2Gether (S2G): Strengthening social relationships for students’ flourishing and mental well-being.

Background and objective of Stronger2Gether

The six-year NWA research project Stronger2Gether (S2G) focuses on an urgent societal issue: strengthening young people’s mental well-being and helping them thrive. Young people are experiencing increasing pressure to perform, social stress, uncertainty about the future, and fewer meaningful social connections – both offline and online.

S2G aims to help young people thrive by strengthening positive social relationships with their peers in the contexts of their daily lives. Hereby, the focus is on young people in vocational secondary education (vmbo), senior secondary vocational education (mbo), and special secondary education (vso) – groups that are often underrepresented in research and policy.

The project works closely with young people. In so-called Research & Development Communities (RDCs) and Living Labs, young people collaborate with teachers, youth social workers, sports coaches, youth workers, guidance counsellors, researchers, and policymakers to explore how to foster positive social relationships among young people and how this can contribute to their flourishing and mental well-being.

PhD Research at UvH

The UvH PhD student contributes to the development of a theoretical framework – the CARES model (Child & Adolescent Relationships and Ecological Support) – and generates insights that can be applied in schools. She does this, on the one hand, by investigating the relationship between peer relationships in the classroom (such as friendships, social positions and group dynamics) and, on the other hand, by studying flourishing and mental well-being of students in (pre) vocational education classrooms in the Netherlands.

Special attention is given to students’ intrinsic motivation to act prosocially and to reduce or refrain from proactive aggression towards classmates. Together with the students, this motivation is explored in focus groups and interventions are developed through co-creation, to foster positive social relationships and, ultimately, each other’s flourishing.

Researchers

• Bettie Cörvers (PhD student)
• Doret de Ruyter
• Neha Miglani

(Co-)Funding

National Science Agenda (NWA)

Contact

Bettie Cörvers, b.corvers@uvh.nl