This chapter in the book Flourishing in Contexts and Cultures: Sociocultural Perspectives on Fostering Youth Well-Being falls under Section II: Contexts and Circumstances Affecting Youth Well-Being and Flourishing.
In this chapter, the authors shift away from a strictly negative narrative of the relationship between digital technologies and youth wellbeing to explore possible mechanisms for positive outcomes. They discuss how the digital age has not only added another social ecosystem to an already dynamic time of development in adolescence, but has expanded opportunities for growth around identity, resilience, and overall positive youth development. Though online spaces come with risks, especially in an increasingly diverse society, they also come with opportunities to overcome and leverage social capital, self-determination, and increasing control over emotional regulation. Online spaces can be a place of refuge for adolescents, and, ultimately, a source of positive wellbeing.
The book, which embodies the ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘when’, ‘where’, and ‘how’ of youth wellbeing, will be extremely insightful and useful for scholars and researchers as well as policymakers and practitioners (teachers, interventionists, counselors, youth mentors) who seek to promote the wellbeing of young people.
