Developmental antecedents of young adults’ solidarity during the Covid-19 pandemic: The role of sympathy, social trust, and peer exclusion from early to late adolescence

Abstract

This study adds to the understanding of characteristics of adolescents’ solidarity during the Covid-19 pandemic by identifying three different profiles, characterized by low (23%), average (54%), and high solidarity (23%). Based on longitudinal panel data (NT1 = 797, Mage T1 = 12.15 years, 51 % female; NT2 = 707, Mage T2 = 15.33 years , NT3 = 596, Mage T3 = 18.31 years), the study combined person-and variable-centered approaches to study whether sympathy, social trust, and social acceptance at earlier phases in development predicted solidarity-profile membership during the pandemic (NT4 = 300, Mage T4 = 20.33 years). Indeed, all developmental predictors were positively associated with the likelihood of belonging to profiles characterized by higher, as compared to lower solidarity.