The ways in which people move through the world, and the relationships and resources which can facilitate or hinder this movement, is a topic of perpetual interest in public health and other related fields. In Australia, as with the rest of the world, access to healthcare, employment, education, and other fundamental human rights – collectively referred to as the social determinants of health – play a pivotal role in shaping individuals’ physical health, quality of life, and socioemotional wellbeing over the life course (1–3). The social determinants are inherently interdependent, each influencing the others in complex ways that ultimately impact both individual and population health outcomes. For example, educational attainment can directly influence opportunities for employment, which can in turn affect income levels and access to quality healthcare (4). While the importance of the social determinants of health has long been acknowledged, their significance was further highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The effects of the pandemic drew attention to growing disparities in housing, food, education, and employment access across communities, and highlighted the impact of these disparities on population health and wellbeing (1, 5, 6).

Evidence suggests these disparities disproportionately impacted those from already marginalised communities, including racial or ethnic minorities, those of low socioeconomic status, women and, notably, emerging adults – young people between the ages of 18 and 25 (5–10). This is a life stage in which people often explore the world and themselves, and emerging adults face frequent and turbulent changes to their self-image, their relationships, their knowledge, and their work (11). Prior to the pandemic, emerging adults were more likely to be unemployed, underemployed, or precariously employed than older adults, with many of them undertaking casual work (9, 12). In fact, people in this age range made up nearly 40 per cent of Australia’s casual workforce in the years prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, and during the initial stages of the pandemic casual employees made up two thirds of all job losses in Australia (13, 14). As such, emerging adults experienced more significant disruptions to employment as a result of the pandemic than older adults which, combined with the associated financial stress, resulted in a negative effect on their health and wellbeing (15–17).

Given the multitude of societal and structural factors which influence health and wellbeing, it follows that where one lives can have a great impact on one’s ability to thrive (18, 19). Place of residence has been linked to numerous outcomes such as physical health, depressed mood, and mortality (20, 21). In some instances, wellbeing has been positively correlated with the presence of freely available green spaces, as well as being negatively correlated with a higher presence of housing disrepair (22). Moreover, the presence and quality of accessible infrastructure, such as stores and other places where people assemble, can have an impact on everyday wellbeing. These places, as with anywhere people interact, are subject to the constant and ever-changing interplay of human and non-human actors who can help or hinder the flourishing of others in these settings (23).

While the impact of neighbourhood deprivation and place effects have been evidenced throughout the literature, there is some question as to the mechanism of influence; individual factors, or place of residence itself (21). This uncertainty exists in part due to the entwined relationship between place of residence and socioeconomic factors (21). Those with limited resources often cannot afford to live in more affluent or resource-rich areas, while living in these areas can also determine potential for upward or social mobility (24). It is therefore helpful to explore the connection between individuals and their neighbourhoods using a lens which accounts for the multitude of relationships which influence emerging adults in their day-to-day lives. One method of exploring and accounting for the complex relationships between individuals, their neighbourhoods, and other factors is the ecological theory of nested systems, also referred to as ecological systems theory (25). This theory understands influences on individuals as interacting, relational, complex systems which are reciprocally impacted by those who are impacted by them (25–27). Importantly, ecological systems theory accounts for points in time (through reference to the chronosystem), which allows for the consideration of major life events and disturbances, times of transition, and other temporal influences (28). This framework emphasises interrelationships at all levels, from the most immediate social environment to the broader sociocultural factors that influence an individual’s life.

How emerging adults are connected to their local context informs the development of their social networks (28, 29). These networks of relationships accumulate social capital which influences many aspects of health and wellbeing, from social support and education to loneliness and self-rated health (30–32). At its core, social capital refers to the resources, such as knowledge or social support, one can access through interpersonal interactions and community participation (33). For the purposes of this study, we focus on three types of social capital: bonding, bridging, and linking. Bonding capital refers to the relationships between people who share similarities, particularly those that result in close emotional relationships (34–36). Shallower, horizontal relationships with others in different groups to your own that allow you to bridge gaps in information or access are known as bridging capital (33–35). Finally, vertical relationships between people that are characterised by inherent power or authority gradients are referred to as linking capital (32–35). While there is consensus about the kinds of relationships which comprise bonding and bridging capital, there is some debate as to what constitutes linking capital (33). For example, some studies have drawn on the concept of linking capital to describe voting participation and other political interactions (37–40) whereas others see it as the interactions between people and institutional representatives such as bankers, police officers, doctors, and psychologists; relationships which have the ability to influence access to potentially life changing information and services on a direct, personal level (33, 41–43). It is the latter conceptualisation which most closely aligns with the ecological and public health framing of this study.

From the literature reviewed, a picture of influential and cyclical relationships between place of residence, social networks, and social capital is built for people across the lifespan, particularly when looking at individuals’ ability to not only survive, but also to thrive (28, 29, 33, 44). It shines a light on the need to understand the supports and resources available to emerging adults in place(16, 45), as well as detailing some theoretical contradictions regarding the conceptualisations of social capital (21, 33).

This study will be conducted in Melbourne, Australia. Metropolitan Melbourne was subject to the world’s longest lockdown periods during the height of the COVID-19 lockdown periods in 2020 and 2021 (46). During this time young people reported higher levels of anxiety and depression than others (47), and many communities faced challenges which highlighted the complex interplay of social network connections, social capital, health, and contextual vulnerabilities (48).

This study received approval by the Victoria University Human Research Ethics Committee (VUHREC - HRE23-122).

A mixed methods comparative design will enable a comprehensive exploration of the lived experience of the relationship between place, social networks and social capital of emerging adults. To surface and understand lived experience, we draw on the ontological and epistemological tenets of social constructionism, which argues that the ‘reality’ of emerging adulthood is constructed through social interaction with people, values, and structures (49,50). Emerging adults form knowledge about the world through interactions that are socially and culturally situated and therefore require research methods designed to elicit such knowledge (shaped by social context) (50, 51).

Mixed-methods designs are often deployed in the investigation of complex, multi-faceted phenomena such as those which involve multiple intersecting spheres of influence (52, 53). This study will examine the interrelationships between four constructs (place, networks, social capital, and emerging adulthood). It therefore necessitates the use of both quantitative and qualitative methods in order to create a comprehensive picture of the experiences and networks of emerging adults.

To further examine the role of ‘place’, there will be a comparative component to the study. The mixed methods design will be implemented in two communities, allowing for a cross case comparative analysis of the role of place in the social networks of emerging adults.

The two communities of comparison, or local government areas (LGAs), chosen for this study are the City of Brimbank (an LGA in Melbourne’s west) and the City of Bayside (in Melbourne’s southeast). These communities were chosen based on their Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) score. This score is generated using data gathered from the Australian national census (54, 55). These LGAs not only are on opposite sides of the metropolis, they also sit at opposite ends of the SEIFA index (55). Figure 1 provides a visual representation of the aforementioned LGAs, with colours corresponding to their specific SEIFA index scores (56).

Investigating contrasting LGAs will allow for a comparison of participants of similar socioeconomic statuses in contrasting communities. This approach builds on studies such as Browne-Yung et al (2013), which compared low-income participants living in contrasting socio-economic Australian suburbs approximately 40 kilometres apart. This study found that service providers, particularly medical practitioners, featured much more prominently in the social and health supports accessed by those living in lower socio-economic suburbs. Similarly, investigating geographically distinct and socioeconomically contrasting LGAs would allow for an exploration into service availability, the availability of different forms of capital (including different operationalisations of linking capital), and a direct comparison of similar individuals in different environments. Focusing on a single LGA could inadvertently result in the measurement of just the effects of socioeconomic status, rather than place. Additionally, support and other services are often found within LGA bounds, and therefore focus on a single LGA would limit the ability to examine differences in available capital in place.

This study aims to recruit emerging adults from both Brimbank and Bayside. Participants will be aged between 18 and 25, as per the definition of emerging adulthood, and will have lived within their current LGA for a minimum of a year. This is to minimise the possible effects of relocation, and to emphasise any place effects on participant networks and experiences.

Guided by qualitative analysis standards, the proposed study will aim to recruit approximately 5 participants per LGA, as qualitative studies often reach data saturation once n = 10–20 (57–59). Purposeful criterion sampling will be employed, in which participants will be selected based on whether they meet criteria relevant to the research questions (58). These criteria include age (18–25), location (living in one of the two LGAs of inquiry), and duration of residence (minimum of one year in their current LGA). These criteria were chosen to ensure an accurate examination of the networks of emerging adults and the role place plays in these networks, while limiting extraneous variables related to displacement and isolation.

Participants will be recruited through a combination of physical and online advertising. This advertising will be targeted to relevant local hubs (such as universities, libraries, and neighbourhood houses) as well as youth-focused newsletters and online fora. During the recruitment process prospective participants will be provided with a plain language information sheet, as well as a consent form reiterating their rights and expectations within the research process. Their suitability to participate in the study (as per participation requirement criteria) will be assessed during a pre-interview screening telephone call. At this point, participants will have the chance to ask any questions they have regarding the study, the research process, and their rights and expectations. Upon participants having a clear understanding of the study they will have the chance to provide verbal consent, as well as complete a digital consent form. Participants will be consenting to take part in two interviews, the process of which is detailed later in this paper. Participants will receive a $40 gift card after the completion of each interview (process outlined below) in recognition of their time. Financial incentives have been effectively used to reduce participant drop off during time-intensive research, as well as facilitating the involvement of marginalised participants who otherwise might not be able to take part (60).

Given the phased nature of this study, two semi-structured interview schedules were created: one comprising questions designed to elicit the ego social networks of participants (hereafter, the E-SNA protocol) and one comprising open-ended questions designed to elicit the experiences of participants navigating the relationship between place, social networks, and social capital (hereafter, the Lived Experience Protocol).

A pilot study was conducted on a small sample of emerging adults living in Melbourne (n = 3) in order to fine tune both the interview guides and processes. The final procedure and materials outlined in this paper are the result of this testing.

A five-domain interview schedule including 51 questions was created for use in the social network interview detailed later in this paper. These questions, informed by the literature as well as consultation with experts in the field and refined through piloting, are designed to generate the ego social networks of participants. The five domains included in this protocol are detailed in Table 1.

Along with these five domains, the social capital name and organisation generators shown in Table 1 consist of three subdomains based on the kinds of support that could be provided by network alters: emotional support, tangible support, and informational support. These subdomains illustrate the kinds of support which have been found to be important to youths and young adults, and which are present among conceptualisations of social and other capitals (66, 67). In this context, emotional support refers to trusted positive relationships, tangible support refers to direct and practical ways of helping, and informational support refers to the provision of information or advice (67).

Emerging adults (18–25) have been disproportionately disadvantaged by the COVID-19 pandemic; a time in our recent history in which the importance of social networks, access to social capital, and connection to community was reinforced in health and public policy, and throughout the media. Understanding the way emerging adults experience and interact with their networks and local communities could illuminate systemic or structural factors which may help and/or harm the trajectory of their lives. Including health, support, and other organisations in an ego social network model may provide more explicit insight into where and how, and to what end, organisations exist in the networks of emerging adults.

There are some challenges in the practical implementation of this study. Most notably, there is the feasibility of creating network maps in real time while being able to effectively conduct research interviews. Related to this, there is the feasibility of analysing these maps prior to conducting the second interviews with the same emerging adults. This process was tested and refined during the piloting phase. It is worth noting that participants may sometimes forget members of their networks (75). The presentation of individual network maps during the second interview will function as a second chance for participants to ensure they have reported everyone they feel should be included, as well as a prompt for the interview proper. In this way the study benefits from an in-built member checking system, as well as providing greater context to the network data (64, 65). Social network analysis has been used within mixed-methods research designs to increasingly great effect across multiple disciplines (63, 64). This study seeks to build off, and learn from, such studies whilst bringing a novel twist to the way ego social networks are considered within a local Australian milieu. As well, the focus on emerging adults will provide important context to the way relationships with individuals and organisations are being navigated and experienced by those who are beginning to interact with complex societal systems and renegotiate their relationships with themselves and others. This increased contextual understanding may shed light on the impact and efficacy of local health or support organisations and interventions.