The Positive Perspective on Youth Development

2017 ◽  
pp. 543-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret L. Kern ◽  
Nansook Park ◽  
Daniel Romer
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Youth Development ◽  
Positive Youth Development ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Positive Development ◽  
Positive Education ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Positive Perspective ◽  
Mental Well Being

This chapter covers positive youth development, positive psychology, and positive education, which suggest that mental health is more than the absence of mental illness and involves proactively supporting the mental well-being of young people. The assets of youth that protect against problems and allow young people to do well include both individual psychological characteristics and aspects of their social context. Positive approaches aim to maximize the potential of young people by encouraging both personal and environmental assets. Research findings over the past three decades have brought empirical support for key premises of positive youth development and have provided important insights into individual and contextual factors that underlie youth thriving. Future studies will continue to refine measures, improve interventions, and use empirical findings to understand and influence the processes that give rise to positive development.

Positive Youth Development

2021 ◽  
pp. 87-108
Author(s):  
Nora Wiium ◽  
Fitim Uka
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Youth Development ◽  
Positive Youth Development ◽  
The United States ◽  
Positive Development ◽  
Social Competencies ◽  
Use Of Time ◽  
Positive Identity ◽  
Policies And Programs ◽  
Communist Countries

Consistent with the positive youth development perspective, the experience of internal and external assets is associated with positive development or thriving among young people. This proposal has been developed and tested mainly in the United States but it also appears to be considerably true for Roma youth living in post-communist countries. This chapter examines Roma youth (N = 354) experience of various developmental assets and how these assets are related to thriving. Study results indicated positive relations between the assets and thriving, in general. In addition, the experience of constructive use of time was quite low among Roma youth relative to internal assets, such as commitment to learning, positive values, social competencies, and positive identity, and other external assets such as support, empowerment, and boundaries and expectations. While this low experience of constructive use of time could be a general trend among young people, it could also reflect the discrimination and social exclusion that Roma youth often face. Because Roma youth across Europe form a significant and growing proportion of the school-age population and consequently the future workforce, policies and programs that promote both internal and external assets necessary for thriving are essential because thriving has been associated with the development of self and society.

scholarly journals The 5Cs of Positive Youth Development, Purpose in Life, Hope, and Well-Being Among Emerging Adults in Malaysia

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nor Ba’yah Abdul Kadir ◽  
Rusyda Helma Mohd
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Youth Development ◽  
Positive Youth Development ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Purpose In Life ◽  
Emerging Adult ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Positive Development

A substantial body of evidence supports Lerner and colleagues’ 5Cs model of positive youth development (PYD) in the United States (U.S.). Nonetheless, it remains unclear whether the 5Cs can be used to identify positive development in the under-researched Asian contexts, such as Malaysia. Thus, this study examined the 5Cs of PYD (competence, confidence, character, connection, and caring) and their importance to purpose in life, hope, and well-being in a sample of emerging adult undergraduate university students in Malaysia. Data were collected from 400 participants from 15 Malaysian universities (132 males, 268 females; ages ranged from 18 to 26 years old, M = 22). A hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that two of the 5Cs of PYD (confidence and connection) as well as hope were important to explaining variation in well-being. The findings imply that there are strong links between PYD, especially confidence and connection, and well-being, while purpose in life and hope were indirectly related to the 2Cs (confidence and connection) of PYD and well-being. Therefore, mental health professionals are encouraged to review and redefine their treatment design to include confidence, connection, purpose in life and hope when working with Malaysian emerging adult university students.

scholarly journals A Roadmap for Youth Thriving: A Commentary on the Arnold and Gagnon Vision for Positive Youth Development

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 147-161
Author(s):  
Richard M. Lerner
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Youth Development ◽  
Positive Youth Development ◽  
Positive Development ◽  
Learning And Development ◽  
Developmental Science ◽  
Science Theory ◽  
The Common ◽  
Theory Research ◽  
Development Practice

Youth development researchers and practitioners have the common goal of understanding and enhancing the positive development of all young people. The work of Professors Mary Arnold and Ryan Gagnon on the 4-H Thriving Model provides a creative and richly theoretically and empirically informed vision for promoting positive youth development (PYD) through integrating youth development research and practice. Their vision is an exemplar of how theoretically predicated and cutting-edge developmental science and the enactment of youth programs can be mutually informative. Drawing on the theory, research, and ideas for program design encompassed within the Science of Learning and Development (SoLD) Alliance, which applies developmental scholarship that integrates research from multiple disciplines and underscores the malleability, agency, and specificity of mutually influential coactions between youth and their contexts, Professors Arnold and Gagnon illustrate the features of researchópractice integration that must be enacted for innovative progress in programs aimed at enhancing youth thriving. The compelling roadmap for promoting PYD through the integrations framed by the 4-H Thriving Model will advance youth development practice, developmental science theory and research and, most important, the lives of the diverse young people of our nation.

scholarly journals Positive Youth Development and Mental Well-Being in Late Adolescence: The Role of Body Appreciation. Findings From a Prospective Study in Norway

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helga Bjørnøy Urke ◽  
Ingrid Holsen ◽  
Torill Larsen
Keyword(s):  
Youth Development ◽  
Positive Youth Development ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Appreciation ◽  
Healthy Development ◽  
Cluster Randomized ◽  
A Prospective Study ◽  
Mental Well Being

Although a vulnerable period, adolescence is a time of great potential for healthy development. Understanding factors that contribute to mental well-being in this period is of great importance to facilitate for healthy development. During the adolescence period the body goes through rapid and considerable changes, and the focus on body appearance and perfection is substantial at societal, media, and peer level. In this study, we investigated the association between dimensions characterizing positive youth development, and mental well-being among Norwegian adolescents 16–17 years 1 year later, and whether this association was mediated by degree of body appreciation. We further tested whether the indirect and direct paths between positive youth development dimensions and mental well-being were moderated by gender. We used data from the first and second follow-up of the control arm of the COMPLETE study, a cluster randomized controlled trial in upper secondary schools in Norway. Findings showed that positive youth development in grade 1, as measured by both a combined global PYD and the dimensions competence, and connection were significantly associated with mental well-being in grade 2 in models adjusted for mental well-being in grade 1, gender and perceived family affluence. Also, body appreciation in grade 1 significantly predicted mental well-being in grade 2 in models including each of global PYD, competence, connection, character, and caring dimensions. Contrary to our hypothesis, no mediating effects of body appreciation were observed, and no moderation of indirect effects by gender were observed.

scholarly journals Beliefs in the Future as a Positive Youth Development Construct: A Conceptual Review

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel C. F. Sun ◽  
Daniel T. L. Shek
Keyword(s):  
Youth Development ◽  
Positive Youth Development ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Positive Development ◽  
Personal Mastery ◽  
Supportive Environment ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
The Future ◽  
Sociocultural Values ◽  
Future Outcomes

Beliefs in the future are an internalization of hope and optimism about future outcomes. This paper reviews and compares several theories of hope and optimism and highlights the features constituting beliefs in the future. This paper points out that beliefs in the future include a series of goal-directed thoughts and motivation, such as setting up valued and attainable goals, planning pathways, and maintaining self-confidence and mastery, so as to keep adolescents engaged in the pursuit of goals. This kind of personal mastery, together with sociocultural values, family, school, and peers are the antecedents leading to beliefs in the future, which is related to adolescents’ well-being and positive development. In order to cultivate adolescents’ beliefs in the future, enabling their ability to manipulate goal-directed thoughts and motivation and providing a supportive environment including their family, school, peers, and the society are recommended.

scholarly journals Qualitative and Quantitative Assessments of Thriving and Contribution in Early Adolescence: Findings from the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 20-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Eva Alberts ◽  
Elise DiDenti Christiansen ◽  
Paul Chase ◽  
Sophie Naudeau ◽  
Erin Phelps ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Youth Development ◽  
Positive Youth Development ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Sixth Grade ◽  
Positive Development ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Generational Groups ◽  
Quantitative Analyses ◽  
Axial Coding

Research and practice in youth development converge in an interest in positive development, or thriving. They converge also in seeking to promote among youth an orientation to act in support of their own and others’ well-being through contributions to self, family, and community. Based on the results of both qualitative (open and axial coding of parents’ and students’ answers to several open-ended questions) and quantitative analyses of data from Wave 2 (Sixth Grade; 2003-2004) of the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development (PYD), we found that adolescents and parents define a thriving youth in different ways and, as well, that the groups differ in the salience of contribution as part of their respective conceptions of thriving. We discuss the implications for research and practice of the two generational groups’ contrasting views of thriving and contribution.

Flourishing in Emerging Adulthood

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura M. Padilla-Walker ◽  
Larry J. Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Moral Development ◽  
Emerging Adulthood ◽  
Youth Development ◽  
Positive Youth Development ◽  
Developmental Time ◽  
Positive Development ◽  
Broad Definition ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Definition Of

This opening chapter of the volume provides a broad definition of flourishing and argues that there are a variety of ways to flourish during emerging adulthood. It urges researchers to consider both the positive and negative sides of this time period. Emerging adulthood has been referred to as a time of arrested development, during which young people avoid responsibilities that are thought to be typical of adulthood. Yet this is also a unique developmental time period in which positive development is fostered. There are many opportunities available for positive development, civic engagement, and moral development. There has also been a surge in the study of positive youth development. This chapter reviews this research, and also highlights how the following chapters meet the goals of the volume.

Roma Youth

2021 ◽  
pp. 63-84
Author(s):  
Pasquale Musso ◽  
Cristiano Inguglia ◽  
Michele Mannoia ◽  
Alida Lo Coco
Keyword(s):  
Youth Development ◽  
Positive Youth Development ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Positive Development ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Youth Groups ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
Developmental Functioning

This chapter highlights the importance of integrating research on positive youth development processes in the most disadvantaged youth groups. The authors focused on Roma youth, representing a prototypical low-status minority group. The first part of the chapter examines the demographics and the socially, politically, and ideologically challenging contexts in which Roma young people are embedded, taking into account the case of Italy, one European country with high anti-Roma sentiments. The second part summarizes the literature that deals with social-psychological factors underlying the developmental functioning and optimal well-being of Roma youth in spite of adversity. The third part focuses on the understudied issue of intervention strategies for oppressed populations like Roma and highlights not only the developmental research that provides guidance to the design of effective positive youth development program, but also the significant knowledge produced by persons who have close familiarity with the Roma youth condition and daily encounters to observe and test empirically positive processes of change. The conclusion suggests implications for future research and interventions as well as for current social policy to promote positive development globally, even in the most stigmatized youth.

scholarly journals The Importance of Positive Psychological Strengths in Well-Being and Adjustment of Romanian Emerging Adults: A Pattern and Variable-Oriented Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Ferrer-Wreder ◽  
Kyle Eichas ◽  
Delia Stefenel ◽  
Carmen Buzea ◽  
Nora Wiium
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Youth Development ◽  
Positive Youth Development ◽  
Transition To Adulthood ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Positive Development ◽  
Unexpected Finding ◽  
Class 1 ◽  
Five Cs ◽  
Psychological Strengths

Transition to adulthood in countries that have seen recent historical structural changes in society as well as changes in what it means to be an adult represents important contexts for investigations of ways in which positive development and transition to adulthood are experienced. Situated in such context, this cross-sectional study aimed to (1) describe profiles of positive psychological strengths, as measured by the Five Cs of positive youth development (PYD) and (2) document how identified profiles might differ in relation to other aspects of positive and problematic development. Participants were 272 Romanian emerging adults attending university (76% female; aged 19–29 years old, Mage = 21 years old). Latent class analysis was performed to identify patterns of psychological strengths using the Five Cs theory of positive youth development. Pairwise Wald chi square difference tests were then conducted to determine if the identified Five Cs profiles were associated with significant differences in other key outcomes. Findings indicated that, a two-class model emerged as the best fitting model, and in this model, Class 1 was similar to Class 2 on strengths of competence, confidence, and connection. However, the two classes were distinguishable by caring and character, with Class 2, the numerically more common profile (89%), being elevated on character and caring relative to Class 1 (which was a less frequently occurring profile, 11%). This finding highlights the importance of examining the diversity of positive development, even within the same theoretical framework. Further results indicated that the two identified classes showed similarities in problematic behaviors as well as in purpose in life and psychological complaints. Other group difference tests by profile/class indicated that Class 2 was higher in general and social well-being relative to Class 1, with a trend in the same direction for hope. However, an unexpected finding was that Class 2 was also elevated in somatic complaints relative to Class 1. These are important findings not only because of the contribution to the generalizability of the Five Cs theory and measure but also because of the implications of the findings to research, policy, and practice in the Romanian context and beyond.

scholarly journals Psychological Morbidity among University Students in Hong Kong (2014–2018): Psychometric Properties of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) and Related Correlates

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (16) ◽  
pp. 8305
Author(s):  
Xiang Li ◽  
Daniel T. L. Shek ◽  
Esther Y. W. Shek
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
University Students ◽  
Psychometric Properties ◽  
Youth Development ◽  
Positive Youth Development ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Psychological Morbidity

Although mental health problems among Hong Kong university students are serious, there is a lack of studies examining the psychometric properties of related assessment scales and correlates. This study attempted to validate the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) in Hong Kong university students and examine the demographic (gender), time (cohort), and well-being correlates (positive youth development attributes and life satisfaction) of psychological morbidity. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine the factor structure of the DASS (n = 6704). Gender and cohort invariance were further established using a multigroup CFA. The three-factor model of the DASS showed a superior fit and factorial invariance across gender and five different cohorts. Regarding gender and cohort correlates of psychological morbidity, males exhibited more depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms than their female counterparts. The intensity of psychological distress also escalated after the Umbrella Movement in 2014. Furthermore, well-being measures (positive youth development and life satisfaction) were negatively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. In short, the Chinese DASS demonstrated good psychometric properties. This study also showed that gender, cohort (occurrence of political events), and well-being were associated with psychological morbidity indexed by the DASS measures.

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