Enhancing the Emotional and Social Skills of the Youth to Promote their Wellbeing and Positive Development: A Systematic Review of Universal School-based Randomized Controlled Trials

Background:The acquisition of social and emotional skills is associated with positive youth development, character education, healthy lifestyle behaviours, reduction in depression and anxiety, conduct disorders, violence, bullying, conflict, and anger. School-based interventions aimed to enhance these skills go beyond a problem-focused approach to embrace a more positive view of health; they could also improve the youth’s wellbeing.Aim:To describe the main features and to establish the effectiveness of universal school-based RCTs for children and the youth, aimed to promote their psychosocial wellbeing, positive development, healthy lifestyle behaviours and/or academic performance by improving their emotional and social skills.Methods:Systematic review by searching for relevant papers in PubMed/Medline with the following key words: “mental health” OR “wellbeing” OR “health promotion” OR “emotional learning” OR “social learning” OR “emotional and social learning” OR “positive youth development” OR “life skills” OR “life skills training” AND “school”. Interval was set from January 2000 to April 2014.Results:1,984 papers were identified through the search. Out of them 22 RCTs were included. While most interventions were characterized by a whole-school approach and SAFE practices, few studies only used standardized measures to assess outcomes, or had collected follow-up data after ≥ 6 months. The results of all these trials were examined and discussed.Conclusion:Universal school-based RCTs to enhance emotional and social skills showed controversial findings, due to some methodological issues mainly. Nevertheless they show promising outcomes that are relatively far-reaching for children and youth wellbeing and therefore are important in the real world.

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Strategies for the Development of Life Skills and Values through Sport Programmes

Advances in Marketing, Customer Relationship Management, and E-Services - Emerging Trends and Innovation in Sports Marketing and Management in Asia ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-7527-8.ch014 ◽

2015 ◽

pp. 241-256 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Koon Teck Koh ◽

Martin Camiré

Keyword(s):

Youth Development ◽

Positive Youth Development ◽

Motor Skills ◽

Life Skills ◽

Sport Participation ◽

Positive Development ◽

Training Programmes

Sport is a very popular activity that provides a context suitable for positive youth development (Danish, Forneris, & Wallace, 2005). Although the acquisition of motor skills and sport-specific abilities are indispensable constituents of sport involvement, other elements contributing to athletes' positive development such as life skills and values must be considered (Carron, Hausenblas, & Estabrooks, 2003; Forneris, Camiré, & Trudel, 2012; Landers & Petruzzelo, 1994). Several studies have examined the effectiveness of sport-based programmes designed for developing life skills and values, but a limited amount of research has specifically addressed how to promote this type of material among youth. There is a need for a review that explores the potential approaches for infusing the learning of life skills and values in sport participation, and improving the effectiveness of structured life skills and values-driven training programmes in order to achieve the desired developmental benefits of sport participation.

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School-Based 4-H Programming Series: Positive Youth Development (PYD) and Social Emotional Learning (SEL)—How They Complement Each Other

EDIS ◽

10.32473/edis-4h404-2019 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2019 (5) ◽

pp. 5

Author(s):

Vanessa Spero

Keyword(s):

Youth Development ◽

Positive Youth Development ◽

Life Skills ◽

Social Emotional Learning ◽

Development Program ◽

Emotional Learning ◽

Social Emotional ◽

Youth Development Program ◽

School Based ◽

Program Approach

Positive Youth Development (PYD) promotes building life skills, leadership, and relationships, and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) promotes knowledge, responsibility, and caring. Just as 4-H uses PYD as a framework, so schools use SEL. A whole program approach with appropriate curriculum provide the skills necessary for youth to succeed. This new 5-page publication of the UF/IFAS 4-H Youth Development Program explores the complementary relationship between PYD and SEL in a school-based program setting. Written by Vanessa Spero-Swingle. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/4h404

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School-Based Positive Youth Development: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Journal of School Health ◽

10.1111/josh.12467 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 87 (1) ◽

pp. 71-80 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Tess Curran ◽

Lisa Wexler

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Youth Development ◽

Positive Youth Development ◽

Review Of The Literature ◽

School Based

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Positive Youth Development: Interactions Between Healthy Lifestyle Behaviours and Psychosocial Variables

Global Journal of Health Science ◽

10.5539/gjhs.v10n4p68 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 68 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Margarida Gaspar de Matos ◽

Teresa Santos ◽

Marta Reis ◽

Adilson Marques

Keyword(s):

Youth Development ◽

Positive Youth Development ◽

Health Professionals ◽

Healthy Lifestyle ◽

Self Regulation ◽

Psychosocial Variables ◽

Policy Makers ◽

Lifestyle Behaviours ◽

Positive Indicators ◽

The Impact

The Positive Youth Development - PYD concept emphasised the importance of strengthening developmental assets in youth’s networks and contexts. This paper examines the correlation between PYD, healthy lifestyle behaviours and psychosocial variables (self-regulation, resilience, and anxiety); and the impact of PYD and psychosocial variables on healthy lifestyle behaviours. 2700 youths (73.3% girls; mean age 21.3±2.79 years) were included. Results showed that all variables mostly had significantly correlational associations. Specifically, the linear regression model evidenced that the promotion of PYD and self-regulation, along with the reduction of anxiety can be relevant for improving healthy lifestyle behaviours. Such results suggest a dynamic interdependence between all the present variables, reinforcing the need to study positive indicators for youth development. Having more knowledge in this area can help health professionals, educators, and policy-makers, in order to better plan interventions/policies and to improve an integral healthy perspective for youths, based on interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary work.

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Development of Livelihood Skills through School-Based, Agripreneurship Projects Integrating Youth-Adult Partnerships: The Experiences of Youth Partners in Uganda

Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education ◽

10.5191//jiaee.2020.274111 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 27 (4) ◽

pp. 111-127

Author(s):

Stephen Mukembo ◽

M. Craig Edwards ◽

Craig Watters

Keyword(s):

Youth Development ◽

Positive Youth Development ◽

Life Skills ◽

Project Based Learning ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Learning Approaches ◽

Student Centered ◽

Student Centered Learning ◽

School Based ◽

Sub Saharan

quipping young people with livelihood skills is essential for positive youth development and empowerment as they transition into adulthood to become productive and engaged members of their communities. In Uganda, which may be the case in other nations of Sub-Saharan Africa, and elsewhere, even though many youth are becoming better educated and graduating from high schools and colleges, a majority of these graduates remain either unemployed or underemployed. Many have not acquired the necessary skills to transition from school to becoming employable and self-reliant. This phenomenon has been attributed to an outdated curriculum that does not meet the needs of contemporary times. Further, the mode of instruction in most of Uganda’s schools is teacher-centered and provides little room for student engagement and creativity to generate new knowledge, to have authentic learning experiences, or to reflect. Such challenges may be overcome through student-centered learning approaches involving School-Based, Agripreneurship Projects (SAPs) that integrate Youth-Adult Partnerships (YAPs), as were explored in this study. Evaluation of the students’ experiences through deductive and inductive thematic analysis indicated that they acquired knowledge in poultry science, business, agripreneurship, and life skills, including better communication, leadership, and conflict resolution practices. Longitudinal studies should be conducted to determine the longterm effectiveness and impact of SAPs facilitated by Y-APs on improving youth livelihoods, especially that prepare them with the life skills necessary to be productive citizens. Such research could involve cohort or panel investigations. Keywords: entrepreneurship; positive youth development (PYD); project-based learning (PjBL)

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Positive Youth Development

10.1093/oso/9780190654061.003.0006 ◽

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.

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