Social-personal responsibility as the basis for the formation of an at-risk adolescent as a subject of self-development

Introduction. The need to form responsibility as a personality trait that ensures personal growth and development of each person is currently considered as a condition for adaptation to the modern world. The problem of responsibility in relation to the category of at-risk adolescents is characterized by the importance of the formation of social-personal responsibility as a generalizing characteristic of volitional behavior, synthesizing and including manifestations of various volitional, moral-volitional and moral qualities of an individual. The purpose of the article is to study the main components of social-personal responsibility as the basis for the formation of at-risk adolescents as a subject of self-development, the conditions for the formation of personal responsibility in the specified category of adolescents. Materials and methods. The study was carried out in seven (7) educational institutions in the city of Tula and the Tula region (Russian Federation) among 13-14-year-old adolescents (n=103, of which 16 were attributed to the risk group). The diagnostic program included the following methods for the study of responsibility, coping strategies, self-esteem, self-control in communication among the subjects. Methods of mathematical statistics: G-test, Pearson's chi-squared test. Research results. It was revealed that in at-risk adolescents, the identified components of social-personal responsibility (cognitive, emotional, volitional, behavioral ones) are weak links that negatively affect the course of their subjective-personal development, distorting the directions of self-development at this age, leading them onto the deviant development path. At the control stage of the experiment, differences were revealed in all indicators of the studied variables for each component. The number of at-risk adolescents with low indicators of responsibility, communicative control, willpower, with pronounced maladjustment has decreased, the number of students with adequate self-esteem has increased. The least significant shifts occurred in the behavioral component. According to the “School of Responsibility” methodology, the value of the χ2 criterion is 4.952; “Diagnostics of general self-esteem” by G.N. Kazantseva (χ2 = 3.256); “Assessment of self-control in communication” (χ2 = 4.91); “Self-assessment of willpower” (χ2 = 0.686); “Coping strategies” (χ2 = 3.841). The relationship between the factorial and effective traits is statistically insignificant, the level of significance is p> 0.05. This indicates the need to continue working with the identified at-risk adolescents. Conclusion. A set of psychological-pedagogical tools for the formation of social-personal responsibility in at-risk adolescents should include as follows: individual and group consultations, interactive seminars, master classes, quests, discussions, classes with training elements, project activities, role-playing games, training lessons.

Building Resilience in At-Risk Adolescents: Comparing the mechanisms and outcomes of two school-based prevention programmes

<p>This study sought to confirm and expand literature on psychological health by comparing and contrasting the effects of two prevention programmes, one focused on reducing negative affect and the other focused on enhancing positive affect, and by revealing possible pathways that might lead to increased wellbeing and resilience and reduced negative affect and depressive symptoms. Two school-based intervention approaches were examined: Kiwi ACE (Adolescents Coping with Emotions) and PAL (Positive Approaches to Life), to investigate which techniques would prevent the occurrence of depression, increase wellbeing, and help build resilience in Year 9 students (13-yr-olds). Kiwi ACE is a programme based on a CBT (Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy) model and was trialled previously with success. PAL kept within the same structure as Kiwi ACE but used strategies aimed at building a capacity within students to develop positive emotions in order to build resources for present and future challenges. Both programmes aimed to build resilience and prevent the development of depression in at-risk adolescents. Nine schools from the wider Wellington region in New Zealand participated in the current study. Sixty-five students identified as at-risk, participated in one of the two programmes, and 69 students constituted the control group. All students in the current study were at risk of developing depression, pre-intervention, as suggested by a mild-moderate score on the CDI (Children's Depression Inventory). Both programmes consisted of weekly one hour sessions enacted over 12 weeks during which a group of approximately 10 students met with a clinical psychologist and school counsellor. A survey consisting of a range of scales, measured students' scores pre- and post- programme, at six months and one year after the programme was completed. Kiwi ACE and PAL both decreased depressive symptoms and increased well-being for up to one year after the programme. However, PAL had stronger effects in promoting gratitude, satisfaction with life, happiness, and resilience. Mediation analysis revealed that Kiwi ACE helped to decrease depressive symptoms by increasing students' sense of environmental mastery and increased students' well-being scores by decreasing the intensity and frequency of participants’ negative emotions. In contrast, PAL helped to decrease depressive symptoms, and increase well-being and resilience through many routes, namely through increasing gratitude, meaning, happiness and satisfaction with life. The findings of this study reveal that building a capacity for positive emotions can help develop many resources that protect students from depressive symptoms and increase their psychological well-being and personal resilience. In addition, using positive emotions as a resource is equally effective as using CBT strategies in preventing depression and is more effective in increasing positive outcomes, including personal resilience. Finally the results from PAL indicate that cultivating positive emotions such as gratitude and happiness is an effective way to build personal resilience in adolescence.</p>

Building Resilience in At-Risk Adolescents: Comparing the mechanisms and outcomes of two school-based prevention programmes

<p>This study sought to confirm and expand literature on psychological health by comparing and contrasting the effects of two prevention programmes, one focused on reducing negative affect and the other focused on enhancing positive affect, and by revealing possible pathways that might lead to increased wellbeing and resilience and reduced negative affect and depressive symptoms. Two school-based intervention approaches were examined: Kiwi ACE (Adolescents Coping with Emotions) and PAL (Positive Approaches to Life), to investigate which techniques would prevent the occurrence of depression, increase wellbeing, and help build resilience in Year 9 students (13-yr-olds). Kiwi ACE is a programme based on a CBT (Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy) model and was trialled previously with success. PAL kept within the same structure as Kiwi ACE but used strategies aimed at building a capacity within students to develop positive emotions in order to build resources for present and future challenges. Both programmes aimed to build resilience and prevent the development of depression in at-risk adolescents. Nine schools from the wider Wellington region in New Zealand participated in the current study. Sixty-five students identified as at-risk, participated in one of the two programmes, and 69 students constituted the control group. All students in the current study were at risk of developing depression, pre-intervention, as suggested by a mild-moderate score on the CDI (Children's Depression Inventory). Both programmes consisted of weekly one hour sessions enacted over 12 weeks during which a group of approximately 10 students met with a clinical psychologist and school counsellor. A survey consisting of a range of scales, measured students' scores pre- and post- programme, at six months and one year after the programme was completed. Kiwi ACE and PAL both decreased depressive symptoms and increased well-being for up to one year after the programme. However, PAL had stronger effects in promoting gratitude, satisfaction with life, happiness, and resilience. Mediation analysis revealed that Kiwi ACE helped to decrease depressive symptoms by increasing students' sense of environmental mastery and increased students' well-being scores by decreasing the intensity and frequency of participants’ negative emotions. In contrast, PAL helped to decrease depressive symptoms, and increase well-being and resilience through many routes, namely through increasing gratitude, meaning, happiness and satisfaction with life. The findings of this study reveal that building a capacity for positive emotions can help develop many resources that protect students from depressive symptoms and increase their psychological well-being and personal resilience. In addition, using positive emotions as a resource is equally effective as using CBT strategies in preventing depression and is more effective in increasing positive outcomes, including personal resilience. Finally the results from PAL indicate that cultivating positive emotions such as gratitude and happiness is an effective way to build personal resilience in adolescence.</p>

Randomized Clinical Trial of Primary Care Based Online Depression Prevention Intervention: Impact on Adolescent Modifiable Factors and Behaviors

The developmental period of adolescence can pose a risk for the onset of depressive disorders, but is also a time when potentially modifiable factors and behaviors related to depressive episode onset can develop. An online health intervention can provide an opportunity to reach at-risk adolescents in between primary care visits and could impact these modifiable factors and behaviors to support healthy development. We explore the Competent Adulthood Transition with Cognitive-Behavioral, Humanistic, and Interpersonal Therapy (CATCH-IT), a self-directed online cognitive behavioral therapy prevention intervention, and its impact on modifiable factors and behaviors related to: (1) program completion, (2) normative adolescent development, (3) coping, (4) family relations, (5) general health behaviors, and (6) externalizing behaviors, in a primary care sample of adolescents at intermediate to high risk of developing depression. Adolescents were enrolled into either CATCH-IT or Health Education (HE) control group and followed for 24 months. CATCH-IT improved some factors related to program completion (e.g., motivation, recommendation to peers for depression prevention, and physician positive relationship), coping (e.g., perceived behavior change), and family relations (e.g., parental psychological control, sibling relative status) as compared to HE. HE improved normative adolescent development (e.g., health and loss life events) as compared to CATCH-IT. CATCH-IT utilized in primary care may benefit some at-risk adolescents in selective factors and behaviors.