The importance of developmental assets to mental health in Norwegian youth

In the present study, we examined the importance of developmental assets to prolonged sadness (i.e., being sad most of the time or all the time for no reason in the last month) and suicide attempt. Cross–sectional data on items measuring developmental assets as well as prolonged sadness and suicide attempt were collected from high school students in Norway (N = 591, 55% girls). The findings from independent t–tests indicated that youth with poor mental health reported less developmental assets relative to their peers who did not report such problems. In logistic regression, asset categories, such as Positive identity and Personal assets, were significantly associated with poor mental health (especially prolonged sadness) after adjusting for other asset categories and demographic factors, such as age, sex, and parents' educational background. The influence of Empowerment and Family assets, which was significant when only the assets were assessed, was no longer significant when demographic variables were also considered. While more research on factors that can promote youth mental health is needed, our findings suggest that policies and programmes that ensure that youth have access to the necessary developmental resources and opportunities may also be empowering youth, enhancing their mental health, and consequently, facilitating their active involvement in their community.publishedVersio

Identity Development and Intervention Studies: The Right Time for a Marriage?

A cohesive identity plays a key role in mental health and well-being. Yet, few studies involving identity have been intervention studies, and few intervention studies have included identity-related variables. In this article, we speculate about why this might be so. We argue that intervention research with young people will be more informative when variables tapping key developmental processes and outcomes such as identity cohesion, style, distress, and turning points are included. Such research can (a) promote positive identity development as an important aim, (b) illuminate processes of identity-related change, and (c) add knowledge about for whom interventions work and why they work, through identity’s mediating or moderating effects. We argue that these integrative steps will make treatment and prevention interventions for young people more effective and potent

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

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.publishedVersio

Editorial: Positive youth development, mental health, and psychological well-being in diverse youth

This is an editorial commentary on the Research Topic entitled: Editorial: Positive youth development, mental health, and psychological well-being in diverse youth. One impetus behind this Research Topic was to examine the ways in which positive development intersects with problematic aspects of development and behavior, with an emphasis on connections to indicators of mental health problems. The second impetus was to take an international approach, including youth from diverse countries and settings who were studied using a variety of etic and emic methods that correspondingly consider cross-culturally common features and features that vary across cultures

A Developmental Intervention Science (DIS) outreach research approach to promoting youth development: Theoretical, methodological, and meta-theoretical challenges.

This paper describes work directed toward creating community-supported positive youth development interventions that draw on a developmental intervention science outreach research approach. With respect to developmental interventions, this approach focuses on creating evidence-based longitudinal change intervention strategies for promoting long-term developmental change. The paper describes three broad challenges (theoretical, methodological, and meta-theoretical) that the authors faced in their efforts to develop and implement community-supported intervention programs built on this approach. The authors describe first the theoretical challenges they addressed in developing the conceptual framework for their community-supported intervention; second, the challenge of developing and refining a methodological framework for evaluating positive youth development interventions in “real-world” settings; and third, the meta-theoretical challenges that arose in the context of implementing community-supported positive development programs

Promoting Positive Identity Development in Troubled Youth: A Developmental Intervention Science Outreach Research Approach

This article illustrates how developmental intervention science outreach research contributes to knowledge development on the promotion of positive identity development by describing results from the Miami Youth Development Project. The project is committed to the use of descriptive and explanatory knowledge about evidence-based individual and institutional intervention strategies for promoting developmental change in self and identity. Our efforts, described here, include a method for measuring theoretically and personally meaningful identity change, a procedure for integrating key aspects of qualitative and quantitative data through relational data analysis, and an evidence-based positive youth development intervention that fosters measurable and meaningful identity change

Children’s social emotional competence in Pakistan and Sweden: Factor structure and measurement invariance of the Social Competence Scale (teacher edition)

IntroductionSocial emotional competence is fundamental to the positive development of children and youth. Accurately understanding and assessing children’s social emotional competencies, using psychometrically sound instruments, are essential to global efforts to support children’s social emotional learning, academic achievements, and health. This study examined the psychometric properties of a teacher-reported measure of young children’s social emotional competence, the Social Competence Scale – Teacher edition (SCS-T), in two samples of children growing up with varied economic resources/conditions, cultural norms, and educational experiences, namely Pakistan (N = 396) and Sweden (N = 309).MethodsParticipants were aged 4–6 years old. The study design was cross-sectional.Results and DiscussionUsing structural equation modelling, bi-factor confirmatory factor analysis models implying shared variance, among all items and domain-specific shared variance, among the prosocial items, emotion regulation items, and academic skills items resulted in good fitting models in each respective sample. Invariance testing across samples revealed a subset of items from each factor structure with partial scalar invariance, whereby five items had equal thresholds and could be comparable across the two samples. Thus, results provided partial support for hypotheses 1, 2, and 3, in that the posited three factor model (H1) was not clearly supported and a bi-factor model evidenced the best fit, among tested models, for both samples. Further, partial scalar invariance (H3) was found for five items out of 25 items, concerning social competence and academic skills. In regards, to the posited research question, the results of Z-tests showed significant (p < 0.001) latent mean differences between the samples. Compared to the Swedish sample, the Pakistani sample was 1.80 units lower on social competence (z = −6.41, p < 0.001) and 1.86 units lower on academic skills (z = −7.87, p < 0.001). The implications of these findings in light of efforts to promote positive child development in diverse parts of the world are considered

A Developmental Intervention Approach to Promoting Positive Development: Pathways of Intervention Change

This paper describes work directed toward creating community-supported positive youth development interventions that draw on a developmental intervention science outreach research approach. With respect to developmental interventions, this approach focuses on creating evidence-based longitudinal change intervention strategies for promoting long-term developmental change. The paper describes three broad challenges (theoretical, methodological, and meta-theoretical) that the authors faced in their efforts to develop and implement community-supported intervention programs built on this approach. The authors describe first the theoretical challenges they addressed in developing the conceptual framework for their community-supported intervention; second, the challenge of developing and refining a methodological framework for evaluating positive youth development interventions in “real-world” settings; and third, the meta-theoretical challenges that arose in the context of implementing community-supported positive development programs

Promoting Positive Youth Development The Miami Youth Development Project (YDP)

The Miami Youth Development Project (YDP) had its beginnings in the early 1990s as a grassroots response to the needs of troubled (multiproblem) young people in the community (Arnett, Kurtines, & Montgomery, 2008, this issue). YDP is an important outcome of efforts to create positive youth development interventions that draw on the strengths of developmental intervention science outreach research in the development of community-supported positive development programs (i.e., an approach that focuses on meeting community needs as well as youth needs by generating innovative knowledge of evidence-based change intervention strategies that are feasible, affordable, and sustainable in “real world” settings, (Kurtines, Ferrer-Wreder, Cass Lorente, Silverman, Montgomery, 2008, this issue). Now completing its second decade, YDP represents an effort to bring together a more empowering model of knowledge development for research involvement in the community, a nuanced and contextualized notion of youth and their development, and methodologies that richly reflect rather than reduce the experiences of the young people whose development the authors seek to promote

Neighborhood conditions in a Swedish context-Two studies of reliability and validity of virtual systematic social observation using Google Street View

IntroductionThe goal of these studies was to investigate the reliability and validity of virtual systematic social observation (virtual SSO) using Google Street View in a Swedish neighborhood context.MethodsThis was accomplished in two studies. Study 1 focused on interrater reliability and construct validity, comparing ratings conducted in-person to those done using Google Street View, across 24 study sites within four postal code areas. Study 2 focused on criterion validity of virtual SSO in terms of neighborhoods with low versus high income levels, including 133 study sites within 22 postal code areas in a large Swedish city. In both studies, assessment of the neighborhood context was conducted at each study site, using a protocol adapted to a Swedish context.ResultsScales for Physical Decay, Neighborhood Dangerousness, and Physical Disorder were found to be reliable, with adequate interrater reliability, high consistency across methods, and high internal consistency. In Study 2, significantly higher levels of observed Physical Decay, Neighborhood Dangerousness, and signs of garbage or litter were observed in postal codes areas (site data was aggregated to postal code level) with lower as compared to higher income levels.DiscussionWe concluded that the scales within the virtual SSO with Google Street View protocol that were developed in this series of studies represents a reliable and valid measure of several key neighborhood contextual features. Implications for understanding the complex person-context interactions central to many theories of positive development among youth were discussed in relation to the study findings