Let's Work Together: Towards Interdisciplinary Collaboration

The study of human development requires a collective effort in addressing complex issues, such as the study of how individuals can overcome adverse childhood experiences to become healthy and happy adults and engaged citizens. Multiple levels of influence have to be considered, such as the role of parents, teachers, peers, neighbourhood characteristics as well as biobehavioral processes. A detailed understanding of the factors and processes shaping human development demands the active collaboration and exchange between experts across domains. Removing barriers to potential interdisciplinary collaboration and exchange remains a crucial challenge for developmental science in the 21st century

Mental health and inequality among youth

Alegria, Green, McLaughlin and Loder (2015) provide a most informative review of four key factors shaping disparities in mental health outcomes among children and adolescents, focusing on the role of socio-economic status, childhood adversities, family structure and neighbourhood factors. The paper concludes with recommendations for a future research agenda, and a plea for a multilevel intervention model addressing the intersection of various forms of inequality, attacking inequity as a whole instead of focusing only on single mechanisms. Their argument confirms the call for broad scope preventative actions by the World Health Organization based on findings from the 2009/2010 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) Study comprising many European countries (WHO, 2010). Yet, in Europe the discussion of social inequality in health is less focused on ethnicity and minority status but on socio-economic position (Braveman, 2012). It is however recognised that attributing all ethnic differences in health to socioeconomic factors is not satisfactory, that for some health outcomes socioeconomic gradients vary between ethnic groups, and not adequately accounting for socioeconomic circumstances when examining ethnic group differences in health can reify ethnicity and its supposed correlates (Bartley, 2004; Davey Smith, 2000)

Towards an Integrative Taxonomy of Social-Emotional Competences

Social-emotional competences are critical for positive development and significantly predict educational and occupational attainment, health, and well-being. There is however a lack of consensus about the number of core competences, and how these are defined and operationalized. This divergence in approach challenges future research as well as the scientific usefulness of the construct. In an effort to create an integrative framework, this focused review evaluates different approaches of conceptualizing and assessing social-emotional competences. Building on shared conceptions, an integrative taxonomy “DOMASEC” is introduced, specifying core domains and manifestations of social-emotional competences that bridge across frameworks focusing on social and emotional learning, personality traits (such as the Big Five) and self-determination theory. Core domains include intrapersonal, interpersonal and task-oriented competencies, differentiating between affective, cognitive, and behavioral manifestations of competences across these domains. It is argued that the integrative taxonomy facilitates the conceptual specification of key constructs, that it helps to better organize the multitude of terms and definitions used, and to guide the conceptualization and operationalization of social-emotional competences and their various facets

Conceptualising Learner Agency: A Socio-Ecological Developmental Approach.Conceptualising Learner Agency: A Socio-Ecological Developmental Approach

This paper addresses the interactions between a developing person and a changing social context shaping the acquisition of new skills and competences. It introduces a socio-ecological developmental approach for conceptualising learner agency, which is informed by expectancy-value models of human behaviour, theories of developmental regulation and ecological theories of life course development. Learner agency is understood to reflect the active and lifelong processes of inquiry, engagement and participation in the world around us. It involves the ability to act intentionally, to make things happen, to be a product as well as a producer of the social world. It is argued that learner agency is not a personality characteristic, but a relational process that emerges through interaction with others, and that its manifestations are shaped by the wider socio-cultural context. As such it is learnable and malleable through experience

A synthesis of causal evidence linking non-cognitive skills to outcomes for children and adolescence

“Non-cognitive skills” is an umbrella term used to refer to a set of attitudes, behaviors and strategies that are thought to underpin success in school and at work, such as motivation, perseverance and self-control. Non-cognitive skills are increasingly considered to be as important, or even more important than, cognitive skills or IQ in explaining academic and employment outcomes. Despite growing interest in this topic, the causal relationship between non-cognitive skills and later outcomes is not well established. This chapter examines the experimental evidence on a diverse set of non-cognitive skills, assessing whether they can be improved and how far they can lead to better longer term outcomes in a variety of domains. We find that there does not seem to be one specific skill that predicts positive outcomes for young people. Rather, many skills are inter-linked and the enhancement of one of these skills without improvement of the others is unlikely to lead to lasting changes

Preventive Interventions for Children and Adolescents: A Review of Meta-Analytic Evidence

This systematic review examines the meta-analytic evidence on four broad categories of preventive interventions for children and adolescents, including: mentoring, service learning, outdoor adventure, and social and emotional learning (SEL) programs. There were 15 meta-analytic studies that fit the criteria for inclusion. For each intervention type, the target population, main implementation strategies, and meta-analytic evidence are reported. The review considers the effectiveness of these preventive interventions across various content areas and populations, providing an indication of which type of intervention has the strongest effects on what outcomes, where they are most beneficial, and for whom they are most promising. Experimental evidence has demonstrated that mentoring, service learning, outdoor adventure, and SEL programs can all promote positive development and prevent problematic behaviors. Overall, service learning, outdoor adventure, and SEL programs have shown small to large effects on a variety of outcomes, while mentoring has shown small but significant effects. The review concludes with a discussion of key criteria that should be considered when choosing a particular program type

Conceptualizing youth transitions in times of economic upheaval and uncertainty: A life course perspective

The lives of young people are shaped by the economic circumstances and social contexts in which they live. In 2008 the world banking collapse, brought on by an overheated housing market in the USA and the deluge of “subprime” mortgages, produced a tidal wave of economic consequences for employment and standards of living that have rightly come to be described as the “Great Recession” (Bell and Blanchflower 2011). Although there was much variation between countries and between regions in the way these effects were experienced, a common feature was that the damage was felt especially by young people trying to find their way from education into the labor market and adult employment. The consequences were variable depending on where, when, in what circumstances, and at what age the transition was attempted. But for some young people it would signal an enhanced likelihood of a life course marred by social and occupational exclusion. While the overall effect of the Great Recession on employment outcomes is well documented (Bell and Blanchflower 2011; Danzinger 2013; Jenkins et al. 2013), there is less attention to variation within and between countries, the diverse pathways taken by young people in navigating a changing economic context, and the ways in which they adjusted to changing circumstances and opportunities. The unique contribution of this book is to bring together evidence from different countries, drawing on comparable and mainly longitudinal data sources to investigate the impact of the Great Recession on the lives of young people and their families and to identify possible leverage for improving the situation of young people today. The book advances the study of changing youth transitions, by examining both material and psychosocial aspects relevant to a better understanding of the consequences brought on by a sudden economic downturn and rising uncertainty among parents and their offspring on the threshold of adulthood. Key questions to be addressed include: What was the impact of the Great Recession on the education, employment, and family transitions of young people? Who are the winners and the losers emerging from the economic downturn? What was the effect on psychosocial capabilities, health, and well-being? Did these effects differ in different cultural contexts, for different subgroups in the population, and for different age groups? What policy interventions can potentially counteract deleterious effects

Descriptive profile of mothers by their experience of out-of-home care in childhood: evidence from the UK Millennium Cohort Study

It is well documented that care-experience can lead to more problematic post-16 transitions and poorer adult outcomes, but less is known about what works to lessen the associations. This research addresses six of the seven key areas of concern identified in the 2013 Care Leaver Strategy – education, employment, finance, health, housing and on-going support – to help inform strategies to assist agencies working with care-leavers and families who are struggling across domains. We find that mothers who had out-of-home care experience in their childhood have poorer socio-economic and psycho-social resources available to them in adulthood, but when their age, ethnicity and qualification levels are taken in to account, any negative pregnancy, childbirth and parenting experiences are fully attenuated. However, care leavers who became parents continue to obtain less education, and experience poorer financial and housing circumstances. Of particular concern are the high levels of general and mental health problems observed across a range of measures together with low levels of life satisfaction in general. The wellbeing of one of the most disadvantaged group of women in our society clearly needs to be better addressed if we are to avoid the intergenerational transmission of disadvantage associated with care experience being passed on to their children

The impact of non-cognitive skills on outcomes for young people. A literature review

The term ‘non-cognitive skills’ refers to a set of attitudes, behaviours, and strategies that are thought to underpin success in school and at work, such as motivation, perseverance, and self-control. They are usually contrasted with the ‘hard skills’ of cognitive ability in areas such as literacy and numeracy, which are measured by academic tests. Non-cognitive skills are increasingly considered to be as important as, or even more important than, cognitive skills or IQ in explaining academic and employment outcomes. Indeed, there is now growing attention from policymakers on how such ‘character’ or ‘soft’ skills can be developed in children and young people. However, despite growing interest in this topic, the causal relationship between non-cognitive skills and later outcomes is not well established. This rapid literature review is intended to summarise the existing evidence on how ‘non-cognitive skills’ can be defined and measured; assess the evidence that such skills have a causal impact on later outcomes; and the role of select interventions that aim to improve non-cognitive skills in children and young people. It has been jointly funded by the Education Endowment Foundation and Cabinet Office to inform future work in this area