Identifying the Associations between Child Temperament and Father Involvement: Theoretical Considerations and Empirical Evidence

Using a sample of resident fathers (either married or cohabiting) from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 2,213), this study assessed the relationship between child temperament and father involvement. The direct effects of child temperament on father involvement, as well as its moderating effect on the association between other predictor variables and father involvement were measured. A two-equation model was estimated, using a two-stage least squares (2SLS) regression procedure. Findings suggest that fathers are less involved with temperamentally difficult children than with temperamentally easy children. Further, temperament moderated the strength of the association between parental relationship quality and father involvement for married fathers. Implications for intervention programs targeted at increasing paternal involvement are discussed.Father Involvement, Child Temperament, Parental Relationship Quality, Moderation Effects, Endogeneity-Exogeneity, 2SLS

Positive Youth Development: Processes, Programs, and Problematics

Using the tripartite conception of positive youth development (PYD) suggested by Hamilton (1999) – as a developmental process, a philosophy or approach to youth programming, and as instances of youth programs and organizations focused on fostering the healthy or positive development of youth – we review different theoretical models of the developmental process involved in PYD. In addition, we review the ideas for and the features of youth development programs aimed at promoting PYD. We discuss the need for research interrelating different, theoretically-predicated measures of PYD and, as well, the importance of clear links between models of the PYD developmental process and of the youth development programs seeking to enhance PYD among diverse youth. We discuss several conceptual and practical problematics that must be addressed in order to integrate the three facets of PYD scholarship

The Role of Intentional Self-Regulation, Lower Neighborhood Ecological Assets, and Activity Involvement in Youth Developmental Outcomes

Extracurricular activities provide a key context for youth development, and participation has been linked with positive developmental outcomes. Using data from the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development (PYD), this study explored how the intentional self regulation ability of youth interacted with participation in extracurricular activities to affect PYD among adolescents living in neighborhoods with relatively low ecological assets. In total, 545 youth were included in the study (50.3% female). Most of the youth were European American (41%) or Latino (37%; African American, 10%; Asian American, 7%; Native American, 4%; and other, 1%). In general, youth with the greatest capacity to self regulate benefitted the most, as compared to their peers with less capacity to self regulate, from involvement in extracurricular activities. Consistent with a developmental systems perspective, and specifically with bioecological theory, the findings from this study confirmed that, within lower asset settings, children with the most positive person-level factors (intentional self regulation) benefit the most from proximal processes such as extracurricular activity involvement

The Role of Neighborhood Ecological Assets and Activity Involvement in Youth Developmental Outcomes: Differential Impacts of Asset Poor and Asset Rich Neighborhoods

Developmental system theories recognize that variables from multiple levels of organization within the bioecology of human development contribute to adolescent development, including individual factors, family factors and the neighborhood which includes extracurricular activities. Extracurricular activities provide a context for youth development, and participation has been linked with positive developmental outcomes. This study uses data from a subsample of early adolescents in the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development to determine whether neighborhood assets moderate the effect of adolescent activity involvement on positive and negative developmental outcomes. The relationship between activity involvement and neighborhood assets was different for girls as compared to boys when assessing outcomes of positive youth development, risk behavior, and depression. Consistent with a developmental systems perspective, the findings affirm the need for researchers and practitioners to consider multiple contextual influences when seeking to understand or promote, respectively, positive youth development

Self-Regulation Processes and Thriving in Childhood and Adolescence: A View of the Issues.

Both organismic and intentional self-regulation processes must be integrated across childhood and adolescence for adaptive developmental regulations to exist and for the developing person to thrive, both during the first two decades of life and through the adult years. To date, such an integrated, life-span approach to self-regulation during childhood and adolescence has not been fully formulated. The purpose of this monograph is to provide such integration; in this introduction, the editors of the monograph explain the purposes of the volume and provide a brief overview of the work of the contributing scholars