Thesis advisor: Jacqueline Lerner / Previous research has found higher levels of school engagement to be related to various positive outcomes such as higher academic achievement, higher levels of competence, lower depression, and better personal adjustment. Overall, there is strong evidence to suggest a broad positive association between school engagement and a variety of academic, social, and emotional outcomes. However, existing work has certain limitations and some important questions remain to be addressed. In an effort to address the limitations of previous research, this study aimed to establish the within and across time relationships between family and contextual variables and school engagement. The sample for this longitudinal study included 596 students who were part of the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development. These students were first surveyed in the fifth grade and completed subsequent questionnaires in the 6th and 7th grade (44% male; 56% female). In addition to the CES-D, several scales were constructed from the broad array of measures used in the 4-H study. The goals of this research were to identify the within and across time family and contextual predictors of school engagement, the predictors of the emotional and cognitive outcomes that result when adolescents are engaged in school, and to determine whether school engagement acts as a mediator between the variables of school climate, teacher support and parental involvement and the outcomes of grades, perceived academic competence, depression, educational aspirations, and educational expectations. The effects of gender, SES, and race were also examined. Statistical tools including regression analysis and tests of mediation were used. The findings indicated that the predictors of school engagement varied for 5th, 6th, and 7th graders in this sample. The changing predictors of school engagement and thus, the ways in which school engagement mediated the relationships between family and contextual variables and developmental outcomes demonstrated the fluidity of the adolescent and their changing needs and influences. These findings also illustrated the value of the longitudinal design of this study. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2008. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology.

This thesis investigated pupil and staff experiences of a curricular sports programme known as the Scottish School of Sport (SSoS). Participation in these types of sports programmes is a promising avenue to foster what is known as Positive Youth Development (PYD; Holt, 2008). PYD is based on a strengths-based model, in which youth are seen as having the ability to develop and enhance socially desirable characteristics. As greater responsibility is placed within the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) for enhancing aspects commonly associated with PYD such as social and emotional well-being, it is essential to understand how school provision may develop these characteristics. The majority of research involving sport and youth development is cross-sectional and quantitative in nature, with very few studies drawing on qualitative evidence. In addition, research involving curricular sports programmes such as the SSoS, and their ability to foster aspects of PYD is limited. This research employed a sequential multi-phase mixed methods design consisting of three phases (QUAL→QUAN→QUAL). The three phases of research began with an exploratory design, which sought to understand the research context through documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews with associated SSoS staff (Phase 1) and then to investigate pupil PYD reports with a longitudinal quantitative design that was comprised of two survey questionnaires (Phase 2). The final phase (Phase 3) was explanatory in nature and utilised semi-structured interviews with pupils both enrolled and not enrolled in the SSoS; these interviews sought explanations for the results which emerged from the previous two phases. A further extension phase, which analysed Tweets and the physical environment of the school, was devised to add further depth to findings from the earlier data collection. Findings overall indicated that while participation in the SSoS was a positive and engaging experience for most pupils, it was unclear if the pupils perceive the positive outcomes to be transferrable to other contexts, which was a key overarching aim of the SSoS. Programme ‘selection’ appeared to be a self-validating factor for increases in pupils’ confidence in their athletic ability. With recent requirements such as ‘playing for the school team’ added to the programme documentation, the SSoS has, perhaps unwittingly, taken on a ‘sports-plus’ approach, where the developmental aims have become secondary to sport performance. This research adds to the continuing conversation regarding the possible developmental nature of sport programmes and the continued search for positive avenues in which to enhance social and emotional development and HWB in the school context.

The purpose of this mixed method study was to investigate the relationship between the narrative construction of self-identity and positive change in antisocial behaviour in pregnant and parenting young women. It focused on two related aspects of identity development: (1) individuals’ conceptualizations of their personally salient self-values; and (2) “self-action coherence”: the process of constructing self-narratives that establish coherence between one’s personally salient self-values and behaviour. This study also included a qualitative exploration of how becoming a mother in adolescence and early adulthood is related to processes of identity development and behavioural change. Participants were 27 pregnant and parenting young women (ages 16 to 22) recruited from youth-serving agencies in Toronto, Ontario. Participants completed a questionnaire on history of engagement in antisocial behaviour and a semi-structured interview that explored self-identity and critical life experiences. Analyses of participant interviews suggest that positive behavioural change in pregnant and parenting young women is related to active engagement in self-reflection motivated by a convergence of meaning gleaned from a variety of life experiences, including the transition to motherhood. Quantitative findings suggest that: (1) an orientation to relational values is related to lower reported recent engagement in antisocial behaviour; (2) self-action coherence develops across adolescence and early adulthood; and (3) self-action coherence is related to reported positive behavioural change. Overall, the findings suggest that an orientation to relationships is important for establishing positive patterns of behaviour and that positive behavioural change in pregnant and parenting young women involves a process of constructing personally salient self-values and establishing behaviours that cohere with these values. The findings have theoretical implications relating to identity development in adolescence and early adulthood and its relations to behavioural functioning. The findings also have implications for applied work with pregnant and parenting young women with histories of antisocial behaviour.

The purpose of this mixed method study was to investigate the relationship between the narrative construction of self-identity and positive change in antisocial behaviour in pregnant and parenting young women. It focused on two related aspects of identity development: (1) individuals’ conceptualizations of their personally salient self-values; and (2) “self-action coherence”: the process of constructing self-narratives that establish coherence between one’s personally salient self-values and behaviour. This study also included a qualitative exploration of how becoming a mother in adolescence and early adulthood is related to processes of identity development and behavioural change. Participants were 27 pregnant and parenting young women (ages 16 to 22) recruited from youth-serving agencies in Toronto, Ontario. Participants completed a questionnaire on history of engagement in antisocial behaviour and a semi-structured interview that explored self-identity and critical life experiences. Analyses of participant interviews suggest that positive behavioural change in pregnant and parenting young women is related to active engagement in self-reflection motivated by a convergence of meaning gleaned from a variety of life experiences, including the transition to motherhood. Quantitative findings suggest that: (1) an orientation to relational values is related to lower reported recent engagement in antisocial behaviour; (2) self-action coherence develops across adolescence and early adulthood; and (3) self-action coherence is related to reported positive behavioural change. Overall, the findings suggest that an orientation to relationships is important for establishing positive patterns of behaviour and that positive behavioural change in pregnant and parenting young women involves a process of constructing personally salient self-values and establishing behaviours that cohere with these values. The findings have theoretical implications relating to identity development in adolescence and early adulthood and its relations to behavioural functioning. The findings also have implications for applied work with pregnant and parenting young women with histories of antisocial behaviour.

Physical activity programs are contexts that have the potential to foster adolescents’ development, yet researchers assert that the environment must be deliberately designed for this to occur (Danish et al., 2004). The Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (GJWHF) program was developed for this purpose and was implemented over the course of one year at a local Boys and Girls Club. The objective of this research project was to evaluate the GJWHF program as there is a dearth of evaluations of community-based programs (Salmon et al., 2007). Results identified successes, challenges, and practical recommendations for community programmers. Further, results found that GJWHF adhered to Petitpas et al.’s (2005) framework for planning youth sport programs that foster psychosocial development. Specifically, GJWHF was successful in providing a positive and supportive female-only environment for female youth that utilized positive leader support to foster the development of friendships and identity formation, and facilitate the development of a variety of life skills, including leadership and teamwork.

The purpose of this doctoral thesis was to develop, implement and evaluate the PULSE program, a community-based physical activity and life skills program for at-risk youth. The thesis is composed of four articles. The first paper describes the rationale and development of the PULSE program which was designed to help youth develop the skills to self-regulate and successfully perform physical activity. The second article presents a process evaluation of the PULSE program. This article examines how the youth progressed through the program with regards to the five levels of the Teaching and Social Responsibility (TPSR) model, one of the frameworks on which the PULSE program is based. A second purpose of this study was to understand the youths’ perceptions of the impact of the program on these five levels. The results indicated that the program led to slight increases in the five levels of the TPSR model and the youth reported transferring the skills they learned related to the levels in their lives outside of the program. The third paper represents an outcome evaluation of the PULSE program. Results showed that youth who participated in PULSE increased their fitness, physical activity levels as well as a number of positive youth development outcomes. Finally, the fourth paper examined how the PULSE program helps support the tenets of Basic Needs Theory. The results indicated that the program successfully nurtured the three basic needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness. The overall findings suggest that the PULSE program is a practical, evidence-informed program that may help youth understand and apply life skills to be physically active as they approach adulthood, and also more generally in their lives. The current findings show promise for both Physical Activity (PA) and Positive Youth Development (PYD) outcomes but further research is needed to make causal links.

The purpose of this Master’s thesis was to evaluate coaches’ program delivery in Golf Canada’s national youth programming, Learn to Play, regarding two components: (a) the consistency of teaching life skills and (b) the quality of program delivery. The Learn to Play program has recently been updated to include an explicit approach to teaching life skills through golf. Data collection included a pre-season interview, three in-season observations, a post-season questionnaire, and a post-season interview. Two articles were written. Using the implicit/explicit continuum of life skills development and transfer (Bean, Kramers, Forneris, & Camiré, 2018), Article One qualitatively explored coaches’ (N = 13; Mage = 38) consistency of life skills delivery across the season. The findings revealed five profiles, with coaches categorized as being either inconsistent (i.e., progressive, overenthusiastic, unaware) or consistent (i.e., non-intentional, intentional) in their approach to teaching life skills. Using the Program Quality Assessment in Youth Sport observational measure (Bean, Kramers, Camiré, Fraser-Thomas, & Forneris, 2018), Article Two quantitatively examined program quality with two groups of coaches (N = 14; Mage = 40) for two purposes: (a) to examine whether implementation of the original (n = 5) versus the updated (n = 9) program led to differences in program quality and (b) to assess whether there was consistency or discrepancy between researcher observation scores and coach self-report scores of program quality. The findings revealed that coaches using the updated program delivered higher quality programming than coaches using the original program. Coaches also reported higher program quality scores than the researchers observed, identifying discrepancies between coach self-perceptions and researcher observations. Collectively, the findings from this Master’s thesis are a novel contribution to the literature by providing a nuanced exploration into the teaching of life skills and quality of delivery of Golf Canada’s Learn to Play programming.

The purpose of this Master’s thesis was to examine former high school athletes’ perspectives on life skill development and transfer. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 individuals (12 females, 10 males) between the ages of 18-56. Participants were recruited from the Southwest and Eastern regions of Ontario, Canada. Based on the data collected, two articles were written. Article one presents the participants’ perspectives on their developmental experiences and the influence of the context associated with their high school sport participation. The findings revealed that different types of life skill experiences emanated from high school sport, but that negative experiences also ensued. Participants reported differences in terms of how high school sport was experienced in rural settings compared to urban settings. In article two, the Conceptual Framework for Life Skills Interventions was used to examine the participants’ life skill development and transfer experiences. The findings are consistent with aspects of the framework and provide tangible examples of life skill development and subsequent transfer for the same skill by the same individual. Collectively, the findings from this Master’s thesis illustrate how the life skills learned during high school sport are being transferred for use at various stages across the lifespan.

Recreational organizations that deliver activities to youth within their communities can provide an effective setting for positive youth development (PYD) endeavours due to being fun, engaging, and an environment where skill-building is inherent. However, not all recreational organizations offering PYD aimed programs are successful and many are cancelled after a short amount of time. A framework or guide for (1) promoting PYD through community recreation and (2) evaluating and identifying PYD outcomes does not yet exist. This research seeks to develop a model to inform recreational program design to bring about positive developmental outcomes in youth participants using empirical data collected from three successful organizations. Both one-on-one interviews and a focus group with youth participants and adult staff were utilized following a qualitative multiple case study approach. Data collected was concerned with the positive developmental outcomes experienced by youth participants in the organizations and mechanisms used to realize these outcomes. The key themes, derived through inductive and deductive analyses, are presented as a five-step logic model. These themes help identify the intended results of programs along with the resources and processes needed to achieve these results, thus making this study’s findings easy to integrate into recreational programming. The model’s process factors included a series of inputs (i.e., contextual factors and external assets) and activities (i.e., direct and indirect strategies). Findings identified as intended PYD outcomes included outputs (i.e., objective measurable indicators), short-term outcomes (i.e., life skills), and long-term impacts (i.e., the four Cs including life skill transfer and contribution). This study elaborates on concepts identified in previous research that are conducive to PYD while bringing them together into a framework for designing recreational programs with the goal of promoting positive developmental outcomes in youth. However, further testing through quantitative, longitudinal, and intervention research may be needed.

Physical activity programs are contexts that have the potential to foster adolescents’ development, yet researchers assert that the environment must be deliberately designed for this to occur (Danish et al., 2004). The Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (GJWHF) program was developed for this purpose and was implemented over the course of one year at a local Boys and Girls Club. The objective of this research project was to evaluate the GJWHF program as there is a dearth of evaluations of community-based programs (Salmon et al., 2007). Results identified successes, challenges, and practical recommendations for community programmers. Further, results found that GJWHF adhered to Petitpas et al.’s (2005) framework for planning youth sport programs that foster psychosocial development. Specifically, GJWHF was successful in providing a positive and supportive female-only environment for female youth that utilized positive leader support to foster the development of friendships and identity formation, and facilitate the development of a variety of life skills, including leadership and teamwork.