Abstract Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), and the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), both prospective cohorts, were used to explore the association between early life stressors, childhood protective factors, and early adolescent mental health outcomes (depression, anxiety, conduct disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). Early life stressors were measured prenatally to the age of 3 within the ALSPAC analysis, while early life stressors were measured between the ages of 1-3 within the NLSCY analysis. Childhood protective factors, exclusively modifiable protective factors, (physical activity, extracurricular activities, positive parenting, and positive friendships) were measured between the ages of 6-11 within both ALSPAC and the NLSCY. Mental health outcomes were measured between the ages of 12-15 in both ALSPAC and the NLSCY. The associations between early life stressors and childhood protective factors on early adolescent mental health outcomes were computed using multivariate logistic regression modeling. It was found that the majority of early life stressors, including prenatal stressors and family dysfunction increased the odds of developing early adolescent mental health disorders although more statistically significant results were found within the NLSCY analysis. Contrarily, it was found that the majority of childhood protective factors reduced the likelihood of early adolescent mental health disorders with some exceptions found within the NLSCY analysis. No interaction terms between early life stressors and childhood protective factors were found to be statistically significant.

Recent intervention efforts in promoting positive identity in troubled adolescents have begun to draw on the potential for an integration of the self-construction and self-discovery perspectives in conceptualizing identity processes, as well as the integration of quantitative and qualitative data analytic strategies. This study reports an investigation of the Changing Lives Program (CLP), using an Outcome Mediation (OM) evaluation model, an integrated model for evaluating targets of intervention, while theoretically including a Self-Transformative Model of Identity Development (STM), a proposed integration of self-discovery and self-construction identity processes. This study also used a Relational Data Analysis (RDA) integration of quantitative and qualitative analysis strategies and a structural equation modeling approach (SEM), to construct and evaluate the hypothesized OM/STM model. The CLP is a community supported positive youth development intervention, targeting multi-problem youth in alternative high schools in the Miami Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS). The 259 participants for this study were drawn from the CLP’s archival data file. The model evaluated in this study utilized three indices of core identity processes (1) personal expressiveness, (2) identity conflict resolution, and (3) informational identity style that were conceptualized as mediators of the effects of participation in the CLP on change in two qualitative outcome indices of participants’ sense of self and identity. Findings indicated the model fit the data (χ2 (10) = 3.638, p = .96; RMSEA = .00; CFI = 1.00; WRMR = .299). The pattern of findings supported the utilization of the STM in conceptualizing identity processes and provided support for the OM design. The findings also suggested the need for methods capable of detecting and rendering unique sample specific free response data to increase the likelihood of identifying emergent core developmental research concepts and constructs in studies of intervention/developmental change over time in ways not possible using fixed response methods alone.

This study reported an Outcome Mediation Cascade evaluation of the Changing Lives Program (CLP), a positive youth intervention. This study examined the effects of participation in the CLP on positive outcomes (Personal Expressiveness and Well-Being) and negative outcomes (Internalizing and Externalizing problem behaviors) as mediated by Identity Distress. 137 females and 101 males comprised the sample of this study, which draws from archival data of adolescents in alternative high schools in Miami. Findings indicated that the hypothesized model fit the data (χ2 (11) = 14.544, p = .020; RMSEA = .04; CFI = .995; SRMR = .028). Findings also provided preliminary evidence consistent with the hypothesis that in addition to having effects on targeted positive outcomes, PYD interventions are likely to have progressive cascading effects on untargeted problem outcomes.

No description available.

FC Rosengård bedriver flertalet sociala projekt. Ett av dessa projekt är Football for Life som i Sydafrika har som målsättning att stärka unga kvinnors självbild och rättigheter. Studien “Football for Life, så mycket mer än bara fotboll” ämnar att utvärdera denna verksamhet med hjälp av Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility modellen. Detta för att visualisera i vilken mån deltagarna i verksamheten erhåller ett ökat personligt- och socialt ansvarstagande. Studiens slutgiltiga målsättning är att stärka argumentet för att en liknande verksamhet ska initieras i Sverige genom att påvisa vilken inverkan Football for Life har haft för de deltagande tjejerna i Sydafrika. Tvärsnittsstudien är av kvantitativ karaktär där enkäter har varit den primära källan till empiri. Vidare har även relevant litteratur på ämnet Positive Youth Development bidragit till den slutgiltiga produkten. De huvudsakliga aspekter som undersökts i studien är deltagarnas upplevda effort, caring/helping, respect och self-direction kopplat till hur Football for Life har/har haft en inverkan på individen inom dessa områden. Enkäten distribuerades av personalen på plats i Sydafrika där en grupp individer som inte har deltagit i verksamheten agerade som kontrollgrupp. Dessa deltog i studien tillsammans med deltagare som i olika utsträckning varit en del av Football for Life’s verksamhet i olika utsträckning. På förhand förväntades de som haft ett djupare engagemang i Football for Life uppvisa större upplevt personligt- och socialt ansvarstagande jämfört med de som inte deltagit i verksamheten. Resultaten påvisar i viss mån att så inte var fallet, den största skillnaden mellan deltagarnas upplevda personliga- och sociala ansvarstagande återfanns mellan de som inte deltagit vid något tillfälle och de som deltagit ett fåtal gånger. Det återfanns dock skillnader mellan de som inte deltagit och de som haft en stor involvering i verksamheten, men inte i den utsträckning som kunnat tänkas på förhand. Vidare förs en diskussion som resonerar kring de resultat som framkom för att besvara bad resultatet kan bero på. Utöver detta behandlas även Teaching and Personal Responsibility modellens lämplighet vid utvärdering av ett program med anknytning till Positive Youth Development. / Football for Life in South Africa is one of many social project that is managed by the football club FC Rosengård. Football for Life is a Positive Youth Development program which aims to strengthen the young female participants regarding their confidence as well as to educate them regarding their personal rights in the South African society. The sex roles in South Africa is in many regards skew, especially seeing that women are barely allowed to participate in physical activities, which is one of FC Rosengård’s major driving forces for managing Football for Life. In order to ensure the quality of the activities, as well as to examine the possibilities of initiating a project of similar characteristics in Sweden, this essay was set of on the behalf of FC Rosengård. By studying the participants at scene in South Africa by utilising a questionnaire, their perceived personal- and social responsibility was investigated. The participants in the study was categorized depending on their involvement in Football for Life in order to visualise whether the project has a positive effect regarding the development of personal- and social responsibility.

In South Africa, the majority of youth entering emerging adulthood find themselves in a protracted struggle to access further education, training or to secure their first decent job. The purpose of this multi-case study is to deepen the understanding of how capability measurement approaches and tools can empower marginalized youth to better understand their aspirations and map their way through emerging adulthood and out of poverty. This research aims to deepen the understanding of youth's experience utilizing 'Poverty Stoplight'; a poverty measurement and capability building instrument that utilizes a self-assessment survey and mentorship methodology. The researcher utilized a youth-focused participatory approach in conducting focus groups and in-depth one-on-one interviews across five marginalized communities in the Western Cape to gain insight into their experience using the tool, their ability to envision their future selves and develop their aspirations. What emerged from the data were insights into the youth's aspirations, the perceived enabling factors and impediments towards their aspirations and their experiences utilizing Poverty Stoplight. This process enabled youth to genuinely reflect and assess their situation, and have the opportunity to define their aspirations. Overall the Poverty Stoplight programme was experienced as empowering by participants, with several implications for the programme pertaining to data accessibility, communication, mentorship and solution sharing, as well as the importance of youth-specific participatory approaches. Aligned to this, the findings yielded several recommendations pertaining to providing support and enabling opportunities for emerging adults to realise their aspirations. Despite the limitations of this research, this study is relevant for stakeholders in South Africa and globally as it examines the critical issue of youth development, with a focus on the ability of young people to attain their aspirations. Further, it analyses the capability measurement approach as a means to ensuring young people can better understand and plot their way out of poverty, making the most of their individual capabilities and attributes within the broader structural and systemic challenges they face. This exploration of practical tools and methodologies being developed and utilized by pioneering organisations in the South African context provides empirical evidence of the merit of such approaches, with recommendations on how tools and approaches can even better serve the needs of youth. Further, longitudinal research is merited into the use of such capability measurement approaches to empower youth and the further use of participatory methodologies.

No description available.

No description available.

Grounded in the Positive Youth Development (PYD) approach and in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model of human development (1979), the current research program used a correlational approach to examine the effect of participation in organized activities (OAs) on two dimensions of youth’s psychological and emotional development: Psychological adjustment (Article 1) and Emotional competence (Article 2). Through two articles and four studies, this research program also aimed to explore the influence of two OA-context variables, youth experiences and youth engagement, on the previous dimensions of development. Together, results aimed to provide new information in the PYD research domain. Main findings are described. First, we hypothesized that participation in OAs had a positive effect on indicators of youth psychological and emotional development. Overall, our results indicated that this effect was not statistically significant (Article 1, Study 2; Article 2, Studies 1 and 2), although some statistically significant differences were found between OA participants’ and non-participants’ psychological adjustment in a correlational design (Article 1, Study 1). The potential implications of these results, as well as their limitations, are discussed. The current research also examined the potential role of youth experiences within their OAs in the link between OA participation and psychological and emotional development. Overall, results indicated that some experiences in OA contexts were statistically significant predictors of psychological adjustment and emotional competence. Furthermore, experiences of identity emerged as mediators of the effect of participation on life satisfaction in a longitudinal design (Article 1, Study 2). However, this effect was negative and may be best explained by the presence of a suppression effect in the model. Moreover, experiences of initiative and stress emerged as mediators of the effect of participation on emotional competence (Article 2, Study 1), but results were not replicated in a longitudinal design (Article 2, Study 2). This research also examined the potential role of youth’s engagement in their OAs on psychological and emotional development (Article 1, Study 2; Article 2, Study 2). The inclusion of engagement in our research program was crucial and allowed for the identification of specific necessary conditions for participation to have an effect on outcomes of psychological and emotional development. In our research, engagement emerged as a moderator of the indirect effects of participation on two indicators of psychological and emotional development. First, the indirect effect of participation on self-esteem through experiences of initiative emerged as statistically significant only for youth who were highly engaged in their OA (Article 1, Study 2). Next, the negative indirect effect of participation on life satisfaction through experiences of identity emerged as significant only for youth who were highly engaged in their OA. Again, the latter result might be best explained by the presence of a suppression effect (Article 1, Study 2). Lastly, engagement also emerged as a moderator of the effect of participation on specific youth experiences (Article 1, Study 2). Implications for theory and practice emerge from this research. A better understanding of the effect of OA participation on psychological and emotional development and of the specific roles of youth experiences and youth engagement in OAs is attained. Practical implications are discussed. In line with its exploratory nature, the current research program provides multiple avenues for future research within the PYD approach.

The purpose of this study was to qualitatively examine the possible formation of surrogate families within Ugandan schools to provide a context for positive development experiences, especially for orphans who lack positive development opportunities provided by parents. The sample for this study consisted of 66 Ugandan Secondary School students from eight schools in the Mukono district of Uganda. This study found a potentially widespread family formation pattern between students and their teachers/coaches. More than 75% of students self-identified their teacher and/or coach as family. The results provide insight concerning why orphans and vulnerable children are forming surrogate families with staff members at school. Teachers and coaches were able to offer the students positive developmental assets and were therefore identified as family.