Positive Youth Development: New Ideas and Insights about Adolescents’ Strengths Laura Ferrer-Wreder, PhD., Associate Professor, Stockholm University, Department of Psychology Email: laura.ferrer-wreder@psychology.su.se
A Com omplete Child Persp spective Struggling, Positive Side Problematic, of Youth Harmful Side Development of Youth Development
A Com omplete Child Persp spective Struggling, Positive Side Problematic, of Youth Harmful Side Development of Youth Development • Filling in the empirical blanks about positive youth development • Gaining more balanced knowledge about the problematic and positive sides of development, and how they interact • Embracing complexity and understanding contexts of development like schools ls and homes.
PYD Positive Youth Development (or PYD) can be • Documented and understood as a developmental process • An approach to work with youth in diverse contexts • A specific type of intervention Adolescents are assets to cultivate rather than a problem to fix, or a trouble to contain (Roth & Brooks-Gunn, 2016).
How ow do o we figu gure ou out what PYD YD migh ght be in d different parts s of of the w wor orld? Struggling, Positive Side Problematic, of Youth Harmful Side Development of Youth Development
Decades of longitudinal research in separate areas, empathy, social emotional competence, connection Figurin ing g out what PYD might t be, in differ eren ent parts s of the world, , require res s bringi ging ng diverse se ideas and knowle ledge dge togethe her r under one umbrella lla
In KUPOL, the development of a large cohort of youth is documented over time At each time point, we ask adolescents’ parents/ guardians to tell us what they think PYD is from their viewpoint. Wider Goal: Filling in the empirical blanks about positive youth development Grade 8 Grade 7 Grade 9 www.kupolstudien.se
Question in the Parent/Guardian Survey in KUPOL How can you tell if an adolescent is thriving or doing really well in all areas of life? In your opinion, what is she or he like, what sort of things does she or he do?
We are working to understand and detect themes in the responses of parents, across three time points. • As teens get closer to grade 9 and does the picture of PYD change over time ? • How might this picture be important to how youth are doing in their relationships with their parents ? This type of question has never been asked before in a research study in Sweden, but has been asked in other parts of the world…
How can you tell if an adolescent is thriving or doing really well in all areas of life? In your opinion, what is she or he like, what sort of things does she or he do? Study Sweden USA Bulgaria Location KUPOL 4-H Study Study Name Parent Parent Parent Question Question Question Youth Question
Illustration of Findings from this type of question in a US Study 4-H study 7071 youth across the USA 3173 parents 56 youth focused on across 3 time points (grades 6, 9, 12) Key Finding Image and text below quoted directly from Hershberg et al., 2014 p. 968 In this study, connection mattered a great deal to youth in their responses
More general findings from 4-H study, the PYD picture looks like this.. Image and text above quoted directly from Lerner et al., 2011 p. 6
Schools can be an ecological asset In KUPOL, school climate PESOC as an index of possible strengths within schools, to identify and elevate Lerner and colleagues’ PYD model Figure: Directly from Lerner et al., 2010
Developmental assets = probability markers that are connected with later increases in a positive outcome or adaptation When the asset is in the ecology of the youth it is called an ecological asset
Schools are an ecological asset Student PESOC important to growth in PYD Dimension Definition Example (student form) I feel that almost all my teachers Perceptions of socialization and 1. Expectations teachers’ expectations of student believe that I can pass exams and get good grades if I want to academic achievement Teachers in this school respect the 2. Perception of Teacher How teachers establish norms pupils concerning behaviors Norms 3. Teachers ’ Support I can speak with my teachers about Support in/outside class, both matters not related to school educational and personal spheres Most of the time it is fun learning new 4. Teaching Activities Interesting, focused and varied things in school teaching activities Setting social rules, planning We pupils are allowed to take part in 5. Student Participation preparing classes educational/social activities The food in school is good 6. School Environment Physical aspects My parents are often provided with 7. School & Home Frequency and quality of information about what is going on in communication between school school and home Visibility of the principal, Our principal recognizes pupils at our 8. School Management school pedagogical leadership
A Com omplete Child Persp spective Struggling, Positive Side Problematic, of Youth Harmful Side Development of Youth Development • Filling in the empirical blanks about positive youth development In KUPOL - Open ended question to parents about what an adolescent is like when they are doing well • Gaining more balanced knowledge about the problematic and positive sides of development, and how they interact • Embracing complexity and understanding contexts of development like schools ls and homes. In KUPOL – Work on PESOC and schol climate
In KUPOL, parents and youth are reporting on competence and connection as well as problem behaviors Lerner and colleagues’ PYD model Figure: Directly from Lerner et al., 2010
PYD – How are we working with connection in KUPOL ?
The benefits of considering the positive and negative at the same time. “We also have concluded that youth programs must address both prevention and promotion” (Lerner et al., 2011, p. 20) • All youth have strengths and an ability to change for the better • PYD and risk behaviors and mental ill health should be negatively related to each other, but some evidence is showing a more complex relationship is possible
“Even when youth demonstrate positive development and follow the rules, they maybe suffering in terms of mental health. Inversely, even when young people are getting in trouble in some areas, they may have strengths upon which we can capitalize in order to promote more positive development and address risks” (Arbeit et al., 2014, p. 988).
4-H Study Findings American sample of adolescents in grades 6 to 12 • Latent Class Analysis (identifying problem profiles characteristic of the data) Table directly from Arbeit et al., 2014, p. 979 • Configurations of problems are important to understand Image directly from Arbeit et al., 2014, p. 987
4-H Study Findings • Latent Class Analysis (identifying problem profiles characteristic of the data) • Wave 8 (one time point) - In 12 th grade, how did problem profile group (low risk, mental health struggles etc.,) relate to the 5 Cs? Image directly from Arbeit et al., 2014, p. 983 Main Findings • Low risk group had usually high levels of the 5 Cs • High risk group had usually low levels of the 5 Cs • Other problem profiles, the pattern was complex, in many occasions youth with important problems were average or elevated on several of the C’s
Take Home Messages… What PYD will end up consisting of different parts of the world is yet to be determined…but we are working on it by asking youth and those close to them, and well as learning from the evidence that already exists. Schools can be ecological assets for youth, when assets are identified in a school they should be recognized and elevated, and this should complement a focus on finding areas of risk in ecologies. Embracing complexity is what will advance what we know by leaps and bounds, and one way of doing this is to seriously consider both the positive and negative sides of development, as well as how contexts are important to development
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