Laura Ferrer-Wreder, PhD., Associate Professor, Stockholm University, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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

Struggling, Problematic, Harmful Side

• f Youth

Development Positive Side

• f Youth

Development

A Com

• mplete Child Persp

spective

• 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.

A Com

• mplete Child Persp

spective

Struggling, Problematic, Harmful Side

• f Youth

Development Positive Side

• f Youth

Development

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

• w do
• we figu

gure ou

• ut what

PYD YD migh ght be in d different parts s of

• f the w

wor

• rld?

Struggling, Problematic, Harmful Side

• f Youth

Development Positive Side

• f 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

www.kupolstudien.se Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 9 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

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? Question in the Parent/Guardian Survey in KUPOL

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 Location Sweden USA Bulgaria Study Name

KUPOL 4-H Study Parent Question Parent Question Parent Question Youth Question

4-H study 7071 youth across the USA 3173 parents 56 youth focused on across 3 time points (grades 6, 9, 12) Key Finding In this study, connection mattered a great deal to youth in their responses

Image and text below quoted directly from Hershberg et al., 2014 p. 968

Illustration of Findings from this type of question in a US Study

Image and text above quoted directly from Lerner et al., 2011 p. 6

More general findings from 4-H study, the PYD picture looks like this..

Figure: Directly from Lerner et al., 2010

Lerner and colleagues’ PYD model

Schools can be an ecological asset In KUPOL, school climate PESOC as an index of possible strengths within schools, to identify and elevate

Developmental assets = probability markers that are connected with later increases in a positive

• utcome or adaptation

When the asset is in the ecology of the youth it is called an ecological asset

Student PESOC

Dimension Definition Example (student form)

• 1. Expectations

Perceptions of socialization and teachers’ expectations of student academic achievement

I feel that almost all my teachers believe that I can pass exams and get good grades if I want to

• 2. Perception of Teacher

Norms

How teachers establish norms concerning behaviors

Teachers in this school respect the pupils

• 3. Teachers’ Support

Support in/outside class, both educational and personal spheres

I can speak with my teachers about matters not related to school

• 4. Teaching Activities

Interesting, focused and varied teaching activities

Most of the time it is fun learning new things in school

• 5. Student Participation

Setting social rules, planning educational/social activities

We pupils are allowed to take part in preparing classes

• 6. School Environment

Physical aspects

The food in school is good

• 7. School & Home

Frequency and quality of communication between school and home

My parents are often provided with information about what is going on in school

• 8. School Management

Visibility of the principal, pedagogical leadership

Our principal recognizes pupils at our school Schools are an ecological asset important to growth in PYD

• 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
• f development like schools

ls and homes.

A Com

• mplete Child Persp

spective

Struggling, Problematic, Harmful Side

• f Youth

Development Positive Side

• f Youth

Development

In KUPOL - Open ended question to parents about what an adolescent is like when they are doing well In KUPOL – Work on PESOC and schol climate

Figure: Directly from Lerner et al., 2010

Lerner and colleagues’ PYD model

In KUPOL, parents and youth are reporting on competence and connection as well as problem behaviors

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 Image directly from Arbeit et al., 2014, p. 987

• Configurations of problems are

important to understand

Image directly from Arbeit et al., 2014, p. 983

4-H Study Findings

• Latent Class Analysis (identifying problem profiles characteristic of the data)
• Wave 8 (one time point) - In 12th grade, how did problem profile group (low risk, mental

health struggles etc.,) relate to the 5 Cs?

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