Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 2007-05
Using positive youth development to predict contribution and risk behaviors in early adolescence: Findings from the first two waves of the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development
Theories of positive youth development (PYD) regard such development as bases of both community contributions and lessened likelihood of risk/problem behaviors. Using data from the 4-H Study of PYD, we tested these expectations by examining if PYD in Grade 5 predicted both youth contributions and risk behaviors and depression in Grade 6. Results of random effects regression and SEM models indicated that, as expected, PYD in Grade 5 predicted higher youth contributions and lower risk behaviors and depression at Grade 6. There were significant sex differences for contribution (girls had higher scores) and for risk behaviors (boys had higher scores), but not for depression. In turn, the structural model fit was equivalent for boys and girls. Results are discussed in regard to promoting PYD to enhance successful development, or thriving, and to reduce problem behaviors.
Armsden, G., & Greenberger, M. (1987). The inventory of parent and peer attachment: Individual differences and their relationship to psychological well-being in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence , 16, 427—452.
2.
Baltes, P.B., Lindenberger, U., & Staudinger, U.M. (2006). Lifespan theory in developmental psychology. In R.M. Lerner (Ed.), Theoretical models of human development. Volume 1 of Handbook of Child Psychology (6th ed., pp. 569—664). Editors-in-chief: W. Damon & R.M. Lerner.Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
3.
Benson, P.L. (2003). Developmental assets and asset-building community: Conceptual and empirical foundations. In R.M. Lerner & P.L. Benson (Eds.), Developmental assets and asset building communities: Implications for research, policy, and practice (pp. 19—43). Norwell, MA: Kluwer.
4.
Benson, P.L., Leffert, N., Scales, P.C., & Blyth, D.A. (1998). Beyond the “village” rhetoric: Creating healthy communities for children and adolescents. AppliedDevelopmental Science, 2, 138—159.
5.
Benson, P.L., Scales, P.C., Hamilton, S.F., & Sesma, A., Jr. (2006). Positive youth development: Theory, research and applications. In R.M. Lerner (Ed.), Theoretical models of human development. Volume 1 of Handbook of Child Psychology (6th ed.), (pp. 894—941). Editors-in-chief: W. Damon & R.M. Lerner.Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
6.
Bornstein, M.H. (2006). Parenting science and practice. In K.A. Renninger & I. Sigel (Eds.), Child psychology in practice. Volume 4 of Handbook of Child Psychology (6th ed., pp. 893—949). Editors-in-chief: W. Damon & R.M. Lerner.Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
7.
Brandtstädter, J. (1998). Action perspectives on human development. In W. Damon & R.M. Lerner, Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 1. Theoretical models of human development (5th ed., pp. 807—863). New York: Wiley.
8.
Brandtstädter, J. (1999). The self in action and development: Cultural, biosocial, and ontogenetic bases of intentional self-development. In J. Brandtstädter & R.M. Lerner (Eds.), Action and self-development:Theory and research through the life-span (pp. 37—65). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
9.
Brandtstädter, J. (2006). Action perspectives on human development. In R.M. Lerner (Ed.), Theoretical models of human development. Volume 1 of Handbook of Child Psychology (6th ed., pp. 516—568). Editors-in-chief: W. Damon & R.M. Lerner.Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
10.
Brim, O.G., Ryff, C.D., & Kessler, R.C. (Eds.) (2004 ). How healthy are we? A national study of well-being at midlife . Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Cummings, E. (2003). Foreword. In D. Wertlieb, F. Jacobs, & R.M. Lerner (Eds.), Promoting positive youth and family development: Community systems, citizenship, and civil society: Vol. 3. Handbook of applied developmental science: Promoting positive child, adolescent, and family development through research, policies, and programs (pp. ix—xi). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
11.
Damon, W. (2004). What is positive youth development?Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 591, 13—24.
12.
Dryfoos, J. (1990) Adolescents at risk: Prevalence and prevention . New York: Oxford University Press .
13.
du Toit, S.H.C., & Mehls, G. (2002). Supplementary notes on multiple imputation. Chicago: Scientific Software International, Inc. Available at http://www.ssicentral.com/lisrel/techdocs/imputation.pdf .
14.
Eccles, J.S., & Gootman, J. (Eds.) (2002). Community programs to promote youth development. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
15.
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R.A., Murphy, B.C., Karbon, M., Smith, M., & Maszk, P. (1996). The relations of children's dispositional empathy-related responding to their emotionality, regulation, and social functioning. Developmental Psychology, 32, 195—209.
16.
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R., & Spinard, T.L. (2006). Prosocial development. In N. Eisenberg (Ed.), Social, Emotional, and Personality Development. Volume 3 of Handbook of Child Psychology (6th ed., pp. 646—718). Editors-in-chief: W. Damon & R.M. Lerner.Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
17.
Erikson, E.H. (1968). Identity, youth and crisis. New York: Norton.
18.
Floyd, D.T., & McKenna, L. (2003). National youth serving organizations in the United States: Contributions to civil society. In R.M. Lerner, F. Jacobs, & D. Wertlieb (Eds.), Handbook of applied developmental science: Promoting positive child, adolescent, and family development through research, policies, and programs: Vol. 3. Promoting positive youth and family development: Community systems, citizenship, and civil society (pp. 11—26). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
19.
Freud, A.M. (1969). Adolescence as a developmental disturbance. In G. Caplan & S. Lebovici (Eds.), Adolescence (pp. 5—10). New York: Basic Books.
20.
Gore, A. (2003). Foreword. In R.M. Lerner & P.L. Benson (Eds.), Developmental assets and asset-building communities: Implications for research, policy, and practice (pp. xi—xii). Norwell, MA: Kluwer.
21.
Hall, G.S. (1904). Adolescence. New York: Appleton.
22.
Hallfors, D.D., Waller, M.W., Ford, C.A., Halpern, C.T., Brodish, P.H., & Iritani, B. (2004). Adolescent depression and suicide risk: Association with sex and drug behavior. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 27, 224—231.
23.
Harter, S. (1982).The Perceived Competence Scale for Children. Child Development, 53, 87—98.
24.
Harter, S. (1983). Supplementary description of the Self-Perception Profile for Children: Revision of the Perceived Competence Scale for Children. Unpublished manuscript, University of Denver.
25.
Heckhausen, J. (1999). Developmental regulation in adulthood: Age-normative and sociocultural constraints as adaptive challenges. New York: Cambridge University Press.
26.
Jöreskog, K.G., & Sörbom, D. (2003). LISREL 8.7 for Windows [Computer software]. Chicago: Scientific Software International.
27.
King, P.E., Dowling, E.M., Mueller, R.A., White, K., Schultz, W., Osborn, P., Dickerson, E., Bobek, D.L., Lerner, R.M., Benson, P.L., & Scales, P.C. (2005). Thriving in adolescence: The voices of youth-serving practitioners, parents, and early and late adolescents. Journal of Early Adolescence, 25(1), 94—112.
28.
Lerner, R.M. (2002). Concepts and theories of human development (3rd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
29.
Lerner, R.M. (2004). Liberty: Thriving and civic engagement among American youth. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
30.
Lerner, R.M. (2005). Promoting positive youth development: Theoretical and empirical bases. National Research Council/Institute of Medicine. Washington, DC: National Academies of Science.
31.
Lerner, R.M. (2006). Editor's introduction: Developmental science, developmental systems, and contemporary theories. In R.M. Lerner (Ed.), Theoretical models of human development. Volume 1 of Handbook of Child Psychology (6th ed., pp. 1—17). Editors-in-chief: W. Damon & R.M. Lerner.Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
32.
Lerner, R.M. (2006). Resilience as an attribute of the developmental system: Comments on the papers of Professors Masten and Wachs. In B.M. Lester, A. Masters, & B. McEwan (Eds.), Resilience in children. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (pp. 40—51). New York: New York Academy of Sciences.
33.
Lerner, R.M., Lerner, J.V., Almerigi, J., Theokas, C., Phelps, E., Gestsdottir, S., Naudeau, S., Jelicic, H., Alberts, A.E., Ma, L., Smith, L.M., Bobek, D.L., Richman-Raphael, D., Simpson, I., Christiansen, E.D., & von Eye, A. (2005). Positive youth development, participation in community youth development programs, and community contributions of fifth grade adolescents: Findings from the first wave of the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development . Journal of Early Adolescence, 25(1), 17—71.
34.
Lerner, R.M., Lerner, J.V., Almerigi, J., Theokas, C., Phelps, E., Naudeau, S., Gestsdottir, S., Ma, L., Jelicic, H., Alberts, A., Smith, L., Simpson, I., Christiansen, E., Warren, D. & von Eye, A. (2006). Toward a new vision and vocabulary about adolescence: Theoretical and empirical bases of a “positive youth development” perspective. In L. Balter & C.S. Tamis-LeMonda (Eds.), Child Psychology: A handbook of contemporary issues (pp. 445—469). New York : Psychology Press/Taylor & Francis.
35.
Little, R.R. (1993). What's working for today's youth: The issues, the programs, and the learnings. Paper presented at the Institute for Children, Youth, and Families Fellows' Colloquium, Michigan State University.
36.
Monitoring the Future (2000). National sur vey on drug use, 1975—2000. Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse.
37.
Perkins, D.F., & Borden, L.M. (2003). Positive behaviors, problem behaviors, and resiliency in adolescence. In R.M. Lerner, M.A. Easterbrooks, & J. Mistry (Eds.), Handbook of psychology:Vol. 6. Developmental psychology (pp. 373—394). Editor in chief: I.B. Weiner.New York: Wiley .
38.
Pittman, K. (1996). Community, youth, development: Three goals in search of connection. New Designs for Youth Development,Winter, 4—8.
39.
Radloff, L.S. (1977). The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385—401.
40.
Raudenbush, S.W., & Bryk, A.S. (2002). Hierarchical linear models: Applications, data analysis, and methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
41.
Roth, J.L., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2003a). What exactly is a youth development program? Answers from research and practice. Applied Developmental Science, 7, 94—111.
42.
Roth, J.L., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2003b). What is a youth development program? Identification and defining principles. In F. Jacobs, D. Wertlieb, & R.M. Lerner (Eds.), Enhancing the life chances of youth and families: Public service systems and public policy perspectives: Vol. 2. Handbook of applied developmental science: Promoting positive child, adolescent, and family development through research, policies, and programs (pp. 197—223). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
43.
Sherrod, L., Flanagan, C.A. , & Kassimir, R. (Eds.) (2006). Youth activism: An international encyclopedia . Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Company.
44.
Sherrod, L.R., Flanagan, C., & Youniss, J. (2002). Dimensions of citizenship and opportunities for youth development: The what, why, when, where, and who of citizenship development. AppliedDevelopmental Science, 6(4), 264—272.
45.
Silbereisen, R.K., & Lerner, R.M. (Eds.) (In press). Approaches to positive youth development. London: Sage.
46.
Singer, J.D., & Willett, J.B. (2003). Applied longitudinal data analysis: Modeling change and event occurrence. New York: Oxford University Press.
47.
Small, S.A., & Rodgers, K.B. (1995). Teen Assessment Project (TAP) Survey QuestionBank. Madison: University of Wisconsin-Madison.
48.
Theokas, C., Almerigi, J., Lerner, R.M., Dowling, E.M., Benson, P.L., Scales, P.C., & von Eye, A. (2005). Conceptualizing and modeling individual and ecological asset components of thriving in early adolescence. Journal of Early Adolescence, 25(1), 113—143.
49.
Theokas, C., & Lerner, R.M. (2006). Observed ecological assets in families, schools, and neighborhoods: Conceptualization, measurement and relations with positive and negative developmental outcomes. AppliedDevelopmental Science, 10(2), 61—74.
50.
Wheeler, W. (2003). Youth leadership for development: Civic activism as a component of youth development programming and a strategy for strengthening civil society. In R.M. Lerner, F. Jacobs, & D. Wertlieb (Eds.), Handbook of applied developmental science: Promoting positive child, adolescent, and family development through research, policies, and programs: Vol. 2. Enhancing the life chances of youth and families: Public ser vice systems and public policy perspectives ( F. Jacobs, D. Wertlieb, & R.M. Lerner, Volume Editors; pp. 491—505). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
