Suchergebnisse

Physical activity is important for well‐being across the life span. However, links between patterns of adolescent activity, competence perceptions, and young adult outcomes are underexplored. We used data from seven waves of the 4‐H Study of Positive Youth Development (N = 5,961) to assess patterns of adolescent athletic participation, whether these patterns were associated with self‐perceived athletic competence and young adult physical activity, depressive symptoms, and health, and associations between changes in participation across adolescence and young adult outcomes. Competence perceptions were associated with increased participation, and more active adolescents had higher rates of adult athletic activity, with links to better health and fewer depressive symptoms. We discuss results in light of the importance of using person‐centered analyses to understand active lifestyles.

Contemporary developmental theories suggest that out-of-school-time (OST) youth development programs may be an important context for character development and education because of the positive, mutually influential relations between youth and adult leaders found in exemplary instantiations of such programs. Although still in its early stages, research about this role of OST programs, including evaluations of specific programs, is beginning to burgeon in relation to increased interest in person-context models of human development, the fact that each of tens of millions of American youth participate in several OST programs each year, and heightened emphasis among scientists, educators, and policy makers about the importance of promoting character among the diverse youth of the nation. Both to reflect the state-of-the art and in the hope of promoting further research progress, the articles in this special section describe how the attributes of young people and the features of the OST programs youth development in which they participate may link together in promotion of character development.

We discuss the evolution of scientific theory using the example of the relational developmental systems (RDS) metamodel, a conception emphasizing mutually influential relations between individuals and contexts. An important basis for RDS ideas in contemporary developmental science is Lerner and Spanier's (1978) discussion of mutually influential relationships between children and families. In the context of recounting the role of one of the present authors (RML) in the evolution of the RDS metamodel, we compare the Lerner and Spanier discussion with RDS‐based ideas. We present the implications of RDS ideas for contemporary research and applications aimed at understanding and enhancing children, families, and the systemic relationships among them.

This paper describes the configuration and changes in young adolescents' participation in structured after school activities. Using data from the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development the 983 youth studied in both the first and the second waves of this research (fifth and sixth grade, respectively) were found to engage in structured after school activities at high levels. Fewer than 12% did not participate in any activities. Participation in multiple activities was the norm for these youth and the configuration of activities changed between grades. The breadth of participation in structured after school activities suggests, first, that it would be ideal to have broad community collaboration in regard to youth programming to ensure that youth receive excellent programming, no matter where they turn; and, second, that youth development researchers and practitioners need to consider new approaches to conceptualizing and evaluating the possible role of any one after-school program in promoting exemplary development.

Using qualitative and quantitative information from Grades 8 and 9 of the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development (PYD), we describe the conceptions of thriving youth present within adolescent immigrants to the United States, and interrelate these conceptions with quantitative scores for PYD, contribution, and positive future orientation. Conceptions of thriving that included positive future orientation were associated with higher quantitative scores for PYD and Contribution. Conceiving of thriving as making contributions to themselves or their communities was associated with higher quantitative scores for Contribution. These findings suggest that immigrant youth whose qualitative definitions of thriving include the U.S.-based conceptions of PYD show quantitative evidence of positive functioning. We discuss limitations of the present study and directions for future research.

AbstractPositive youth development is conceptualized within a developmental systems theoretical model. The role of thriving processes and civic engagement in positive youth development is discussed.

Scholarship pertinent to the nature of human plasticity and the contemporary theoretical stress on developmental systems theories suggest that the regulation of dynamic person-context relations should be the key focus of inquiry in the study of adolescent development. An exemplar of a theory congruent with this relational conception of adolescent development is the Selection, Optimization, and Compensation (SOC) model offered by Baltes, Baltes, and colleagues. The model may be a value-added contribution to the adolescent literature in several respects: through illustrating the centrality of selection, optimization, and compensation processes in conceptualizing the regulation of the person-context relations that characterize development in adolescence; by integrating key themes within the adolescent development theoretical and empirical literatures; and through suggesting ideas for extending these literatures in new and useful ways, including needed directions for research and applications to policies and programs that are aimed at enhancing adaptive regulation in adolescence. We illustrate these value-added contributions of the SOC model by focusing on theory and research pertinent to arguably the central construct in the study of adolescence, identity. In addition, we discuss the implications of the SOC model for using developmental systems theory to understand the relation between individual development and social constraints or opportunities. The methodological features of research using the SOC model are noted, and its implications for both the development of the person and for the maintenance and perpetuation of civil society are presented.

This study examined high school sports coaches' perspectives about a character-based coach education workshop designed to promote positive coaching practices and transform the culture of youth sports. Fifteen coaches (Mage = 42.07, SD = 14.62, 73.3% male) provided feedback about Positive Coaching Alliance's (PCA) "Double-Goal Coach" training program and what aspects of the workshop they applied to their coaching practices. Results indicated that coaches believed that participation in PCA workshops contributed to the value coaches attributed to individuals, to coach-oriented character development, and to positive relationships within youth sports. The coaches also suggested changes in future PCA workshops. These findings provide preliminary evidence that coaches' incorporate skills acquired through participation in character-based coach education programs. We discuss implications for coaches and athletes, and for policies aimed at enhancing positive youth attributes developed through sport.