Adolescent views of civic responsibility and civic efficacy: Differences by rurality and socioeconomic status

Associations between parental civic engagement, negative beliefs toward civic engagement and youths' future civic attitudes and behaviors

INTRODUCTION

Civic engagement (CE) in adolescence is associated with a higher level of engagement in adulthood and is reported to be beneficial to youth's development and societal well-being. Parents are among the most influential factors in adolescents' lives. This study examined the associations between parents' own civic participation, their negative beliefs toward youth CE and their child's future CE. While prior research documented positive associations between parental civic behaviors and youth CE, the role of parental negative beliefs has remained unexplored and could act as an additional barrier to adolescents' CE.

METHODS

A total of 234 adolescents (65% girls; mean age = 13.77) and their parents (79% mothers; mean age = 44.20), residing in the Canadian province of Quebec from 2016 to 2019, were recruited for this cross-sectional study. Parents completed measures of their civic activities and their negative beliefs regarding youth CE. Adolescents completed measures of future civic attitudes and behaviors.

RESULTS

Hierarchical regressions revealed significant positive cross-sectional associations between parental civic behaviors and their child's future civic attitudes and behaviors. However, parental negative beliefs toward youth CE were negatively associated with youths' future civic attitudes and behaviors, even after considering parental civic behaviors and family socioeconomic status. Adolescents' age did not moderate these relationships.

CONCLUSION

These findings highlight the significant role that parents could play in shaping CE of future generations. Interventions promoting youth CE should thus target both adolescents and their parents.

Palestinian university students' perspectives on COVID-19 risk and remote learning during the pandemic: A qualitative photovoice study

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered major changes worldwide, with repercussions on mental health and education. The present study primarily aimed to retrospectively explore undergraduate students' risk perceptions of COVID-19 and their experiences with remote learning during the pandemic, with an emphasis on their high school years.

METHODS

This qualitative photovoice study was conducted between 30 March and 4 May 2023. The target population of this study was first- and second-year undergraduate students who had been in high school during the pandemic. Maximum variation, snowball, and convenience sampling methods were used to recruit students. They were asked to share photos and provide comments in written or voice messages explaining their experiences during the pandemic. Voice messages were manually transcribed verbatim. A manual content analysis of these comments was performed to derive the codes and themes relevant to the study objectives.

RESULTS

Forty-seven students initially agreed to participate and signed an informed consent form. However, the final sample included 16 students (nine men and seven women). The content analysis revealed four themes that were identified as the main factors contributing to high school students' risk perceptions of COVID-19. The first theme was psychosocial factors related to the pandemic, including emotions, isolation and stress. The second focused on the mechanisms used to cope with the pandemic. The third theme included beliefs and behaviours that either increased or decreased COVID-19 risk. The final theme addressed schools' responses to COVID-19, including factors such as maintaining connections with schools, preventive measures and the transition to remote learning.

CONCLUSION

This study highlighted the extensive impact of the pandemic on Palestinian high school students, demanding instantaneous adaptation to ensure their safety and well-being while maintaining the quality of education. Remote learning has become an important strategy with opportunities and challenges for high school students.

Topic: Intentional diversity in academia: Recruiting, admitting, enrolling, and retaining underrepresented students in nursing programs

Currently, 60 % of the United States population is White, while the remaining belong to ethnic or racial minorities. By 2045, the Census Bureau predicts that there will no longer be any single racial or ethnic majority group in the United States. Yet, people across all healthcare professions are overwhelmingly non-Hispanic and White, leaving people from underrepresented groups severely underrepresented. The lack of diversity in healthcare professions is an issue because there is overwhelming evidence that patients from underrepresented groups experience disparities in healthcare at alarmingly high rates when compared to their White counterparts. Diversity is especially important in the nursing workforce since nurses are often the healthcare providers that engage with patients the most frequently and intimately. Additionally, patients demand a diverse nursing workforce that can provide culturally competent care. The purpose of this article is to summarize nationwide undergraduate nursing enrollment trends and discuss strategies to improve recruitment, admissions, enrollment, and retention of nursing students who belong to underrepresented groups.

Predictors of Scientific Civic Engagement (PSCE) Survey: A Multidimensional Instrument to Measure Undergraduates' Attitudes, Knowledge, and Intention to Engage with the Community Using Their Science Skills

Civic engagement is an individual's active participation that is intended to improve a community's socioeconomic status or help shape its future. Undergraduates who engage with a community during formal course work are more likely to participate civically later in life. This outcome is important for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) students since they use STEM knowledge to make informed decisions about public health, national security and the environment. STEM courses that incorporate this idea actively engage students in helping communities, and yet, assessment of the civic outcomes in these courses, such as measuring important predictors of future civic engagement, has been inconsistent and challenging. To address this need, we designed and assessed a new survey by adapting and testing items from previously existing civic engagement measures. The result was a 14-item survey comprising the following scientific civic constructs, that predict future scientific civic engagement: value, self-efficacy, action, and knowledge. This survey has potential to provide insight into the development of scientific civic engagement for STEM disciplines among undergraduate populations and can be used with additional scales of interest, allowing for researchers to assess relationships between predictors of scientific civic engagement and other constructs.

Civic Development within the Peer Context: Associations between Early Adolescent Social Connectedness and Civic Engagement

Social connectedness is theorized to contribute to civic development and in turn, civic engagement is thought to cultivate social connectedness. Little research has examined how social connectedness is linked with early adolescent civic engagement. The current study used a social network research design to examine associations between early adolescent social connectedness via their position within their peer network and their civic engagement. Middle-school students (N = 213) aged 11-15 years (M = 12.5; 57% female) were recruited from a remote US community and provided nominations for peer connections and reported on multiple aspects of civic engagement. Early adolescents who had identified more peer nominations had higher civic efficacy. Youth who had fewer connections with different peer groups and fewer connections with popular peers were more engaged in political behavior. Greater popularity was associated with higher political engagement for boys, but not girls. Greater connections with different peer groups was associated with greater environmentalism for younger but not older teens. These findings highlight the need to consider adolescent civic development within the peer context.

Contextual factors shaping diverse political action: A commentary on the special issue on adolescent political development

This timely special issue on political development broadens the empirical conversation around how adolescents are engaging politically and civically, what factors shape their involvement, how their involvement impacts their wellbeing, and how to engage diverse populations of youth in the political system. From the perspectives of critical consciousness and sociopolitical development, we reflect on two themes in particular: the importance of context and the various ways in which political development and involvement is conceptualized and defined. We conclude with suggestions for future empirical work and implications for policy and practice.

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Discussion of how adolescents are engaging politically and civically and how to engage diverse populations of youth in the political system

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Reflections on this special issue emphasize the importance of context and the ways political development and involvement are conceptualized

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Suggestions for future empirical work and implications for policy and practice are included