Safer spaces in youth development programs and health in Canadian youth

Engagement in youth programs is a potential means to promote health and well-being across populations of young people. Safer spaces in these youth programs are likely critical in fostering positive health outcomes, but current research on the links between safer spaces and health is limited. In this exploratory study, we examined links between program safety in youth development programs and minoritized status, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and psychosomatic health complaints. Participants (N = 282; Mean age = 16.97 years; SD = 2.97) self-identified across various minority status groups, including LGBTQ (30%) and a range of perceived income levels. We tested a statistical model in which safer spaces, LGBTQ status and perceived income predicted HRQoL and health complaints in youth development program participants. LGBTQ status and lower perceived income were related to lower HRQoL and more health complaints, and safer space in youth development programs was related to better HRQoL. We also found an interaction effect, such that safer spaces in youth programs appeared to be especially beneficial for HRQoL for youth with higher incomes. Findings reinforce past research on LGBTQ status and income as factors for youth wellness and mental health. Findings also suggest that perceived safer spaces in youth development programs support better HRQoL and lower health complaints, across populations of participating youth.

Trajectories of Youth's Helping From Adolescence into Adulthood: The Importance of Social Relations and Values

Helping behaviors (e.g., helping a sick friend, volunteering) are important forms of community involvement and likely change with age and life context. Yet, trajectories of community helping from adolescence through early adulthood have rarely been examined. It is also unclear how the roles of family, friends, and social attitudes might foster the development of helping behaviors across these years. We report on a study of community helping in a Canadian youth sample, across five intervals over a 15-year span, beginning at age 17 (N = 416). Helping displayed a quadratic trend, decreasing into the mid-20s, and then rebounding somewhat by 32. Social responsibility and salience of friends' prosocial moral values positively predicted age 17 community helping, whereas parents' moral values predicted less decrease in helping over this timeline. These findings add to an understanding of moral influences and social responsibility, in the potential shaping of youths' community helping behaviors.

The Young Canadians Roundtable on Health: promising practices for youth and adults working in partnership

SETTING

Canadian youth (aged 15-29 years) are more diverse, educated, connected and socially engaged than ever before. However, many face health-related challenges, including mental health problems (10-20%), substance use concerns (14%) and obesity (45%).

INTERVENTION

The Young Canadians Roundtable on Health (YCRH) was created in 2013 to be Canada's youth voice on health. Supported by the Sandbox Project, this youth-led advisory works primarily virtually, leading advocacy projects and wide-ranging health initiatives.

OUTCOMES

Youth and adult allies engaged in a participatory research evaluation of the YCRH, which was identified as a living laboratory, where youth could experiment with ideas and provide new perspectives on health issues. Adult allies reported learning new skills from youth, and youth gained advocacy and leadership skills. Collaborative projects resulted in a sense of shared achievement. Further, youth increased their connections to health and youth-serving spaces across the country. Identified challenges included difficulties in coordinating a national roundtable and defining shared responsibilities.

IMPLICATIONS

The researchers generated the following evidence-based promising practices for youth engagement in health systems and program planning: (1) provide a consistent platform for youth input; (2) appreciate different forms of knowledge, expertise and communication methods; (3) invest in relationships and build mutual understanding among youth and adults; (4) for adult allies, be patient and comfortable with the ambiguity and unpredictability of working with youth; and (5) continually revisit and renegotiate structure and flexibility.

Psychological Engagement and Behavioral Activity Participation As Predictors of Positive Youth Development

Youth’s structured (e.g., sports) and unstructured (e.g., socializing) activities are key contexts for positive development. Both behavioral participation (e.g., frequency) and elements of psychological engagement (e.g., enjoyment, challenge) in programs and activities have been linked to components of youth development. We tested a model in which both psychological engagement and behavioral participation in activities predicted overall positive youth development in older adolescent and emerging adult samples (Sample 1, n = 235, mean age = 18.7 years, SD = 1.4 years, 67.7% female; Sample 2, n = 186, mean age = 20.0 years, SD = 2.1 years, 68.8% female). In the first known study to include behavioral participation and multidimensional psychological engagement in predicting the Five Cs of positive youth development, we found that greater psychological engagement, but not behavioral participation, was related to higher positive youth development across samples and different activity types. Findings suggest that promoting youth’s psychological engagement in programs and other activities, rather than just their physical presence, may be advantageous for strengthening positive youth development.

Youth-Adult Partnerships in Work with Youth: An Overview

Youth-adult partnerships in child and youth services engage the participants in collaborative, shared decision making, in areas such as governance, program planning and implementation, and advocacy. However, these partnerships often occur in isolation, and fail to engage in potentially useful, larger conversations about theory and research. Therefore, in an effort to provide common grounds for understanding and engaging in such partnerships, we offer an overview of current literature. We discuss definitions and discourses, describe models of youth-adult partnerships, and briefly consider current research on potential benefits for youth, adults, organizations, and communities. We also present challenges and promising practices for adult allies engaged in youth-adult partnerships. 

Associations of attachment orientation with early generative concern across adolescence

OBJECTIVE

Researchers have begun to find evidence that generativity, defined as concern for future generations as a legacy of the self, has relevance prior to midlife. Examination of predictors of generativity in adolescence contributes to an overall model of positive development in youth. Bowlby's theory of attachment, a well-established framework for understanding close relationships, was applied in this study of how adolescents' approach to close relationships predicts early generativity.

METHOD

Approximately 190 adolescents (M_age  = 15) completed self-report measures of attachment (anxiety and avoidance) and generativity across a 4-year period. Additionally, a subsample of 73 adolescents completed the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI).

RESULTS

Results indicate a transactional relationship whereby self-reported avoidance of closeness and generativity were negatively related across time. AAI dismissing attachment was negatively associated with generativity only for female participants.

CONCLUSION

These findings support Erikson's original psychosocial theory highlighting the importance of intimate relationships in developing the capacity to care for future generations.

Predictors of Early Community Involvement: Advancing the Self and Caring for Others

Recent research on community involvement points to the importance of both agentic (advancing the self) and communal motives (serving others) as key predictors, though few studies have examined both simultaneously. At the same time, research has identified generativity, defined as concern for future generations as a legacy of the self, as particularly relevant for community involvement. Moreover, generativity involves both agentic and communal motives, meaning that advancing personal goals and caring for others are integrated in this construct. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine how individual differences in attributes pertaining to self and to others-specifically, self-esteem, initiative, and empathy-related to both generativity and community involvement. A sample of adolescents (N = 160; 64% female, M_age  = 17) and a sample of young adults (N = 237; 84% female, M_age  = 20) completed a survey including measures of community involvement and generativity. Generative concern fully mediated the associations between individual differences (self-esteem, initiative, and empathy) and community involvement, suggesting that the early generativity has a role in fostering capacities and contribution in youth. These developmental indicators pertaining to self and others link to actions that benefit the community through a desire to benefit future generations.

"Now I know I can make a difference": Generativity and activity engagement as predictors of meaning making in adolescents and emerging adults

This study examined generativity (concern for future generations as a legacy of the self) and activity engagement as predictors of meaning making in young people's personal accounts of their key activity experiences. We elicited stories regarding events within participants' "most engaging activity," self-reports on generativity, and behavioral participation and psychological engagement in activities in 2 separate samples: an emerging adult sample and an adolescent sample. The stories were coded for meaning making, defined as degree of insight into individuals' understanding of themselves or the world (McLean & Pratt, 2006). Psychological engagement, but not behavioral participation, was positively associated with meaning making. Moreover, generativity was significantly and positively related to psychological engagement, and predicted meaning making, even after controlling for psychological engagement. Findings suggest that different types of activities can offer a potential context for fostering early generativity and meaning making, and that generativity in adolescence and emerging adulthood is related to the development of insight and meaning making.

The association between early generative concern and caregiving with friends from early to middle adolescence

Generativity, defined as concern for future generations, is theorized to become a priority in midlife, preceded by a stage in which intimacy is the central issue. Recent research, however, has found evidence of generativity even in adolescence. This longitudinal study explored the associations between caregiving in friendships, closely related to intimacy, and early generative concern in a young adolescent sample. Given the importance of close friendships in adolescence, it was hypothesized that responsive caregiving in early adolescent friendships would predict later generative concern. Approximately 140 adolescents (56 % female, aged 14 at Time 1) completed questionnaires regarding generative concern and responsive caregiving with friends yearly across 2 years. Structural equation modeling revealed that caregiving predicted generative concern 1 year later but generative concern did not predict later caregiving. These results suggest that caregiving in close friendships plays an important role in the development of adolescents' motivation to contribute to future generations.

Community and religious involvement as contexts of identity change across late adolescence and emerging adulthood

Latent growth curve modeling was used to describe longitudinal trends in community and religious involvement and Marcia’s (1966) four identity statuses (diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, and achievement), as well as to assess relations between involvement and identity change. Cross-lagged regression models explored temporal ordering of relations between involvement and identity. The study involved 418 participants (Wave 1 M age = 17.44, SD = .81) over four occasions. Individuals on average showed decreases in community and religious involvement, identity diffusion, foreclosure, and moratorium, and no significant change in identity achievement. For community involvement, rates of change were related negatively to those for diffusion and positively to those for achievement. For religious involvement, rates of change correlated negatively with those for diffusion and moratorium, and positively with those for foreclosure. Cross-lagged models showed some effects in the expected direction (involvement to identity), as well as some reciprocal effects. All analyses were conducted for overall identity status as well as the three domains within each status (political, religious, and occupational). In short, the present study provides evidence for community and religious involvement as contexts facilitative of identity formation in late adolescence and emerging adulthood.