Positive Youth Development and Adolescent Depression: A Longitudinal Study Based on Mainland Chinese High School Students

Abstract

There are several limitations of the scientific literature on the linkage between positive youth development (PYD) attributes and adolescent psychological morbidity. First, longitudinal studies in the field are limited. Second, few studies have used validated PYD measures to explore the related issues. Third, few studies have used large samples. Fourth, limited studies have been conducted in mainland China. In this study, we conducted a longitudinal study using two waves of data collected from 2648 junior high school students in mainland China. In each wave, participants responded to a validated PYD scale (Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale: CPYDS) and other measures of well-being, including the 20-item Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). After controlling for the background demographic variables, different measures of CPYDS (cognitive–behavioral competence, prosocial attributes, general positive youth development qualities, positive identity, and overall PYD qualities) were negatively associated with CES-D scores in Wave 1 and Wave 2. Longitudinal analyses also revealed that PYD measures in Wave 1 negatively predicted Wave 2 depression scores and the changes over time. The present findings highlight the protective role of PYD attributes in protecting adolescents from depression.

The Impact of Positive Youth Development Attributes and Life Satisfaction on Academic Well-Being: A Longitudinal Mediation Study

“… Benson et al (2006) argued that PYD could be shaped by both external and internal assets, which contributes to adolescent well-being and later success. Consistent with the PYD theories, research findings showed that PYD qualities were linked to a broad range of adolescent developmental outcomes including internalizing and externalizing behaviors, psychological adjustment as well as prosocial behavior ( Eichas et al, 2010 ; Schwartz et al, 2010 ; Ciocanel et al, 2017 ; Shek and Zhu, 2018 ; Zhou et al, 2020 ). However, few studies have addressed the mediating role of life satisfaction in the influence of PYD qualities on adolescent developmental outcomes, particularly in different Chinese societies ( Sun and Shek, 2010 , 2012 ).…”

Subjective Outcome Evaluation of Service-Learning by the Service Recipients: Scale Development, Normative Profiles and Predictors

“…Finally, although the present findings give support to the concurrent validity of the measure using measures on whether the participants will join similar programs, whether the participants will recommend others to join, and overall satisfaction, it would be helpful to use other external criteria not related to overall satisfaction of the programs. In particular, researchers can use measures of positive youth development (PYD) such as psychosocial competence (Zhou et al 2020) and academic performance as external criteria for the concurrent validity of the measure. Despite these limitations, the present study contributes to the limited SL literature on the value of SL learning activities from the perspective of the service recipients.…”

Concurrent and Longitudinal Predictors of Adolescent Delinquency in Mainland Chinese Adolescents: The Role of Materialism and Egocentrism

“…We recruited four high schools in mainland China from the schools participating in the “Tin Ka Ping P.A.T.H.S. Project” [ 26 , 27 , 28 ] to join the study. For Grade 7 students, 1362 and 1305 students joined in Wave 1 and Wave 2, respectively (attrition rate = 4.19%).…”