Purpose plus: Supporting youth purpose, control, and academic achievement

Pizzolato, Jane Elizabeth; Brown, Elizabeth Levine; Kanny, M. Allison

doi:10.1002/yd.429

Cited by 62 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 21 publications

(9 reference statements)

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“…Evaluations of these interventions suggest they have the potential to improve academic and health outcomes, particularly for vulnerable populations. 31–33 Studies suggest that having high educational aspirations is protective against risky health behaviors, such as substance use, regardless of current academic performance. 34 Our findings are consistent with these results and might provide a foundation for further research to determine whether encouraging even struggling students to consider a career that requires a college degree or higher might positively impact their health and wellbeing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow up? Career Aspirations as a Marker for Adolescent Well-being

Dudovitz

Nelson

Wong

2017

Academic Pediatrics

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Objectives “What do you want to be when you grow up?” is a simple, commonly asked question that may provide insight into adolescent wellbeing. Career aspirations may reflect an adolescent’s sense of identity, hope for the future, and self-efficacy, all of which are critical to identifying at-risk youth and intervening on risky behaviors. However, there are no studies testing whether career aspirations are associated with adolescent emotional and health behavior outcomes. Methods We analyzed cross-sectional surveys of 929 9th–12th grade low-income minority adolescents in Los Angeles assessing career aspirations and its association with hopelessness, self-efficacy, substance use, violence, and risky sexual activity. We used Department of Labor statistics to categorize career aspirations by amount of education required, income, and prestige. Generalized estimating equations accounted for socio-demographics, school type, academic performance, and clustering at the school level. Results Grades, standardized test scores, and health behaviors varied by career type. Adolescents with higher career aspirations, measured by career-related education, income, and prestige, reported less hopelessness and more self-efficacy. After adjusting for confounders, aspirations requiring high levels of education were associated with decreased odds of alcohol use, at-school substance use, and risky sexual activity, and higher prestige scores were associated with decreased odds of other drug use. Conclusions Career aspirations may be a marker for adolescent health and wellbeing. Adults might consider asking a teen what they want to be when they grow up to gain insight into their levels of hopelessness and self-efficacy and provide context for counseling on healthy behavior change.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow up? Career Aspirations as a Marker for Adolescent Well-being

Dudovitz

Nelson

Wong

2017

Academic Pediatrics

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“…These conceptual models articulate a pathway whereby early intervention strategies offered as part of broader SMH programs influence barriers to learning and help to support the re-engagement (e.g., affective, cognitive, and behavioral; Appleton, Christenson, & Furlong, 2008) of at-risk students in the classroom. Longitudinal empirical studies in educational research support these relationships, documenting how socio-emotional well-being influences students' academic engagement, and in turn, the academic achievement of at-risk adolescents (e.g., National Research Council and the Institutes of Medicine, Committee on Increasing High School Students' Engagement and Motivation to Learn, 2004;Pizzolato, Brown, & Kanny, 2012;Spencer, Dupree, & Hartmann, 1997). Longitudinal empirical studies in educational research support these relationships, documenting how socio-emotional well-being influences students' academic engagement, and in turn, the academic achievement of at-risk adolescents (e.g., National Research Council and the Institutes of Medicine, Committee on Increasing High School Students' Engagement and Motivation to Learn, 2004;Pizzolato, Brown, & Kanny, 2012;Spencer, Dupree, & Hartmann, 1997).…”

Section: Early Interventions For At-risk High School Youthmentioning

confidence: 99%

School mental health early interventions and academic outcomes for at-risk high school students: a meta-analysis

Iachini

Brown

Ball

et al. 2015

Advances in School Mental Health Promotion

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2015): School mental health early interventions and academic outcomes for at-risk high school students: a meta-analysis, Advances in School Mental Health Promotion,The current educational policy context in the United States necessitates that school-based programs prioritize students' academic outcomes. This review examined the quantitative research on school mental health (SMH) early interventions and academic outcomes for atrisk high school students. Seven articles met the inclusion criteria for this review. All articles were examined according to study design and demographics, early intervention characteristics, and outcomes. Of the studies included, most were conducted in urban settings, involved the implementation of group-based early intervention strategies, and monitored GPA as a distal academic outcome. Counselors were frequent implementers of these early interventions. A meta-analysis found no statistically significant effect on the academic outcomes most commonly assessed in the studies (i.e., GPA, attendance, and discipline). Findings suggest the need for more rigorous research in this area. Implications for SMH early intervention research and practice are discussed.

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“…Several studies have suggested that reflecting upon one's purpose in the form of writing may confer at least short-term benefits on sense of purpose (e.g., Burrow & Hill, 2013;Chippendale & Boltz, 2015). Likewise, small group discussion about purpose and goal setting have also shown promise in boosting adolescent students' purpose and perceived control over the course of an academic semester (Pizzolato, Brown, & Kanny, 2011). With regard to sleep quality, future studies could explore how similar interventions influence various aspects of sleep including sleep onset, maintenance, and REM-NREM cycles.…”

Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sense of Purpose in Life and Risk for Onset of Chronic Illness

Lewis¹

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Chronic health conditions have become increasingly common in recent years and may prove to be even more problematic given the aging population. Having a sense of purpose in life has been linked to a reduced risk for several chronic health conditions, though the mechanisms behind this relationship remain underexplored. The present research explored whether purpose in life predicted risk for onset of seven common chronic ailments using data from the Health and Retirement Study. Risk of initially healthy individuals developing arthritis, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart conditions, lung disease, and stroke was examined over an eight-year period from 2006 to 2014. The PROCESS procedure for testing mediation was used to analyse the direct association between purpose and onset of each of the seven chronic conditions, as well as testing whether vigorous and moderate physical activity, sleep quality, and health self-efficacy mediate these relationships. A greater sense of purpose in life was directly associated with a reduced risk for onset of stroke and indirectly associated with a decreased risk for arthritis, heart disease, lung disease, and hypertension onset through its effects on sleep quality. The current findings extend the literature by demonstrating that purpose in life predicts risk for onset of several chronic ailments. Further, these results point to the importance of considering sleep quality as a mechanistic link between purpose and long-term illness risk.

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Purpose plus: Supporting youth purpose, control, and academic achievement

Cited by 62 publications

References 21 publications

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow up? Career Aspirations as a Marker for Adolescent Well-being

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow up? Career Aspirations as a Marker for Adolescent Well-being

School mental health early interventions and academic outcomes for at-risk high school students: a meta-analysis

Sense of Purpose in Life and Risk for Onset of Chronic Illness

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