Toward a Measure for Assessing Features of Effective Youth Development Programs: Contextual Safety and the “Big Three” Components of Positive Youth Development Programs in Rwanda

Tirrell, Jonathan M.; Dowling, Elizabeth M.; Gansert, Patricia K.; Buckingham, Mary H.; Wong, Caitlin A.; Suzuki, Sara; Naliaka, Catherine; Kibbedi, Patience; Namurinda, Emmanuel; Williams, Kate; Geldhof, G. John; Lerner, Jacqueline V.; King, Pamela Ebstyne; Sim, Alistair T.R.; Lerner, Richard M.

doi:10.1007/s10566-019-09524-6

Cited by 26 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…To this end, the availability of evidence-based prevention programs in family, school, and community settings is crucial for comprehensive and effective youth mental health promotion strategies. Programs effective in promoting PYD involve key features known as the Big Three ( Tirrell et al, 2020 ) or core competencies ( Maslow and Chung, 2013 ): (1) positive and sustained adult–youth relationships, (2) life-skill-building activities, and (3) opportunities for youth contribution and leadership. These principles should be enacted in all environments, especially in schools and families.…”

Section: Limitations and Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive Youth Development in Croatia: School and Family Factors Associated With Mental Health of Croatian Adolescents

et al. 2021

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IntroductionA framework for understanding the interrelationship of individual and environmental factors that influence adolescent health and well-being, as well as opportunities for policy-level interventions, is known as Positive Youth Development (PYD). The current study represents one of the largest studies of Croatian adolescents to date, and aimed to examine associations between school and family factors linked to PYD, and mental health outcomes experienced by Croatian youth.MethodsA multi-site survey study was conducted among adolescents (N = 9,655) residing in the five most populous cities in Croatia, with the aim of examining cross-sectional associations of family and school factors with adolescent mental health. The mean age of participants was 16.3 years (SD = 1.2), and 52.5% of participants were female. School and family factors included school attachment, school commitment, family communication, and family satisfaction. Depression, anxiety, and stress were assessed as outcomes. Multigroup structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine relations of interest among female and male adolescents.ResultsAmong school factors, increased school attachment was found to be significantly associated with reduced depression, anxiety, and stress for female adolescents, and with decreased depression and stress for male adolescents. Increased school commitment was significantly associated with decreased depression and anxiety for female adolescents; conversely, an increase in school commitment was associated with an increase in anxiety and stress for male adolescents. Increases in family communication were significantly associated with reduced depression, anxiety, and stress only for male adolescents, while increased family satisfaction was significantly associated with reduced depression, anxiety, and stress for female adolescents and with decreased depression and stress for male adolescents.ConclusionFindings suggest that interventions for mental health promotion and prevention of internalizing problems should address both school and family contexts, and may be more effective when accounting for differing developmental experiences of female and male adolescents.

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Section: Limitations and Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive Youth Development in Croatia: School and Family Factors Associated With Mental Health of Croatian Adolescents

et al. 2021

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“…CI youth are also connected to individual, family, or group sponsors who support youth through monthly financial support, personal letters, and in some cases, gifts, and personal visits. 1 CI emphasizes the importance of relationships between youth participants and caring adults (e.g., project directors, pastors, and mentors) (Glewwe et al 2018;Sim and Peters 2014;Tirrell et al 2019a). A recent study suggests that CI-involved youth benefit from this strength-based approach and exhibit significantly higher levels of hope (Glewwe et al 2018).…”

Section: El Salvador and Compassion International (Ci)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Religiousness and Hope: Examining the Roles of Spirituality and Social Connections among Salvadoran Youth

et al. 2020

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Given the strong link between religiousness and hope, we sought to further understand the relations of these potentially powerful resources for youth living in adversity. Although existing research suggests that religiousness might be associated with adolescent hope via spirituality and social connections, few studies have tested models that integrate both. Thus, as applied psychologists, the aim of this paper was to test a theoretical model in the lives of youth. Drawing on a Relational Developmental Systems metatheory, we sought to further elucidate the relations between religiousness and hope and to explore how involvement in the faith-based youth-development organization, Compassion International (CI), might facilitate character strengths like hope. In order to do so, we tested whether religiousness was directly and indirectly (via spirituality and social connection) related to hopeful future expectations, using a sample of 9–15-year-olds in El Salvador (M = 11.6 years; n = 888), half of whom were involved in CI and the other half of whom were a locally matched counterfactual sample. Structural equation models revealed that higher levels of religiousness were directly and indirectly associated with higher levels of hope in relation to higher levels of spirituality and social connections among these youth. CI-supported youth reported significantly higher levels of religiousness than the counterfactual sample. Findings suggest that the relationship between religiousness and hope is best understood when it incorporates youth’s spirituality and social connections associated with religion.

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“…This is mirrored by quantitative data indicating increased psychological resilience in the initial start group which was sustained over time. This mixed-methods, multiinformant evaluation provides rich data allowing for triangulation across outcomes (Tirrell et al, 2020). Our results suggest that this low-cost intervention -delivered by lay providers -has significant potential for scalability; indeed, FG participants affirmed GROW'S high cultural acceptability and called for program expansion throughout Zambia.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…Findings could have been limited by ceiling effects -participants scored near the top of the range for most measures (Table S7). High scores may also reflect social desirability bias (Tirrell et al, 2020).…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We anticipate that GROW could be even more effective if taught in the primary language of the learners. We strongly recommend that future GROW projects translate the leader training card and curriculum, which were designed to be simple and reproducible, as well as the assessment instruments, into the area's most widely spoken local language, and that research teams first validate instruments with the population to be evaluated (Tirrell et al, 2020). Assessment also could be enriched by inclusion of additional objective measures such as school grades, attendance records, dropout and matriculation rates, rates of teen pregnancy, measures of leadership and acts of service.…”

Section: Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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GROW Zambia: A pilot cluster-randomized trial of a spiritually-based character strengths training curriculum to enhance resilience among Zambian youth

Seale

Seale²,

Pande³

et al. 2021

The Journal of Positive Psychology

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Few studies have examined the impact of resilience training on youth in lower/middle income countries (LMICs). This study assessed feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of GROW, a 24-week character-based resilience curriculum rooted in positive psychology and spirituality and taught via storytelling. Our pilot design -a mixed method, cluster-randomized controlled trial -was conducted with 28 classes of 643 Zambian youth ages 10-13 (M = 11.39, SD = 0.95, 55.4% female). Classes were divided into initial-start and delayed-start intervention phases. In 17 focus groups, parents, teachers, GROW leaders, and children affirmed the program's excellent cultural fit. Adult stakeholders observed positive impacts on school attendance, academic performance, and students' character and behavior. Initial-start students showed a pre-post increase in psychological resilience (p < .05). Together, these findings suggest GROW has promise for improving early adolescents' positive development. This strengthens the evidence base for the potential impact of culturally appropriate, spiritually-oriented programs delivered by lay providers for LMIC youth.

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Toward a Measure for Assessing Features of Effective Youth Development Programs: Contextual Safety and the “Big Three” Components of Positive Youth Development Programs in Rwanda

Cited by 26 publications

References 24 publications

Positive Youth Development in Croatia: School and Family Factors Associated With Mental Health of Croatian Adolescents

Positive Youth Development in Croatia: School and Family Factors Associated With Mental Health of Croatian Adolescents

Exploring Religiousness and Hope: Examining the Roles of Spirituality and Social Connections among Salvadoran Youth

GROW Zambia: A pilot cluster-randomized trial of a spiritually-based character strengths training curriculum to enhance resilience among Zambian youth

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