Identity development has been consistently linked to a variety of positive adjustment indicators and plays a critical role during times of uncertainty. Despite this, only a handful of interventions have been developed to promote positive identity development. However, these interventions have not only focused on adolescent and emerging adults, but apart from a handful of social identity interventions, have also not targeted specific domains of identity development. In the current study, we outline the development of a domain-specific identity intervention, the Making Career and Educational Choices workshop (MCEC), and evaluate pre to posttest outcomes in a sample of 58 college students (Mage = 32.33, S.D.age = 10.95; 48% White; 82% female). Students were assigned to either MCEC (n = 32) or a control (n = 26) group by random assignment of selected time slots. Two-wave latent change modeling indicated intervention gains in identity commitment making, identification with commitment, and identity exploration in breadth and in depth. Although preliminary, the relatively large estimates of intervention-related change provide support for the capacity of career-focused identity interventions to support students in choosing and committing to a future life direction. Implications, challenges, and future directions are discussed to guide future research.

Cognitive abilities are closely related to social emotional competences (SEC). These abilities are important foundations in order to adapt to school, interact with peers and adults, as well as to navigate the wider socio-cultural context in which one develops. Further, young children are also acquiring and deepening their language and preliteracy skills which are important for later academic learning. Central to cognitive abilities are the processes that enable deliberate and goal-oriented actions, which fall under the conceptual umbrella of executive functions (EFs). In this study, we applied a conceptually broad perspective to examine cognitive abilities, preliteracy and SEC in preschool aged children. Children were participants in an intervention trial of the preschool edition of Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS®) conducted in preschools located in three municipalities within a large city in Sweden. Pre-test data were used to examine cognitive abilities and SEC in this sample of Swedish 4 to 5-year-old children (N = 247). We first performed an exploratory factor analysis including the wide range of examined abilities, and found that measures of abilities typically viewed as SEC, did not group with measures of preliteracy skills and abilities typically considered as EFs. Second, we performed confirmatory factor analyses on remaining relevant indicators of cognitive abilities, which indicated a two-factor model best fit the data, with one factor involving inhibitory control and one factor involving more complex and high-demanding skills (working memory, cognitive flexibility, and preliteracy skills). Results indicated that more complex EFs and preliteracy skills were closely linked, and can be differentiated from inhibitory control, already in the preschool years. Findings also point to the importance of including a broad range of cognitive abilities (e.g., pre-literacy skills) in order to gain a nuanced description of possible interrelations between cognitive and social emotional development. Furthermore, this study contributes to the theoretical discussion on EF structure during childhood, and provides a sound empirical rationale for the further development of early interventions that consider young children’s executive functions and preliteracy skills.

IntroductionSocial emotional competence is fundamental to the positive development of children and youth. Accurately understanding and assessing children’s social emotional competencies, using psychometrically sound instruments, are essential to global efforts to support children’s social emotional learning, academic achievements, and health. This study examined the psychometric properties of a teacher-reported measure of young children’s social emotional competence, the Social Competence Scale – Teacher edition (SCS-T), in two samples of children growing up with varied economic resources/conditions, cultural norms, and educational experiences, namely Pakistan (N = 396) and Sweden (N = 309).MethodsParticipants were aged 4–6 years old. The study design was cross-sectional.Results and DiscussionUsing structural equation modelling, bi-factor confirmatory factor analysis models implying shared variance, among all items and domain-specific shared variance, among the prosocial items, emotion regulation items, and academic skills items resulted in good fitting models in each respective sample. Invariance testing across samples revealed a subset of items from each factor structure with partial scalar invariance, whereby five items had equal thresholds and could be comparable across the two samples. Thus, results provided partial support for hypotheses 1, 2, and 3, in that the posited three factor model (H1) was not clearly supported and a bi-factor model evidenced the best fit, among tested models, for both samples. Further, partial scalar invariance (H3) was found for five items out of 25 items, concerning social competence and academic skills. In regards, to the posited research question, the results of Z-tests showed significant (p < 0.001) latent mean differences between the samples. Compared to the Swedish sample, the Pakistani sample was 1.80 units lower on social competence (z = −6.41, p < 0.001) and 1.86 units lower on academic skills (z = −7.87, p < 0.001). The implications of these findings in light of efforts to promote positive child development in diverse parts of the world are considered.

Well implemented, universal parental support is often effective in families with younger children, but research on their effects on families with adolescent children is scarce. In this study, a trial of the universal parent training intervention "Parent Web" in early adolescence is added to the social emotional learning intervention Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS®), completed in early childhood. The Parent Web is a universal online parenting intervention based on social learning theory. The intervention aims to promote positive parenting and family interaction through five weekly modules completed over 6-8 weeks. The main hypothesis is that participants in the intervention group will exhibit significant pre- to post- intervention-related benefits relative participants in the comparison group. The aims of this study are: 1) provide Parent Web as a booster aimed at improving parenting support and practices at the transition into adolescence to a cohort of parents whose children have previously participated in preschool PATHS, and 2) examine the effects of the universal edition of Parent Web. The study has a quasi-experimental design with pre- and post-testing. The incremental effects of this internet-delivered parent training intervention are tested in parents of early adolescents (11-13 years) who participated in PATHS when 4-5 years old compared to a matched sample of adolescents with no prior experience of PATHS. The primary outcomes are parent reported child behavior and family relationships. Secondary outcomes include self-reported parent health and stress. The proposed study is one of the few trials to test the effects of universal parental support in families of early adolescents and will therefore contribute to the understanding of how mental health in children and young people can be promoted across developmental periods through a continuum of universal measures. Trial registration: Clinical trials.gov (NCT05172297), prospectively registered on December 29, 2021.

This chapter explores the social and emotional development of emerging adults and focuses on how it contributes to feelings of anxiety, inability to make decisions, uncertainty, and lack of belonging. It provides information on how identity impacts mental health, particularly during this developmental stage. Various theories are discussed, with information provided on the role of the social-cultural content. The Miami Adult Development Project serves as a case study of an identify-focused intervention with mental health outcomes. Guiding questions help readers better understand the role identity development plays in risk and resilience during this “age of uncertainty.”

Early interventions that foster the participation, engagement, and development of children attending preschools, including those in economically disadvantaged (low-income) neighborhoods, are of high priority. One such intervention is a universal socioemotional learning (SEL) program called Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS®) which aims to promote social emotional competence and positive adjustment in children, in general, and may have unique benefits for children attending preschool in low incomes areas. In the SEL field, areas in need of exploration include the possible role that neighborhood income level (i.e., all residents’ income in a postal code that a preschool is located in) could have for children’s social emotional competence and positive adjustment and how neighborhood income level may relate to benefits of an intervention such as PATHS. The study aims were to investigate 1) the baseline group differences in social emotional competence and adjustment depending on the neighborhood income level and 2) to determine if neighborhood income level moderated the effects of PATHS on children’s social emotional competence and adjustment from pre to posttest. Participants were 275 children aged four to five years old, from the preschools randomized into an immediate intervention (n = 145 children) or a wait-list control group (n = 130 children). Overall, 42.9% (n = 118) of the children attended preschools in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods and 57.1% (n = 157) of the children attended preschools in economically advantaged neighborhoods. Children’s social emotional competence and adjustment were assessed through child tasks, child observations and teacher reports. The moderation of intervention effects by the preschools’ neighborhood income was tested in a series of just-identified structural equation models (SEM) that explored interaction effects (income*PATHS interactions). At baseline, relative to children attending preschool in economically advantaged preschools, children attending preschool in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods showed lower levels of inhibitory control, working memory, task orientation and higher levels of inattention. Children attending preschools in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods participating in PATHS also showed reductions in inattention, social withdrawal and anxiety compared to control group children also attending preschool in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Additionally, PATHS children from advantaged neighborhoods improved their prosocial behavior, but not their social independence, relative to control group children who also attended preschool in advantaged neighborhoods. Offering PATHS as an SEL intervention in early childhood education and care settings could help to reduce disparities among children in a number of key outcomes.

Building effective Positive Youth Development (PYD) interventions for marginalized youth requires understanding what actions, experiences, and relationships—that is, what group processes—during the intervention promote positive outcomes in this population. This chapter examines group processes in the Changing Lives Program, a group-based PYD intervention designed to empower adolescents growing up in disempowering community contexts in Miami, Florida, USA. After describing the social and historical context for the program’s development, we outline the Changing Lives Program’s participatory transformative intervention model. We present narrative case histories to illustrate the group process issues involved in PYD group work with marginalized adolescents, and we examine adolescents’ session-by-session assessment of PYD group processes as a mediator of pre-to-posttest changes in positive development and mental health. Finally, we use these findings to discuss the importance of connecting group process with outcome in PYD intervention research.

The preschool edition of Promoting Alternative THinking Strategies (PATHS®) is a school-based, teacher implemented universal intervention developed in the United States designed to promote social emotional competence (SEC) in children as a foundation for improved mental health. PATHS is delivered as a curriculum and it is based on theories and research regarding SEC, brain development, and optimal school environments. A majority of children in Sweden attend preschool, which is government-subsidized and follows a national curriculum focusing on both academic and social emotional learning. However, there is not so much focus on formal instruction nor manual-based lessons. The purpose of this study was to assess the short-term (pre- to post-test) effects of PATHS in the Swedish preschool setting. Using a two-wave cluster randomized trial with multi-method and informant assessment (N = 285 4 and 5-year-old Swedish children; n = 145 wait-list control; n = 140 intervention; K = 26 preschools; k = 13 intervention; k = 13 control) we assessed changes in child emotional knowledge, emotional awareness, social problem solving, prosocial play, inhibitory control, and working memory using structural equation modeling (SEM). We included schools with at least one classroom of 4–5-year-old children from three municipalities. We excluded open preschools, parent cooperative preschools, and family day homes. After random assignment, schools were informed of condition assignment. Research team members were not blind to assignment. We hypothesized that relative to children in control schools, children in intervention schools would evidence improvements in social emotional competence as well as other outcomes. Children in PATHS, relative to children in the control, evidenced improvements in working memory and prosocial play, but also showed an increase in hyperactive behaviors. Girls in PATHS, relative to girls in the control, showed improvement in emotional knowledge and reduced anxiety. These results are considered in light of efforts to promote positive development and mental health. The trial registration number at ClinicalTrials.gov is NCT04512157. Main funding was from Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research, the Swedish Research Council, Formas, and VINNOVA (dnr: 259-2012-71).

This cross-sectional study established the psychometric properties and factor structure of the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales (PKBS) and an index of empathy in a sample of Swedish four to six year olds (N = 115). Using Bayesian structural equation modeling, we found that a five-factor PKBS and one-factor empathy model provided good fit to the data, posterior predictivep-value (PPP) = .246. Results indicated good internal consistency (omega.73 to .92). Consistent with the CASEL model and prior research, positive associations were found between social emotional competencies. Relationship skills were positively associated with empathy and negatively associated with internalizing problems. Results provided support for the use of the PKBS as well as the empathy scale in Swedish preschools.

Transition to adulthood in countries that have seen recent historical structural changes in society as well as changes in what it means to be an adult represents important contexts for investigations of ways in which positive development and transition to adulthood are experienced. Situated in such context, this cross-sectional study aimed to (1) describe profiles of positive psychological strengths, as measured by the Five Cs of positive youth development (PYD) and (2) document how identified profiles might differ in relation to other aspects of positive and problematic development. Participants were 272 Romanian emerging adults attending university (76% female; aged 19–29 years old, M age = 21 years old). Latent class analysis was performed to identify patterns of psychological strengths using the Five Cs theory of positive youth development. Pairwise Wald chi square difference tests were then conducted to determine if the identified Five Cs profiles were associated with significant differences in other key outcomes. Findings indicated that, a two-class model emerged as the best fitting model, and in this model, Class 1 was similar to Class 2 on strengths of competence, confidence, and connection. However, the two classes were distinguishable by caring and character, with Class 2, the numerically more common profile (89%), being elevated on character and caring relative to Class 1 (which was a less frequently occurring profile, 11%). This finding highlights the importance of examining the diversity of positive development, even within the same theoretical framework. Further results indicated that the two identified classes showed similarities in problematic behaviors as well as in purpose in life and psychological complaints. Other group difference tests by profile/class indicated that Class 2 was higher in general and social well-being relative to Class 1, with a trend in the same direction for hope. However, an unexpected finding was that Class 2 was also elevated in somatic complaints relative to Class 1. These are important findings not only because of the contribution to the generalizability of the Five Cs theory and measure but also because of the implications of the findings to research, policy, and practice in the Romanian context and beyond.

The present cross-sectional study aimed to examine whether characteristics of the parent-child relationship in adolescence are important for adjustment and identity development. Participants were recruited from schools in central Sweden for a larger longitudinal study when the cohort was 13- to 14-year-olds ( N = 3,667). Characteristics of the parent-child relationship, like parental warmth, democratic parenting, and child communication, and adolescent adjustment problems and identity coherence were studied. It was found that democratic parenting was positively linked to child communication but negatively associated with problematic peer relationships and behavioral problems. Parental warmth was linked to other parenting characteristics as well as identity cohesion. Democratic parenting was linked to greater school engagement and identity coherence for boys and girls. Gender differences were found. The findings support the notion that democratic and warm parenting may provide support for adolescent identity development and adjustment.

Previous studies indicate that school climate is important for student health and academic achievement. This study concerns the validity and reliability of the student edition a Swedish instrument for measuring pedagogical and social school climate (PESOC). Data were collected from 5,745 students at 97 Swedish secondary schools. Multilevel confirmatory factor analyses were conducted, and multilevel composite reliability estimates, as well as correlations with school-level achievement indicators, were calculated. The results supported an 8-factor structure at the student level and 1 general factor at the school level. Factor loadings and composite reliability estimates were acceptable at both levels. The school-level factor was moderately and positively correlated with school-level academic achievement. The student PESOC is a promising instrument for studying school climate.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the convergent and discriminant validity of adolescent and parent ratings of family interaction. Adolescent and parent ratings of democratic parenting, parental warmth, and adolescent free disclosure were measured using a multitrait-multimethod confirmatory factor analytic approach. Participants included 3,959 Swedish youth in seventh grade (average age 13 years), with follow-up measurements in eighth and ninth grades. At each grade, findings provided support for trait discriminant validity and discriminant validity of methods. However, findings failed to provide support for convergent validity. Overall, the present findings suggest that measurement of family interactions should include the perspectives of both parents and adolescents because their perceptions of family interactions may represent different family interaction constructs.

BackgroundAdvances in knowledge of how to promote positive youth development (PYD) have significant potential to enrich intervention science. As part of a broader movement in the direction of a more fully integrated intervention science, PYD intervention research can provide practitioners in youth behavioral and mental health with an updated set of intervention tools beyond problem-focused strategies for reducing or preventing dysfunction.ObjectiveThe objective of this commentary is to highlight potential contributions of PYD research to the development of more complete models of youth intervention, as well as to identify directions for future PYD intervention research. MethodThis commentary discusses and expands on findings from the present articles that contribute to an empirical foundation for connecting PYD promotion with the science and practice of treatment and prevention.ResultsThe findings point to practical advantages that result from understanding the empirical links among PYD, treatment, and prevention on the way to achieving a more fully integrated intervention science, as well as methodological challenges involved in pursuing this agenda.ConclusionsIn this context, the next generation of intervention science will be driven by integrating PYD's contextual, cultural, relational, global, and participatory values into the science of building and testing youth interventions.

This article addresses the debate concerning cultural differences in independent and interdependent self formation among Japanese youth. Independent self formation is defined as any purposive action to form a self actively through individual efforts. This study provides evidence that the majority of Japanese youth, despite their culturally collectivist backgrounds, form selves individually at the level of specific activities. High levels of active self formation were found among 41% of the sample. These findings contribute to the literature on both self development and identity formation, with the finding that both independent self formation and proactive identity formation occur among a significant proportion of Japanese students.

This study investigated the psychometric properties of a teacher-reported version of a Swedish school climate instrument called the Pedagogical and Social Climate (PESOC), which consists of 95 items covering cultural, structural and social factors. A sample of 348 teachers from 19 Swedish secondary schools was used. Multilevel confirmatory factor analysis conducted within a structural equation modelling framework indicated that the PESOC had a two-factor structure at the teacher level and a one-factor at the school level. The PESOC's convergent validity was supported by the school-level correlations between PESOC and another established instrument (i.e., the Team Climate Inventory). Further validation studies of PESOC are needed with larger, more representative samples, and with information on important outcomes such as student achievement and wellbeing.

Many Swedish parents report that they tend to employ moderate control as well as frequent use of democratic parenting practices (Trost, 2012). This approach to parenting combined with policy and in ...