Online civic engagement among young people may represent a form of positive youth development in digital spaces. However, its impacts on youth’s well-being remain unclear, partly due to a lack of validated measures that capture the unique features of the internet and incorporate youth voices. To address this gap, we developed and validated a scale of multidimensional online civic engagement for youth aged 15 to 25 years (MOCE-Y) using an exploratory sequential mixed-methods approach. Qualitative interviews with 12 youth supported the multidimensional structure derived from literature, from which we developed an initial 40-item scale. Exploratory (N = 159) and confirmatory (N = 244) factor analyses with two independent samples further validated the multidimensionality of the scale, consisting of civic behaviors and skills. The final 26-item scale demonstrated discriminant, criterion, and incremental validity as well as internal consistency. MOCE-Y lays the groundwork for future research on youth civic engagement online.

Answering the call from leading scholars for more research on the positive development of majority world youth, the present study proposes a theory of positive youth development in Liberia, a majority world country in West Africa. To generate the theory, we conducted interviews with adults (N = 25) who work with youth and focus groups (n = 8) with youth (N = 44) nominated as thriving by their communities. We propose that the positive development of Liberian youth is a dynamic process, whereby thriving youth possess community-valued character strengths that elicit supportive relationships and facilitate access to essential resources; these relationships and resources, in turn, support the further development of community-valued character strengths. Implications for understanding and supporting Liberian PYD are discussed.

This explanatory sequential mixed-method study examined how Latino caregivers’ (M age = 33.11; SD age = 5.09; n = 45) cultural values influenced their language practices and reasons for promoting bilingualism in their young children (42-month-olds). Caregivers were interviewed using semi-structured interviews, which was supplemented with language and cultural orientation surveys. Interviews were analyzed as a function of generation status (1st vs. 2nd), with most caregivers identifying as bicultural and bilingual. Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed that caregivers’ reasons for promoting bilingualism were tied to both acculturation (i.e. ties to U.S. culture) and enculturation values (i.e. ties to heritage country), whereas their language practices were tied to enculturation values. Important differences were found in the responses of 1st-and 2nd-generation caregivers, the latter showcasing shared cultures (heritage and U.S.) and languages (Spanish and English) with their U.S.-born children. Findings can inform practice aimed at supporting caregivers in raising bilingual children.

According to the 5 C Model of Positive Youth Development, contribution to self, family, and community is considered the outcome of positive youth development. The present study aimed to examine the cross-lagged relationships between the 5Cs of positive youth development and participation in after-school activities as an indicator of contribution. Two-wave panel data gathered more than 1700 Croatian high school students. Hypotheses were tested using a cross-lagged path model. The results suggest that there is a bidirectional association: While after-school activities promote 5Cs a year later, the level of 5Cs in first year of high school predicts participation in activities that contribute to the self but not in activities that contribute to the community in second year of high school. In the context of our findings, if we want to promote adolescents’ contribution it is also necessary to advocate for youth engagement and ensure the availability of leisure activities.

Although the associations among parenting practice, individual social competence, and adolescent interpersonal relationships are well-established, the positive aspects of each construct are rarely studied. This study adopted an asset-based approach to examine the prospective associations of strength-based parenting, adolescent gratitude (a marker of social competence from an asset-based approach), and friendship quality. A series of structural equation models were used in analyzing 241 racially/ethnically diverse adolescents (50.6% males; Mage=14.14, SDage=1.85) on three time points over 6 months. After controlling for demographic covariates (i.e. adolescent gender, age, and family income), results revealed that higher strength-based parenting was associated with adolescents’ higher gratitude and friendship quality at later time points after controlling for their baselines; gratitude mediated the longitudinal association between strength-based parenting and adolescent friendship quality after controlling for baseline friendship quality. These findings highlight the importance of considering positive elements and fostering developmental assets during adolescent socialization processes.

This study used convergent parallel mixed methods to understand the classroom experiences that cultivate respect in middle schoolers. Participants were 258 fifth and sixth grade students (Mean age = 11 years; 47% female; 41% Black, 33% White, 16% Latine, 6% Multiracial, 1% Asian, or <1% Native American) across nine U.S middle schools. At three data collection windows (fall, winter, spring) during the 2019-2020 school year, which included the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, students either completed surveys about their classroom experiences (agency, meaningful schoolwork, and teacher caring) or reported on their respect for others. Structural equation modeling indicated that students’ perception of teacher caring at window 2 (winter), but not agency and meaningful work, was significantly associated with their respect at window 3 (spring). Qualitative analysis of student interviews (n = 43) inquiring about a time when their teacher showed them respect revealed that teacher caring was the most prevalent theme.

Pubertal timing has implications for adolescent substance use, such that early maturers have increased use. Yet, pubertal timing is not widely studied beyond adolescence, making it unclear whether and how adolescent effects persist or if downstream effects emerge after adolescence. This paper investigates the relation between pubertal timing (perceived comparison to same-sex peers) and alcohol use for 75–100 days and examines alcohol belief mediators. Participants (N = 183) aged 21–45 years (Mage = 27.33 [SDage = 6.65]) came from two intensive longitudinal studies. Across ∼13,000 daily observations, pubertal timing was associated with normative daily alcohol use during adulthood, such that women who matured late and men who matured on-time drank the most. Alcohol beliefs about relaxation and social facilitation influenced the alcohol use behavior of late maturing men less than their peers. Adolescent alcohol use might be slow to emerge in late developers, and the mechanisms underlying use seem to differ across development and by gender.

To advance theory and research on youth sociopolitical development, we must better understand how young activists become passionate, knowledgeable, and active in a cause. We explored sociopolitical synergy—high interest, knowledge, and involvement in a social or political issue—among U.S. adolescent activists (N = 677). Overall, 26.3% of young activists had synergy on racial justice activism, and 17.1% had synergy on gender justice activism, with little overlap between groups. Youth of color and genderqueer youth were more likely to have racial justice synergy, and LGBQA youth were more likely to have gender justice synergy. Sociopolitical synergy was related to sense of belonging to an activist community and to some benefits of activism (e.g. flourishing, self-expression, and purpose), although young racial justice activists with synergy also experienced costs (e.g. conflict, harassment). Findings highlight potential developmental and societal benefits to young activists’ sociopolitical synergy on varying social justice causes.

The orthogenetic principle states that development involves systemic and organized changes that progress from a state of relative globality and lack of differentiation to states of increasing differentiation, integration, and hierarchic organization. To explore the ontogeny of positive youth development (PYD), we used the orthogenetic principle as a frame to test the presence of developmental changes in the components of PYD specified in the Five Cs model of PYD. Using data derived from the Compassion International (CI) Study of PYD in Uganda (n = 606, Mage = 12.5 years, SDage = 2.3, 50.2% female), we disaggregated data by age (9 to 12 years and 13 to 16 years) and gender (girls and boys) and conducted exploratory factor analyses (EFAs) to assess whether global and/or differentiated factors emerged. Results demonstrated gender-related differences, with agentic- and sociomoral-related factors emerging; increasing differentiation across age was not supported. Implications for future developmental science research and practice promoting PYD are discussed.