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Impacts of Adolescent and Young Adult Civic Engagement on Health and Socioeconomic Status in Adulthood
Abstract
The present study examines links between civic engagement (voting, volunteering, and activism) during late adolescence and early adulthood, and socioeconomic status and mental and physical health in adulthood. Using nationally representative data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, a propensity score matching approach is used to rigorously estimate how civic engagement is associated with outcomes among 9,471 adolescents and young adults (baseline Mage = 15.9). All forms of civic engagement are positively associated with subsequent income and education level. Volunteering and voting are favorably associated with subsequent mental health and health behaviors, and activism is associated with more health-risk behaviors and not associated with mental health. Civic engagement is not associated with physical health.
... Of these 29 studies, there were 26 unique study samples. There were three pairs of studies that draw from the same samples: Ballard et al., 2019b andWray-Lake et al., 2019;Lardier et al., 2018 and2020;andFine et al., 2018 andFrost et al., 2019. ...
... Both Ballard et al., (2019b)'s examination of activism and Wray-Lake et al., (2019)'s study of political behaviors find negative associations with mental health within national samples undifferentiated by youth's identities or social locations using the same Add Health sample. Hope et al. (2018) found activism protective of mental health for Latinx youth, but not Black youth, at predominantly White institutions. ...
... Only Fine et al. (2018) andFrost et al. (2019), whose analyses are from the same dataset, find associations with physical health, findings that are corroborated across the broader literature on youth's civic participation (Ballard et al., 2019a). But these measures use self-reports, and thus measures that can directly account for critical consciousness's impact on the physical body (e.g., Ballard et al., 2019b) are needed. Conversely, mental health is most commonly studied. ...
Youth experiencing systemic oppression(s) face heightened challenges to wellbeing. Critical consciousness, comprised of reflection, motivation, and action against oppression, may protect wellbeing. Wellbeing here refers to mental, socioemotional, and physical health. The aim of this systematic review was to synthesize research on the relationship between critical consciousness and wellbeing among adolescents and young adults (ages 12–29). Five databases (PsycInfo, PsychArticles, ERIC, Sociological Abstracts, and PubMed) were searched systematically using keyword searches and inclusion/exclusion criteria; 29 eligible studies were included. Results demonstrated that the critical consciousness and wellbeing relationship varied by critical consciousness dimension and age. The studies of adolescents most often focused on racial/ethnic marginalization and found critical motivation most strongly associated with better wellbeing. The studies of young adults focused on young adult college students and identified mixed results specifically between activism and mental health. Study methods across age spans were primarily quantitative and cross-sectional. Research on critical consciousness and wellbeing can benefit from studies that consider multiple critical consciousness dimensions, use longitudinal approaches, and include youth experiencing multiple and intersecting systems of privilege and marginalization.
... Particularly, volunteering is not only beneficial to recipients but also to the volunteers themselves (Aknin & Whillans, 2020;Hustinx et al., 2010;Wilson, 2000). Positive effects experienced by volunteers include greater positive affect, higher life satisfaction, fewer risky behaviors, and better occupational achievement (Ballard et al., 2018;Greenfield & Marks, 2004;Haski-Leventhal et al., 2020;Thoits & Hewitt, 2001;Kim & Morgul, 2017;Schreier et al., 2013;Stukas et al., 2016;Williamson, et al., 2018). Less is known, however, about the effects of volunteering and volunteer motivation on PWB. ...
... The extant literature has focused on adults and elderly, and, largely, Western samples but less so on the emerging adult population and those individuals who come from non-Western cultures (Greenfield & Marks, 2004;Huang, 2019;Jiang et al., 2021;Pilkington et al., 2012;Stukas et al., 2016). From the life course perspective, volunteering in college may have long-term and positive effects on later achievement and wellbeing (Ballard et al., 2018;Kim & Morgul, 2017;Schreier et al., 2013;Williamson et al., 2018). College is a time of immense transition for emerging adults, including the need to manage and coordinate several life roles, finding meaning and purpose, and managing social and psychological changes (Eccles et al., 2003). ...
... PWB. This is consistent with the existing studies that have found that volunteering positively predicts PWB specifically among students in higher education (Ballard et al., 2018;Haski-Leventhal et al., 2020;Kim & Morgul, 2017;Kragt & Holtrop, 2019;Schreier et al., 2013;Williamson, et al., 2018) and suggested that volunteering is beneficial to both volunteers themselves and to the recipients (Aknin & Whillans, 2020;Hustinx et al., 2010;Wilson, 2000). The regression results also indicate that volunteer motivation made a difference. ...
This study used data from 1871 college students across China to examine the relations among volunteering and PWB in 2020. Results of regression analysis indicate that volunteering had positive effects on the PWB of the students. Students whose motivation to volunteer was public interest had greater PWB, regardless of the degree to which they also reported private gain as a motivation. The significant interaction results indicate that students whose volunteer motivation included both public interest and private gains and who had high frequency of volunteering were more likely to have higher PWB. Policy and practice implications were discussed.
... These new or strengthened social ties may protect health by providing greater access to health information through others, exposing one to more pressure to carry out positive health behaviors, and yielding greater social support, which can mitigate stress (Folland 2007;Kawachi and Berkman 2001). Second, civic engagement may produce positive psychological benefits, like an increased feeling of self-efficacy, a stronger sense of empowerment and purpose, and decreased feelings of loneliness (Ballard, Hoyt, and Pachucki 2019). Such sentiments could protect against stress when an individual encounters difficult circumstances given that improved sense of control and self-esteem have been found to serve as stress buffers (Thoits 2010). ...
... As a subtype of civic engagement, political participation could benefit health for the same reasons, drawing individuals deeper into associational life or facilitating a more optimistic view of one's capacity to shape their environment. Indeed, some contributors to the existing body of literature about civic engagement and health acknowledge that the proposed mechanisms linking civic engagement more broadly to well-being could apply to political participation even if political behaviors differ from other civic actions, like volunteering (e.g., Ballard et al. 2019;Ballard and Syme 2016;Wray-Lake et al. 2019). ...
... To be sure, some may argue that political participation could undermine health if it exposes individuals to greater stress. This may occur if those who are politically active spend more time thinking about social problems and the slow pace of positive social change (Ballard et al. 2019). Yet current evidence suggests that any negative psychological effects caused by political engagement may be limited to contentious political activities, and even then, results of relevant studies that utilize panel data are mixed. ...
Affective polarization—the tendency for individuals to exhibit animosity toward those on the opposite side of the partisan divide—has increased in the United States in recent years. This article presents evidence that this trend may have consequences for Americans’ health. Structural equation model analyses of nationally representative survey data from Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel (n = 4,685) showed heterogeneous relationships between affectively polarized attitudes and self-rated health. On one hand, such attitudes were directly negatively associated with health such that the polarized political environment was proposed to operate as a sociopolitical stressor. Simultaneously, affective polarization was positively associated with political participation, which in turn was positively associated with health, although the direct negative effect was substantially larger than the indirect positive one. These results suggest that today’s increasingly hostile and pervasive form of partisanship may undermine Americans’ health even as it induces greater political engagement.
... In their 2018 study, Ballard et al. (2019) found that youth volunteering was associated with more years of education, higher household income, and higher personal earnings in adulthood. According to Fuligni (2019), numerous studies have shown the social, psychological, and health benefits of fulfilling the human need to make social contributions. ...
... According to Fuligni (2019), numerous studies have shown the social, psychological, and health benefits of fulfilling the human need to make social contributions. Behaviors that involve giving to others, ranging from volunteering to providing instrumental or social assistance, have been linked to healthy psychological, behavioral, and physical profiles, including lower morbidity, fewer health problems, reduced daily stress, and lower depression rates (e.g., Ballard et al., 2019;Jorge et al., 2018). An additional study on Brazilian adolescents found that a greater level of social capital (measured by their involvement in volunteer activities) was associated with a significantly lower risk of binge drinking (Cívico-Ariza et al., 2020). ...
Volunteering can serve as a protective factor against substance abuse. Yet, it is unclear whether volunteering in specific community organizations, such as emergency services, promotes or protects against substance use. We aimed to (1) describe community volunteering characteristics among adolescents; (2) investigate differences in the prevalence of substance use according to community volunteering type; and (3) determine whether volunteering type was a predictor of substance use. We analyzed data from the 2018–2019 Health Behavior in School‐aged Children survey among Israeli adolescents aged 11–17 years (N = 3972). Most participants (N = 2452; 61.7%) did not volunteer at all, 27.1% (N = 1077) volunteered in youth movements/councils, and 11.2% (N = 443) volunteered in community emergency services. In comparison to the emergency services group, there was a higher volunteering frequency among the youth movements/councils group. Of the three groups (nonvolunteering, volunteering in youth movements/councils, and volunteering in community emergency services), those in the community emergency services group reported a significantly higher prevalence of weekly alcohol use, lifetime cannabis use, and new psychoactive drug use, while no significant between‐group differences were observed in smoking tobacco prevalence. Volunteering in the community emergency services has been linked to substance use, requiring the development of intervention programs by the school staff, before their active volunteering (e.g., guidance on emotional stress and substance abuse). Also, teachers can act as a protective factor for students, and identify emotional distress and anxiety in their students to prevent substance abuse. Furthermore, emergency services workers and instructors should also be aware of the higher risk of substance use among volunteering youth and should be given tools to better collaborate with parents and teachers in dealing with it. Adolescents volunteering in the community emergency services report a higher prevalence of weekly alcohol use, lifetime cannabis use, and new psychoactive drug use compared to adolescents volunteering in youth movement/councils and nonvolunteers. The study's results highlight the importance of developing tailored intervention programs by the school staff, teachers, and counselors for adolescents in preparation for active volunteering in the emergency services. At the policy level, a recommendation document should be drawn up to regulate youth volunteering in the emergency medical services forces. Adolescents volunteering in the community emergency services report a higher prevalence of weekly alcohol use, lifetime cannabis use, and new psychoactive drug use compared to adolescents volunteering in youth movement/councils and nonvolunteers. The study's results highlight the importance of developing tailored intervention programs by the school staff, teachers, and counselors for adolescents in preparation for active volunteering in the emergency services. At the policy level, a recommendation document should be drawn up to regulate youth volunteering in the emergency medical services forces.
... However, activism has also been linked to feelings of loneliness, lower daily belongingness, lower self-esteem, greater burdensomeness, and greater anxiety (Ballard, Ni, and Brocato 2020;Oosterhoff, Hill, and Slonaker 2020). In a longitudinal study of US adolescents and young adults, Ballard and colleagues (Ballard, Hoyt, and Pachucki 2019) reported that activism was associated with more high-risk health behaviors. In a cross-sectional study of US college students, activism (called 'sociopolitical voice') was negatively associated with well-being, although positively associated with well-being when mediated by meaning in life (Fenn et al. 2021). ...
... Several studies explored activism to foster empowerment to create change, develop specific skill competencies, and connect with community (Klar and Kasser 2009;Bloemraad and Terriquez 2016;Ortega-Williams et al. 2020;Gilster 2012;Ochoa O'Leary and Romero 2011). Still, other studies found activism to be associated with increased high-risk behaviors and poor mental health (Wray-Lake et al. 2019b;Ballard, Hoyt, and Pachucki 2019). It could be that these two are not mutually exclusive, as one can create change while still engaging in high-risk health behaviors. ...
Researchers have examined civic engagement as a health promotion tool among older adults and adolescents, yet less is known about its mental health implications for young adults. This systematic review identified 53 articles on civic engagement and well-being in young adults. Five key themes emerged: (1) varying associations between type of civic engagement and well-being, (2) duration and frequency of civic behaviors, (3) directionality in the civic-to-well-being pathway, (4) mediation and moderation factors affecting the civic-to-well-being pathway, and (5) civic engagement as a tool for coping with adversity or systemic oppression. Civic engagement demonstrates a heterogeneous relationship to well-being; future research should focus on the explanatory pathways for positive, negative, and null correlations particularly among historically marginalized young adults.
... Are the dimensions of PSM of college students who have not yet entered the workforce different from previous research? College students' PSM may have a long-term and positive impact on later achievement and well-being [25]. Therefore, it is helpful and important to study the measurement dimensions of PSM among college students and compare the similarities and differences with those of civil servants. ...
... The college years are a particularly important period because they are characterized by increasing independence and responsibility [49]. From a life course perspective, PSM in college students may have long-term and positive effects on later achievement and well-being [25]. Studying the evaluative dimensions of PSM among college students and comparing the similarities and differences between them and those of the civil service population helps us to better identify the heterogeneity of PSM among college students and facilitate more extensive research in the future. ...
Public service motivation (PSM) represents an individual’s predisposition to respond to motives grounded primarily or uniquely in public institutions, and it is an individual characteristic that reflects the attributes of the public sector. The concept was first introduced by James Perry, who identified four-dimensions to measure PSM, namely, attraction to policy making, commitment to the public interest, compassion, and self-sacrifice. Public service motivation changes over time, and differences in culture and systems in different countries can lead to differences in the measurement dimensions of PSM. The dimensions of PSM measurement in Asian countries are different from those in Western countries, and whether the regional applicability and population applicability of PSM can be expanded is a question worth investigating. From a new perspective, this study takes Chinese college students as the research object, using one-on-one interviews based on grounded theory. Besides the four dimensions mentioned above, it was found that the two additional dimensions of a collectivist tendency and self-improvement were added, and the specific connotations of each dimension were changed somewhat. A collectivist tendency accords with the culture of East Asian countries, and self-improvement is our unique finding among college students. This proves that the motivation for public service can rise not only from altruism but also as a result of individuals seeking self-development and value realization.
... Civic engagement includes any step intended to enhance the quality of life (Cnaan and Park, 2019). It can take many forms, from individual volunteering to organizational involvement, and from addressing a specific social issue and promoting social change to voting (Flanagan and Levine, 2010;Ballard et al., 2019). These acts can be regular or episodic and constitute one of the fundamentals of a democratic society that emphasizes active citizenship (Adler and Goggin, 2005;Ejlskov et al., 2014). ...
... We suggest that for women who are not regularly exposed to such experiences in particular, civic engagement can be highly beneficial, by fueling them with positive emotions and a sense of enjoyment. This can have a cumulative effect which relieves their draining, alienating, and muted reality (Fenn et al., 2021) and can promote thriving both directly and indirectly (Ballard et al., 2019;Christophe et al., 2021). The civic engagement community participation thriving model (CECP-TM). ...
Social policies to promote socially excluded young adult women generally concentrate on education, employment, and residence but tend to neglect thriving. The current article puts forward a Civic Engagement Community Participation Thriving Model (CECP-TM) that views thriving as a social policy goal in and of itself. It posits that civic engagement, beyond its contribution to social justice, serves as a vehicle for thriving through self-exploration and identity formation. Both are considered key components of successful maturation and thriving. Nonetheless, civic engagement and self-exploration tend not to be nurtured in socially excluded young adult women, a unique group experiencing intersecting discrimination. The model shows how active civic engagement in the context of a community of peers contributes to developing a sense of belonging and connectedness and promotes new self-reflection, identity formation, and agency capabilities. When situated within the context of intersectionality, these encourage the development of critical consciousness and new understandings of “who I am and how I fit into the social world in which we live.” These can provide a sense of meaning, contribute to identity formation, and promote the thriving of the self and the community. Several examples illustrate the model.
... A meta-analysis of 40 articles based primarily on cohort studies indicated that volunteering had favorable effects on depression, life satisfaction, and well-being [37]. Likewise, a longitudinal study that followed 9471 American adolescents into their early adulthood showed that civic engagement during adolescence was positively associated with lower levels of depression and risk-taking [50]. ...
... Likewise, civic engagement can promote self-efficacy (i.e., an optimistic self-belief that one can perform complicated tasks or cope with adversity; [63]). Creating change in one's community may increase feelings of empowerment and hence overall well-being [36,50]. Because it involves wrestling with challenges and unexpected situations in new surroundings, civic engagement requires initiation, creativity, and the acquisition of communication and leadership skills, which can promote a sense of self-competence and efficacy [64]. ...
Civic engagement is thought to contribute to well-being among young adults. However, less is known about the ways in which civic engagement promotes well-being in general and in particular in socially excluded populations. This study investigated whether civic engagement contributes to life satisfaction and hope in a sample of 127 socially excluded young Israeli women who participated in social activism programs for a period of eight months. A mediation model incorporating self-efficacy, meaning in life, and identity exploration was used to examine the contribution of positive attitudes toward civic engagement, civic engagement skills, and political awareness to the participants’ life satisfaction and hope. Indirect effects were found between positive attitudes toward civic engagement, civic engagement skills, and political awareness and the participants’ life satisfaction and hope via self-efficacy. Positive attitudes toward civic engagement and political awareness also predicted the participants’ life satisfaction via meaning in life. A positive direct effect was found between political awareness and hope. However, contrary to the hypothesis, a negative direct effect was found between positive attitudes toward civic engagement and life satisfaction. Civic engagement skills and political awareness also predicted identity exploration. These findings underscore the need for clinicians to be aware of the potential benefits of civic engagement for the well-being of socially excluded populations.
... Our review indicated that prosocial behavior was linked to improved wellbeing [59][60][61], positive emotions [33], decreased depressive symptoms [28,[62][63][64][65], psychological engagement [66], positive changes in adolescents' mental health [56,67], resilience [68], increased stress tolerance [69], decreased negative psychological outcomes [60,65] and lower prevalence of health-risk behavior [70]. Prosocial peer treatment was associated with increased acceptance, less anxiety [29,63] and decreased loneliness [71]. ...
... Our review indicated that prosocial behavior was linked to improved wellbeing [59][60][61], positive emotions [33], decreased depressive symptoms [28,[62][63][64][65], psychological engagement [66], positive changes in adolescents' mental health [56,67], resilience [68], increased stress tolerance [69], decreased negative psychological outcomes [60,65] and lower prevalence of health-risk behavior [70]. Prosocial peer treatment was associated with increased acceptance, less anxiety [29,63] and decreased loneliness [71]. One study found that youths experiencing seasonal affective disorder (SAD) were engaged more in peer-helping than youths without SAD [72]. ...
Background: Mental health during a person’s adolescence plays a key role in setting the stage for their mental health over the rest of their life. Hence, initiatives that promote adolescents’ wellbeing are an important public health goal. Helping others can take a variety of forms, and the literature suggests that helping others can positively impact a person’s wellbeing. However, there is a lack of data that synthesizes the impact of helping others on adolescents’ wellbeing. Therefore, this review aims to synthesize the available evidence related to helping others and to youth wellbeing. Methods: A scoping review search was undertaken with no date restrictions. CINAHL, Medline and PyschINFO, were searched for studies that analyzed the relationship between helping others and youth mental health. Results: Data from 213 papers were included in the scoping review. Three main themes were observed: (1) the relationship between helping others and mental health outcomes among youths (positive and negative); (2) factors associated with youth engagement in prosocial behavior (facilitators and barriers); (3) the impact of interventions related to helping others, and to youth mental health (positive and negative). Conclusions: An overwhelmingly positive relationship exists between youth prosocial behavior and its influence on youth mental health.
... Positive effects experienced by volunteers include greater life satisfaction and occupational achievement. Volunteering is also linked to reduced problem behaviors such as drug abuse among adolescents and youths [4][5][6][7][8], as well as the general population [9][10][11]. ...
... The college years have been found to be a particularly important time as this period is characterized by increasing independence and responsibility [58,59]. From the life course perspective, volunteering in college may have long-term and positive effects on later achievement and well-being [4,[6][7][8]. The study of factors that increase volunteering are important to shed light on the human capacity to thrive in the face of challenging life circumstances, including those that may occur during a critical transitory period between adolescence and adulthood [58]. ...
Volunteering has been found to be not only beneficial to the well-being of recipients but also to the volunteers themselves, particularly from the life course perspective. Although previous studies have identified key factors of volunteering motivation, the literature is less focused on the interplay of public interest and private gains in volunteering motivation. This study used 1871 college students across China to examine how the interplay between public interest and private gains affects general and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)-specific volunteering during the pandemic. The results show that the interplay of these two factors constitutes a dynamic process, depending on the volunteering and time-specific context. Overall, undergraduate students with greater concern for public interest and less preference in private gains had the highest rate of overall volunteering, followed by students with high concern for both public interest and private gains. It is crucial to take both public interest and private gains into account when discussing volunteering opportunities among Chinese college students, which may increase the well-being of students in the long run.
... There is limited research examining the relationship between activism and mental health, particularly with adolescents or emerging adults; however, the evidence that does exist suggests mixed results. Some scholars have linked youth activism to positive mental health outcomes (e.g., Boehnke & Wong, 2011;Leak & Leak, 2006), while others have found negative associations (e.g., Wray-Lake et al., 2019) and still others have found no significant relationship between activism and specific mental health outcomes, such as depressive symptoms (e.g., Ballard et al., 2019;Pancer et al., 2007). ...
... In one study, Wray-Lake and colleagues (2019) found small positive associations between political behavior in emerging adulthood-behavior that includes giving money to a candidate, contacting a government representative about an issue, joining a political club or organization, and participating in a march or rally-and depressive symptoms in young adulthood; however, the researchers bracketed this finding as possibly spurious and called for greater replication. Using the same data set but focusing only on participation in a rally or march, Ballard et al. (2019) found no relationship between activism during emerging adulthood and adult depressive symptoms. Pancer et al. (2007) likewise found no statistically significant difference in indicators of depression between student activists and nonactivists in their study of more than 800 youth. ...
As student activism continues to roil campuses, concerns have arisen about the mental health costs associated with activist-oriented civic engagement. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 42 self-identifying student activists from across the United States, this study examines how activists describe the impact of their activism on their mental health. While just under one third of the respondents perceived a positive effect, 60% of the respondents noted adverse consequences to their psychological well-being. Nevertheless, these respondents remained committed to continuing their activism. Four factors surfaced in activists’ reflections on their mental health, which, while not responsible for positive mental health outcomes, did help offset the stress, exhaustion, and guilt associated with activism. These four factors included social capital or connection to others, a sense of purpose, effecting change, and self-care and collective care. Respondents credited these factors with helping them to sustain the emotionally and physically difficult work of activism. Implications for higher education policy and practice are discussed.
... Civic engagement, including political engagement and community engagement, is expected to have a mostly positive impact on health [1][2][3]. Activities of communities and social movements can have direct effects on public health via successful implementation of projects initiated by active communities (e.g., health and well-being projects, solutions of environmentalists) and social movements addressing health issues, e.g., HIV/AIDS, or immunisation campaigns [4]. However, there are many more arguments for investigating the relationship between civic engagement and health. ...
There is a general assumption that there is a relationship between civic engagement and mental health, but it has still received limited attention in empirical studies. This study provides estimates of the impact of civic engagement (measured in terms of political and community engagement) on the health of individuals in the case of a medium-sized urban settlement within the context of a post-socialist country. The impacts of civic engagement on mental and relational health are distinguished, which have received little attention in studies on the topic. Using primary data and utilising the tools of econometrics, we found positive effects of the population's community engagement, including positive effects of volunteering, on relational health. Political participation of the population contributed to the reduction of depressive symptoms, but the relationship between community engagement and mental health was not found. A relatively high propensity towards participation in health and well-being projects, leading to improvements in the collective approach to public health and addressing unhealthy conditions in communities, was identified in the sample.
... La participación para desarrollar soluciones locales ante la pandemia significó para muchos jóvenes volver a tener el control sobre sus vidas, una mejora en su salud mental y en la población (Pavarini et al., 2020). Un estudio anterior lanza luz sobre esa necesidad que tienen los jóvenes de «luchar por algo que tenga verdadero valor» y sobre el hecho de que ello se traduce en efectos positivos duraderos en la salud mental y el bienestar (Ballard et al., 2019). ¿Cómo lograr que las familias valoren su participación desde el prisma del modelaje, de un traslado a los jóvenes de las enormes ventajas de la participación ciudadana, a través de la cual se desarrollan significados y conexiones con su entorno? ...
PROPÓSITO: explorar el estado de la prevención familiar en España.
META: presentar recomendaciones que faciliten la transformación y la consolidación de la prevención familiar en España.
PARTICIPAN: el equipo de IREFREA que ha contado con la colaboración y aportaciones de profesionales de referencia en España y en el contexto internacional de la prevención.
RECOGIDA DE INFORMACIÓN: revisión de bibliografía científica y documentos estratégicos, entrevistas exploratorias con expertos, análisis crítico del material y validación de resultados con profesionales de referencia.
RESULTADOS: las recomendaciones, resultado de este estudio, surgen de la valoración realizada por expertos y por responsables de las organizaciones de familia. Hay un total de 20 recomendaciones, las mejor valoradas por los dos colectivos. En los apartados descriptivos se resumen los desafíos y oportunidades que presenta la prevención familiar así como los logros ya conseguidos. Asimismo, incorporan propuestas y visiones orientadas a impulsar mejoras en la práctica preventiva.
... For example, Dull et al. (2021) argued that gaining awareness of inequalities and their own racial privilege can motivate white youth to perform civic actions. Similarly, Ballard et al. (2019) showed that schools have a role in preparing students for participation in public life. However, Chinese students do not have such opportunities to receive formal education in civic engagement, which would allow them to cultivate critical consciousness for social change prior to coming to the United States. ...
This article examines how Chinese international students perceived U.S. racial justice movements, such as Black Lives Matter and Stop Asian Hate protests, given the sociopolitical context of U.S.–China geopolitical tensions, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the surging tides of anti-Asian racism and violence. Through semistructured interviews and follow-up exchanges with 21 Chinese international undergraduate students at a U.S. public research university, this article argues that students’ understanding of grassroots racial justice movements is jointly shaped by their political socialization in mainland China and by their observation of the United States’ lack of explicit action to dismantle racism and discrimination. Both of these are in turn mediated by these students’ elite social status. More specifically, the research finds that Chinese students perceive United States’ racial justice activism as merely an emotional outlet, which cannot address racial inequality and social injustice in multiracial America. The research further indicates that, despite being racialized in the United States, Chinese students do not show much interest in fighting against racism and xenophobia. This article contributes a transnational perspective and intersectional analysis of how Chinese international students with different valued social statuses—as both economic elites and racialized others—understand racial tensions and class struggles in the United States.
... The civic engagement literature indicates that taking civic action is broadly beneficial for youth (Ballard, Hoyt, & Pachucki, 2019). Specifically for young people of color in the United States who experience marginalization (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2019), civic action can serve both as a protective factor and a way to engage in dismantling systems of oppression affecting communities of color (Hope & Spencer, 2017). ...
Using latent profile analysis, we investigated how the civic assets of critical reflection (analysis of oppression), civic efficacy (feeling that one's civic action will be effective), and social responsibility (sense of duty to support one's community) manifest within 284 youth of color. Four distinct profiles of civic assets were identified. We examined associations between profiles and involvement in community service, political activities, and social activism. Social responsibility was closely associated with community service, civic efficacy was associated with social activism, and social responsibility and civic efficacy together were linked to political activities. According to critical consciousness theory, youth of color can engage in critical action, or civic action targeting oppression, when they have critical reflection. However, our study showed that high critical reflection alone was related to very low civic action. To support the civic action of youth of color, multiple civic assets must be considered in tandem.
... extent of people's social connections tends to influence the possibility that they might interact with high-resourced people (Burt 2004), such as people with information about how to navigate social and economic institutions for socioeconomic mobility (Lareau 2015). In fact, a longitudinal study on the impact of social capital (operationalized as volunteering and civic engagement) on socioeconomic standing found volunteering and civic engagement during adolescent and early adulthood improved socioeconomic well-being (Ballard et al. 2019). Other research has found that social capital, measured as social trust, tends to be associated with educational and labor market mobility and other positive economic outcomes, such as entrepreneurship development and success (Kim and Li 2014). ...
Recent research linking religion to various socioeconomic standing indicators has substantially increased our understanding of the processes by which religion creates and reproduces social inequalities. Yet, the bulk of empirical analyses in this literature estimate the link between religious affiliation and socioeconomic standing, while holding at the theoretical level personal religious beliefs that often shape the behaviors leading to differential socioeconomic standing. Drawing on the World Values Survey data collected over 2010–2014 and mixed‐effects regressions that account for country‐specific effects, I demonstrate that personal and exclusive religious beliefs are negatively associated with socioeconomic standing, independent of religious affiliation and 20 other competing explanatory factors. Results also show that religious exclusivism weakens positive associations between social capital and socioeconomic standing. I discuss the implication of these findings, emphasizing the need for empirical research to pay greater attention to personal religious beliefs when examining mechanisms linking religion and social inequalities.
... To focus on the effective integration of socialist education and normal education, teachers need to pay attention to the effective integration between socialist education and normal education to realize socialism in the teaching of normal education courses in colleges and universities, so as to effectively promote the overall improvement of educational objectives. Nowadays, some students in colleges and universities are not mentally normal and lack firm ideal beliefs [9][10][11]. Although the course of mentally normal education can improve students' stress coping ability, emotion management ability, and human interaction ability and promote students' healthy growth, the effect of talent cultivation still cannot meet the requirements of the new era compared with the goal of cultivating people with moral character in the new era. ...
In higher education teaching work, college students not only need to master the professional knowledge and professional skills they learn during their school study but also need to improve their self-education and self-cultivation and constantly improve their comprehensive ability of learning. At present, there are differences and relationships between the education of college students in civic and mental normal education, and how to play the role of the integration of the two educations has become a problem that needs to be considered in the current work of college students’ training. The integration between civic education and mental normal education can make up for the shortcomings of monolithic civic education and mental normal education work and also optimize the teaching methods between them from a certain perspective to achieve the development goals of complementing each other and not being independent of each other, so that students can understand more learning methods and contents that promote the normal development of their own minds and minds. In response to the problem that mind-normal education cannot be automatically integrated into the teaching of university thought and political science courses, in the context of artificial intelligence, this paper proposes a multi-channel-based mind-normal and ideological and political information fusion model. The model has two channels, BERT+CNN and BERT and BiLSTM-Attention; firstly, the pretraining model BERT is used to obtain the word vector representation of the fused text context; then, the CNN network of channel one is used to enhance the ability of local feature extraction of the text, and the BiLSTM-Attention model of channel two enhances the ability of long sequence text processing and is key. Finally, the fused features of channel 1 and channel 2 are classified using a softmax excitation function. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed model, experiments are conducted on public datasets to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
... Civic participation has been declining, which can impede democracy by constraining access to social power and means for the general public (Parvin, 2018). Lower participation rates are of particular concern for youth, as civic engagement in adolescence and emerging adulthood is associated with higher income and educational attainment, as well as mental health and health-related behavior later in life (Ballard et al., 2019). The means of civic engagement have also changed with the advent of the Internet and social media. ...
Civic identity refers to beliefs, emotions, and experiences of individuals regarding their membership in a particular community and the perceived opportunities for their civic participation. It represents one of the most important predictors of civic engagement, yet there is little empirical evidence on its development in diverse samples. To address this gap in the literature, we constructed the Civic Identity Status Scale (CISS) to measure four identity statuses proposed by Marcia. In this study, we tested psychometric properties of the newly developed scale and provided evidence for its score, structure, and criterion validity in Slovenia through the lens of contemporary views on validity by testing a series of structural equation models. A sample of 493 emerging adults (aged 18–29 years) participated in an online survey. We determined criterion validity evidence by correlations of the CISS scores with measures of civic behavior, perceived political interest, trust, and self-efficacy and established generalizability evidence by testing the measurement invariance of the CISS across different subsamples. The results suggest that the CISS is a valid and reliable measure. Therefore, we suggest and discuss possible future research directions.
... The Biopsychosocial Model of Racism contends that racism is stressful and that stress causes deterioration in health over time, while PVEST posits that activism may be one strategy to cope with and guard against the negative effects of racism. Furthermore, the universal benefit of civic development on health and well-being is currently called into question (Ballard et al., 2019), and we add to this literature by considering if and how anti-racism activism is a part of well-being and positive development for Black youth. In this study, we examine low-risk and high-risk anti-racism activism that is specific to Black communities and build on previous research to understand how racism, racism-related stress, and anti-racism activism are related for Black adolescents and emerging adults. ...
This study examines associations between individual racism, anticipatory racism‐related stress, and anti‐racism activism among Black adolescents (n = 443; Mage = 15.6; 57.4% female) and emerging adults (n = 447; Mage = 23.8; 77.6% female). The authors tested competing hypotheses about associations between individual racism and anti‐racism activism on anticipatory racism‐related stress. Findings indicated anticipatory racism‐related stress may be both a catalyst and consequence of engagement in anti‐racism activism for Black adolescents and emerging adults. Results for each age group varied by type of stress (physiological; psychological) and activism (low‐risk; high‐risk). Supporting youth engagement in anti‐racism activism without increasing anticipatory racism‐related stress is a key priority for meaningfully advancing scholarship on the development of anti‐racism and pursuit of racial justice.
... Social participation and civic engagement. Prior work suggested that participation in social groups and civic engagement are both associated with multiple aspects of health and wellbeing [41][42][43][44] . Therefore, we adjusted for whether the participants voted in the last presidential election (yes, no, not a registered voter), and also controlled for several indicators of social participation including frequency of religious service attendance (never, once every few months or once a year, 1-3 times a month, once a week, daily or more than once a week), spiritual practice (never, once every few months or once a year, 1-3 times a month, once a week, not daily but more than once a week, daily), participation in community groups (never, once every few months or once a year, 1-3 times a month, once a week, daily or more than once a week), and volunteering (never, once every few months or once a year, 1-3 times a month, once a week, daily or more than once a week). ...
The longitudinal interrelationships between domains of human well-being or flourishing remain understudied empirically. While different aspects of flourishing may be sought as their own end, it is also the case that well-being in one domain may influence well-being in other domains. Using longitudinal data form a sample of employees from a large national employer in the United States (N = 1209, mean age = 43.52 years, age range 20–74 years), this study examined the temporal associations between various domains of flourishing, based on a 40-item index that assessed six domains of flourishing. These domains include emotional health, physical health, meaning and purpose, character strengths, social connectedness, and financial security. A set of linear regression models were used to regress subsequent composite flourishing on flourishing domain-specific scores at baseline. The results indicated that all domains were each independently associated with greater composite flourishing subsequently. The strongest and most robust links were observed for meaning and purpose (β = 0.19, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.13, 0.25), social connectedness (β = 0.17, 95% CI 0.12, 0.22), and financial security (β = 0.32, 95% CI 0.28, 0.37). Further analyses that regressed subsequent composite flourishing on individual item indicators at baseline suggested that, out of all 40 items, one item under the character domain “I always act to promote good in all circumstances, even in difficult and challenging situations” and one item in the physical health domain (“Based on my past health, I expect to be healthy long into the future”) had the most robust association with subsequent composite flourishing. Implications of these results for understanding the constituents of a flourishing life and for refinement of the flourishing assessments are discussed.
... Overall, the findings provide empirical evidence to theories of altruism and the warm-glow theory that volunteering and charitable donations could be self-rewarding, observed as increased levels of psychological well-being, for college students. The findings of our investigation are consistent with the existing studies that found volunteering was positively related to the well-being of students in higher education (Schreier et al., 2013;Kim and Morgul, 2017;Ballard et al., 2018;Williamson et al., 2018). Our sample's average hours of volunteering were approximately 25 h in the past year, and this number is close to the findings in Handy et al.'s (2010) study. ...
Psychological well-being indicates individuals’ positive psychological functioning and well-being. A growing body of literature, largely based on adults and old people, suggests that volunteering and charitable donations are related to individuals’ psychological well-being. As emerging adulthood is a vital time for lifespan development, the aim of this study is to examine the effects of volunteering and charitable donation on individuals’ psychological well-being on college students. Relying on theories of altruism and the warm-glow theory, this study estimates the relationships among hours of volunteering, amount of charitable donations, and psychological well-being from 1,871 Chinese college students. The linear regression results indicate that students’ hours of volunteering and the amount of charitable donations in the past year were positively associated with their psychological well-being. Volunteering, compared to charitable donations, had a slightly stronger association with psychological well-being. This study provides a rationale for academic institutions to integrate social service activities into the curriculum as a potential tool to promote students’ psychological well-being.
... Although there is limited research specifically examining the mental health correlates of climate advocacy, there is an extensive body of literature on Positive Youth Development which views youth civic engagement as an important part of thriving [60][61][62]. For example, Ballard and colleagues found that all forms of adolescent and young adult civic engagement were positively associated with subsequent income and education level, and volunteering and voting were favorably associated with subsequent mental health challenges (e.g., depressive symptoms) and health behaviors (e.g., cigarette smoking) [63]. Furthermore, civic engagement may lead to increased social support and the development of mastery, belonging, generosity, and independence, all of which contribute to resilience, especially for youths at increased risk for developing psychological or behavioral difficulties [64]. ...
Purpose of Review
We review recent literature on the effects of climate change on child and adolescent mental health and discuss treatment and engagement by clinicians.
Recent Findings
Climate change affects child and adolescent mental health in many intersecting ways, including as a social and ecological determinant of health, a threat amplifier, and a source of trauma and distress. Single extreme weather events contribute to significant negative mental health consequences; however, subacute and chronic climate events also have mental health sequelae. Furthermore, awareness of the climate crisis is associated with emotional distress. Young people with pre-existing mental illness and lacking social support may be at elevated risk for climate change-related mental health effects. Climate activism is associated with resilience and positive development, but may also be a source of increased stress, particularly for marginalized youths.
Summary
Climate change can affect the mental health of children and adolescents in complex and diverse ways. Sources of coping and resilience also vary greatly between individuals. Mental health clinicians must respond to this existential crisis by addressing research gaps in this area, obtaining relevant clinical training, educating their communities, and joining and supporting young people in their advocacy efforts.
... Multiple studies show the longitudinal, wideranging benefits of altruism and volunteerism for adolescents and young adults. For example, a study of 9,471 adolescents found significant positive associations between volunteering and subsequent income and education level 12 years later (Ballard et al., 2018). Another study found that adolescents who volunteered in ninth grade were more likely to graduate high school, even after accounting for family socioeconomic status and adolescent school adjustment (Moorfoot et al., 2015). ...
Numerous studies examine youth purpose and volunteerism, but only few investigate how altruistic activities shape identity development within athletic contexts. Endurance-based humanitarian fundraising teams are becoming increasingly popular forms of volunteerism among adolescents and young adults in the United States, but little is known about their developmental role. Twenty-four participants (15–21 years of age; M = 17.42) were interviewed to identify the prominent themes that arose from their experiences while training for and participating in a marathon. A thematic analysis was used to determine the dominant themes that characterized the intersection of humanitarian marathon training and running with aspects of identity work. The majority of the comments of the participants were directly tied to their experiences in running the marathon. Four themes were identified including identity work, faith, purpose, and social connection. More so than exploring their possible selves, a consistent theme throughout the interview with the participants was what they learned about their current selves and the capacities they already possessed during their marathon experience.
... For many adolescents, the most salient task is achievement, and significant research has investigated how an adolescent's personal qualities (Komarraju and Nadler, 2013;Poropat, 2009), relationships (Ryan and Shin, 2018), civic engagement (Ballard et al., 2019), and health behaviors (Bradley and Green, 2013) relate to educational attainment and socioeconomic status in adulthood. As adolescents approach the transition from school to the workforce, they begin to define themselves and direct their own development through their goals (Napolitano et al., 2011b;Nurmi, 2004;Salmela-Aro, 2009). ...
Social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) skills encompass a wide range of competencies related to how individuals build and maintain relationships, understand and manage emotions, pursue goals, and learn from experience. Despite near-consensus on the importance of SEB skills for success in life, there are numerous frameworks that simultaneously converge and diverge in how they define and measure SEB skills. In this article, we discuss our integrative model encompassing five broad skill domains: Self-Management, Innovation, Social Engagement, Cooperation, and Emotional Resilience Skills (Soto et al., 2021a). Our model defines SEB skills as skills (i.e., what someone is capable of doing) and not traits (i.e., what someone tends to do). Using this definition and model as a foundation, we argue for the importance of investigating SEB skill development during adolescence, a period where SEB skills may be both particularly amenable to change and particularly predictive of life outcomes. In particular, we highlight how SEB skills allow adolescents to take advantage of the new opportunities afforded to them as they make major cognitive and social transitions.
Young adults may benefit from civic engagement as a health promotion tool, as civic engagement is generally associated with positive well-being. However, more information is needed to examine civic engagement among lesser-educated young adults who are least likely to civically engage, and more likely to demonstrate mental health needs. We surveyed noncollege young adults (N = 621) to measure their civic engagement, meaning, civic efficacy, well-being, and sociodemographic factors. Using an a priori model, direct, indirect, and full effects path analyses were conducted across men and women, and then the entire sample. The full effects model best fit the data with mediation by civic efficacy and meaning (χ2 (2) = 0.59, p = 0.74; comparative fit index = 1.0; root mean square error of approximation = 0.00, 90% confidence interval [0.00-0.06]; R2 = 0.42). Types of engagement (civic, electoral, activism, and online) demonstrated differing relationships with well-being. Stakeholders should resource young adults with civic skills and coping strategies to address the many challenges that civic experiences often elicit.
The purpose of the study was to investigate the moderating effect of discrimination experiences on the association between civic engagement and sleep in youth of color. Participants included 125 college students (Mage = 20.41, SD = 1.41, 22.6% cisgender male). Most of the sample (28%) identified as Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin; 26% identified as multi-racial/ethnicity; 23% identified as Asian; 19% identified as Black or African American; and 4% identified as Middle Eastern or North African. Youth self-reported their civic engagement (civic activism and civic efficacy), discriminatory experiences, and sleep duration during the week of the 2016 United States presidential inauguration (T1) and again approximately 100 days later (T2). Civic efficacy was associated with longer sleep duration. In contexts of discrimination, however, more civic activism and efficacy was associated with less sleep duration. In contexts of low discrimination, more civic efficacy was associated with longer sleep duration. Thus, civic engagement within supportive contexts may contribute to positive sleep among youth of color. Working toward dismantling racist systems may be one way to combat the racial/ethnic sleep disparities that underlie long-term health inequalities.
The disruptions to community functioning caused by the COVID‐19 pandemic spurred individuals to action. This empirical study investigated the social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) skill antecedents to college students' volunteering during the COVID‐19 pandemic (N = 248, Mage = 20.6). We assessed eight SEB skills at the onset of a volunteering program, and students' volunteer hours were assessed 10‐weeks later. Approximately 41.5% of the sample did not complete any volunteer hours. Higher levels of perspective taking skill, abstract thinking skill, and stress regulation were associated with more time spent volunteering. These results suggest that strength in particular SEB skills can prospectively predict prosocial civic behaviors.
Objective: Although emerging adults’ civic engagement is generally associated with positive outcomes, concerns about an elected candidate’s leadership ability and the implications of administrative turnover may negatively impact youths’ well-being. Using longitudinal data collected during the 2016 election cycle, the current study examined whether negative evaluation of a presidential candidate—who is eventually elected—may be indirectly associated with college students’ psychological well-being due to increased election distress.
Participants: 286 college-attending emerging adults (Mage= 20, SDage = 1.40) participated in the current study.
Methods: Path models linking evaluation of Trump’s leadership ability (pre-election) to psychological well-being (approx. 100 days in office) via election distress (presidential inauguration) were computed.
Results: Reporting lower confidence in Trump’s leadership ability prior to the election was associated with greater election distress 3 months post-election, and in turn, poorer psychological well-being 6 months post-election.
Conclusion: Findings underscore the importance of centering college students’ well-being within a broader sociopolitical context.
Civic engagement is recognized as a critical process to address environmental and other societal issues. To examine the intersection between environmental education and civic engagement, as reported in the peer-reviewed literature, we undertook a systematic mixed studies review to identify environmental education program outcomes related to civic engagement. The environmental education programs included in the final sample (n = 56) occurred in a range of settings, involved diverse audiences, and were generally longer than a month in duration. All 56 studies reported some level of positive findings, with 19 reporting civic-related outcomes at the community level, such as community learning, community resilience, partnership building, and increased social capital. Fifty studies reported civic-related outcomes at the individual level, with civic attitudes being the most frequent. Increased civic skills and civic knowledge were also commonly reported. Analysis revealed five themes related to environmental education practices and implementation that appear to support development of civic engagement: (1) focusing on the local community; (2) actively engaging learners through participatory and experiential approaches; (3) including action-taking as an integral part of the education program; (4) emphasizing development of lifelong cognitive skills; and (5) providing ongoing opportunities for participants to engage in meaningful social interaction.
After-school programs can provide important contexts for youths’ development and well-being. While these programs have the potential to serve as an anchor for refugee youth, previous research cites challenges with their access and engagement with them. Drawing on the Positive Youth Development Framework, which offers a lens on how after-school programs are complementary to refugee youth development and well-being, this study explores refugee youths’ motivation and engagement in after school activities. In-depth interviews were conducted with 30 refugee youth between the ages of 14 and 17 years old who resettled into Chicago. First, refugee students were involved in school-based programs with the goal to share cultural and racial identities, process past traumas, and manage homesickness. Second, refugee youth preferred to seek out homework assistance from stakeholders associated with refugee-led organizations instead of school staff due to their high level of familiarity and trust with them. Finally, refugee youth participated in community-based organizations that encouraged their engagement in civic activities. Recommendations are offered about how schools and community partners can assist refugee students in becoming more involved with after-school programs. This research sheds light on how after-school specialists and educators can offer comprehensive after-school programs to this understudied population.
Community engagement has a range of positive individual and societal implications. Gaps remain, however, in understanding the events, relationships, and contexts that set some on a path toward community leadership while many others remain less engaged. This article distills insights from qualitative analysis of 52 in-depth interviews with community leaders from around the United States. We examine the experiences that community leaders perceive to be most influential to their development, identifying three distinct developmental pathways among community leaders: early socialization experiences, gradual life transitions, and catalytic turning points. Analysis of these three categories of narratives suggests strategies to support community leadership development among individuals with different types of initiating experiences.
Background
The continuous decline in the physical fitness of college students has become a serious social problem worldwide. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the effective method improving college students' physique. Previous studies have shown that Baduanjin exercise is beneficial in improving sleeping quality, mental health, body flexibility, and body physique. However, the evidence is unclear whether Baduanjin exercise can be recommended as an effective exercise to promote health-related physical fitness of college students.
Methods
A total of 130 college students were recruited and randomly allocated to either the Baduanjin training or the control group at a ratio of 1:1. The students in the Baduanjin training group received a 12-week supervised Baduanjin exercise training intervention with a frequency of 1 h each day and 4 days per week, while those in the control group did not receive any specific exercise intervention and were informed to maintain their original lifestyle for 12 weeks. The outcomes of health-related physical fitness involving measurements of body flexibility, muscular strength, cardiopulmonary fitness, and body endurance were measured at baseline and after the 12-week intervention period. Mixed linear model was used to analyze the effect of the Baduanjin exercise intervention.
Results
Mixed linear model analyses showed that the Baduanjin training group had a significant increase in the composite scores of health-related physical fitness compared to the control group from baseline to 12-week post-intervention with a medium effect size ( d = 0.68, P = 0.006). Moreover, there were significant improvements in vital capacity, physical flexibility, 800/1,000 m endurance running, and body composition (measured by body mass index (BMI), fat mass and body fat ratio) at end of 12-week intervention in the Baduanjin training group. No adverse events were observed in this trial.
Conclusion
Regular Baduanjin training may be an effective, safe exercise form to promote the health-related physical fitness of young adults.
Trial registration
Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR-IOR-17013011. http://www.chictr.ogr.cn .
This cross-sectional study aimed to explore the prevalence of personal strengths and their correlates among a sample of Black girls residing in urban settings. Specifically, the study assesses the levels of personal strengths (aspirations) and identifies other personal attributes (social responsibility, self-efficacy, emotional restraint, expectations of goals, and mother’s influence) that would predict the levels of aspirations. The results revealed high levels of aspirations and statically significant correlations between aspirations, expectations, self-efficacy, and mother’s influence. Results also revealed that after controlling for mother’s influence, expectation of goal was the strongest significant predictor of aspirations of Black females.
Individuals with mental illness often face barriers to voting. One of the primary barriers is not being registered to vote. This paper describes voter support activities (VSAs) provided to hospitalized adults on the acute inpatient psychiatric units at Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute. During the six weeks preceding the 2020 general election, adult inpatients were offered six VSAs and an optional survey examining previous voting behaviors and barriers encountered to voting. VSAs included checking voter registration status and polling location, completing a paper or electronic voter registration application, and requesting a mail-in ballot. Of 189 patients approached, 119 individuals participated in the survey and 60 individuals utilized at least one VSA. This project demonstrates that VSAs are a welcome and feasible resource for psychiatrically hospitalized adults. Psychiatric providers can serve an important role in promoting access to voting-related activities for their patients.
The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) represents a data treasure for developmental psychologists working in both adolescent and life-span development. Add Health is a nationally representative sample of more than 20,000 adolescents in grades 7–12 in 1994–1995, who were followed for 25 years into early midlife over five interview waves. The innovative multilevel design collected direct measures of the social contexts of adolescent life and tracked developmental outcomes in health, health behaviors, cognition, achievement, and relationships over time. Biological data appropriate to the developmental stages of the cohort and relevant biosocial processes were integrated into the longitudinal waves of data collection. This review describes Add Health's design and data contents and highlights illustrative Add Health articles that examine developmental processes and outcomes in the areas of mental health, health behavior, cognition, and relationships. We conclude with new opportunities for developmental analyses and suggest future areas of research.
Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Developmental Psychology, Volume 4 is December 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
Objective: The present study examines sociopolitical stress, coping, and well-being among college students. Participants: Young adult college students (N = 588; ages 18–29; 72% cisgender women) from 10 universities in the USA participated in this study. Methods: Participants completed a 45-minute online survey with closed-ended and open-ended questions, administered via Qualtrics. Results: Election-related sociopolitical stress was high with notable differences across students’ demographic backgrounds (e.g., Hispanic/Latinx students, women, and sexual minority students reported high sociopolitical stress). Among those who reported being stressed by the election (N = 448), closed-ended and open-ended data reveal coping strategies including self-care, drugs and alcohol, and further civic action/political participation. Higher sociopolitical stress predicted more depression and many coping strategies were related with flourishing. Conclusions: Young adult college students are experiencing election-related sociopolitical stress and are coping in different ways. More work is needed to understand what coping strategies support well-being. Implications for colleges are discussed.
This study examined the relationships between current anxiety problems and school engagement, community service or volunteer work, and paid work among U.S. adolescents. The 2018–2019 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) dataset was analyzed and included 24,609 adolescents ages 12–17 years. We conducted unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression analyzes. A total of 12.6% of adolescents had healthcare provider-confirmed current anxiety problems. Adolescents with current anxiety were at decreased odds of engaging in school (aOR = 0.35, 95%CI = 0.29, 0.41) and participating in community service or volunteer work (aOR = 0.72, 95%CI = 0.59, 0.86) compared to adolescents without current anxiety. Adolescents with current anxiety were at increased odds of participating in paid work (OR = 1.18, 95%CI = 1.01, 1.38). This study reports that U.S. adolescents with anxiety were less likely to engage in school and participate in community service or volunteer work, but were more likely to participate in paid work compared to their peers without anxiety. Results should inform future interventions targeting adolescents.
Most research on mental health among adolescents and young adults concentrates on understanding mental illness. However, mental health is more than the absence of mental illness. Among adolescents and young adults, positive mental health—a combination of emotional, social and psychological well‐being—is related to higher prosocial behaviour, school integration and self‐concept. However, much of the research on positive mental health among young adults has been with college students. Limited research has examined the presence and correlates of positive mental health, or flourishing, among a nationally representative sample of US young adults. This study extended from another researcher's original examination of positive mental health among US adolescents to describe the prevalence of flourishing among these same individuals in young adulthood. Our sample included 1090 individuals from the 2011 Panel Study of Income Dynamics Transition into Adulthood Supplement. Univariate and bivariate tests were used to describe the prevalence of flourishing during young adulthood and changes from adolescence to young adulthood. We used multivariable logistic regression to examine the relationships among indicators of healthy development and flourishing. Results suggest that flourishing improved during the transition into young adulthood and that targeting factors like life skills and civic engagement may enhance flourishing.
The relevance of the study is defined by the role of volunteering as social practice in developing adolescents’ autonomy. Volunteering attitudes in adolescents are considered a meaningful indicator of personal autonomy development. The purpose of the study is to identify the features of volunteering motivation in adolescents as a manifestation of personal autonomy. The research tasks included the following: studying the volunteering motivation of adolescents with and without experience in volunteering; identifying the relationship between the volunteering motivation of adolescents and the type of attachment to mother; revealing the connection between the volunteering motivation and the features of adolescents’ relationships with their peers. The following techniques were used: volunteering motivation questionnaire; mother and peer attachment type questionnaires. The sample consisted of 329 subjects aged 14 to 18 years. The study revealed the relationship between the mother attachment type and the attitude to volunteering in adolescents. Positive relationships with peers, including satisfaction with communication, trust and secure attachment, are associated with high willingness of adolescents to participate in volunteer activities as an indicator of personal autonomy.
This chapter explores the importance of voting through a series of five lenses. Each offers a different perspective on why voting matters. First, voting is widely recognized as a fundamental human right, just like freedom from slavery or access to education. It is explicitly codified in a series of international agreements that speak to humanitarian guarantees. Second, it is consistent with social work values and with the dictates of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics which calls for engaging in political action. Third, it is a source of political power. Research shows that elected officials are more responsive to constituents who vote, and policies benefiting marginalized communities are more prevalent when there is a smaller turnout gap between wealthier and less wealthy voters. Fourth, voting is beneficial to individual health and mental health. It engenders feelings of self-efficacy and has been shown to fend off mental illness. It also increases social connectedness, which is associated with better physical health outcomes. Finally, voting is good for communities. It binds people together and is associated with reduced violence and lower unemployment rates.
Politics entails personal costs and benefits which may differ for youth from different sociocultural backgrounds. The at-stake hypothesis proposes that politically marginalized youth experience greater costs (e.g., stress, conflict) and benefits (e.g., empowerment) related to politics, whereas the at-risk hypothesis proposes that politically marginalized youth experience greater costs but lower benefits. In Study 1, we examined the factor structure of a new political costs and benefits measure among youth (N=1,056, Mage=15.91 years), and tested mental health and demographic correlates. Consistent with the at-stake hypothesis, marginalized youth experienced greater political costs and benefits than non-marginalized youth, although findings were nuanced. In Study 2, a sub-sample of participants (N=191, Mage=16.05 years) were recontacted from Study 1 to provide written explanations for why specific findings emerged. Adolescents’ reasons indicated that laws and policies disproportionately affect youth from marginalized populations, thus producing both negative and positive political experiences.
The current study investigated patterns in executive functioning (EF) skills in adolescents (N = 991; 48.8% male; 81% White; mage = 14.91) and examined how EF profiles were associated with adolescent wellbeing. Eight EF skills, comprising foundational, complex, and affective EF, were assessed via self-rated EF, parent-reported EF, and neuropsychological tasks. A latent profile analysis (LPA) revealed four distinct EF profiles representing unique constellations of higher, lower, or mixed performance across all eight EF skills. When compared across domains, profiles characterized by higher foundational and complex EF skills exhibited positive, contemporaneous associations with academics, mental health, and health behaviors. Profiles characterized by discordant or mixed performance also exhibited unique strengths, such as positive peer relationships. Findings indicate that person-centered approaches to examining EF may reveal important sources of heterogeneity that have functional significance for health and wellness.
Offline and online racial discrimination has been associated with mental health problems among adolescents of color. Pandemic shelter-at-home policies and the reignited racial justice movement increased the use of social media among youth of color, potentially exposing them to social media racial discrimination. Yet, it is unclear which aspects of social media significantly contributed to youth exposure to racial discrimination and associated mental health issues during this period. This study assessed the relationships among social media use (hours, racial intergroup contact, and racial justice civic engagement), individual and vicarious social media discrimination (defined as personally directed versus observing discrimination directed at others), and mental health among 115 black, 112 East/Southeast Asian, 79 Indigenous, and 101 Latinx adolescents (N = 407, 82.31% female, aged 15–18 years, M = 16.47, SD = 0.93). Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses indicate that hours of use and racial justice civic engagement were associated with increased social media racial discrimination, depressive symptoms, anxiety, alcohol use disorder, and drug use problems. Furthermore, individual social media racial discrimination fully mediated the relationship between racial justice civic publication and depressive and alcohol use disorder. Vicarious social media racial discrimination fully mediated the relationship between racial justice activity coordination with depressive symptoms, anxiety, and alcohol use disorder. Alternative SEM models indicate that exposure to individual and vicarious social media racial discrimination increased depressive symptoms and drug use problems among youth of color, further increasing their social media use frequency and racial justice civic publication. The findings call for strategies to mitigate the effects of social media racial discrimination in ways that support adolescents’ racial justice civic engagement and mental health.
Young people demand and deserve participation in shaping the health and well-being of their community. Getting to Y: Youth Bring Meaning to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (GTY) is a positive youth development initiative, whereby students analyze local youth health data and create change. This article adds definitive evidence to support the theoretical foundations of GTY expounded by Garnett et al. (2019). A mixed methods convergent study design, collecting quantitative data from pre- and postintervention surveys and qualitative data from focus groups, was enacted during the 2018-2019 school year. Survey participants were 256 students attending 20 Vermont middle/high schools. Surveys measured self-efficacy, health literacy, civic engagement, resiliency, and knowledge. Focus groups with 50 students solicited open-ended feedback. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests determined student-level change over time. Focus group transcripts were coded using grounded theory and a priori codes from the survey. Statistically significant improvements were seen in average scores from pre- to postintervention surveys in all five domains and differences in effect by gender. Results from the focus group complement the quantitative findings. Participation in GTY positively affected youth participant's understanding of their own health and well-being and increased agency to take action on behalf of themselves and their community. As the Youth Risk Behavior Survey is available nationwide, GTY is poised for replication to critically engage youth with relevant data to inform social change.
A challenge of early adolescence is the “developmental mismatch” between adolescents’ need for autonomy and the lack of opportunities to enact maturity via adult-like roles. We identified ways that young people enact maturity, from a youth perspective via focus groups (N = 41, aged 11–17 years), and used data to develop and test a new measure of enacting maturity (EM) using an online survey (N = 420; aged 11–18 years; 58.6% female; 49.5% White). Exploratory factor analysis suggested four internally consistent factors: Independence, Responsibility, Leadership, and Communication; confirmatory factor analysis resulted in a 21-item scale with adequate model fit. Independence was associated with more substance use and general risk taking while Responsibility and Communication were associated with less substance use and general risk taking. The EM measure is an important first step to understanding if adolescents have opportunities to enact maturity and how this relates to key developmental outcomes.
Student-centered, project-based, guided experiential civics education approaches, like action civics, may have benefits for general academic outcomes. Action civics programs provide applied settings for learning civics: students work together in groups to take action on a local issue. To the best of our knowledge, we conducted the first quasi-experimental evaluation of the impact of a school-based action civics intervention, Generation Citizen (GC), on academic engagement. Exposure to GC was associated with increased participation in non-GC classes and there was no statistically significant effect on unexcused absences. Oftentimes, schools deprioritize civics education due to limited resources and/or focusing on other subjects; our findings suggest that action civics education may have useful, generalized spillover benefits for student academic engagement.
Many scholars posit that engaging in civic actions enhances mental health, yet existing evidence is limited. To address gaps in the literature and advance understanding of benefits of civic engagement from adolescence to young adulthood, we estimated a longitudinal structural model to test bidirectional associations between civic engagement (i.e., voting, community engagement, political behaviors) and depressive symptoms using nationally representative longitudinal U.S. data. Adolescent and early young adulthood (EYA) depressive symptoms predicted decreases in later voting. Adolescent and EYA community engagement predicted decreases in later depressive symptoms. Analyses suggested that findings generalized across gender, age, socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, and EYA social roles. Despite key limitations in measurement of civic engagement over time, results provide some support the notion that community engagement may have mental health benefits for youth, and that depression may reduce later civic engagement.
Civic engagement is an important marker of thriving among adolescents, and more research is needed that clarifies the ecological assets (positive supports across settings) that foster youth civic engagement. Simultaneously modeling associations between multiple ecological assets and civic behaviors can provide a nuanced view of the way adolescents’ ecological assets relate to distinct forms of civic engagement. To advance positive youth development theory, we used a bifactor modeling approach to examine general and specific ecological asset factors in relation to volunteering, conventional political, online political, and informal helping behaviors. In a large ethnically diverse sample of adolescents, the general ecological asset factor was positively associated with informal helping only. Classroom civic learning opportunities were positively associated with volunteering, conventional, and online political behaviors. Family political discussions were positively associated with conventional and online political behaviors. Our study suggests that civic engagement should be understood multidimensionally and that broad and specific ways of conceptualizing ecological assets have merit for understanding different types of youth civic engagement.
Health researchers and practitioners increasingly recognise the important role communities play in shaping individual health. Health researchers recognise the role of community factors as causes or determinants of health problems; use community-based methods for understanding complex health issues; and design community-level health solutions. In this commentary, we propose a fourth way to think about the role of communities in individual health by arguing that the community engagement process itself has implications for individual health and strong communities. This topic is especially important during adolescence, a developmental window of opportunity during which individuals need meaningful opportunities to contribute to the world around them.
This article introduces civic purpose as a construct for learning about civic development in adolescence. Civic purpose, defined as a sustained intention to contribute to the world beyond the self through civic or political action, integrates the components of motivation, civic activity, and future-oriented civic intention. We present results from a mixed methods longitudinal study that used the civic purpose framework in which 1,578 high school seniors took a survey, 50 participated in an interview, and 9 additional adolescent “civic exemplars” participated in both the survey and the interview. Two years later, 480 participants took the survey again, and 34 participated in a second interview. A small percentage of the study subjects exhibited full civic purpose across three different types of civic activity (political, community service, expressive), while a larger percentage demonstrated precursory forms of civic purpose, with evidence of some but not all components of civic purpose. Key contributors to the development of civic purpose were: identity salience, beliefs and values, and invitation from one or more adults.
This article proposes psychological empowerment as an orientation and targeted outcome for community development efforts.
Psychological empowerment has been the focus of many studies in community psychology, where it has been defined as the psychological
aspects of processes through which people, organizations, and communities take greater control over their affairs. Psychological
empowerment has been found to increase with greater levels of community participation, and to have protective mental health
effects. Community and organizational processes that are psychologically empowering are promising as approaches to sustainably
promote both subjective well-being and objective changes in local systems. The case is made in this article for more widespread
use of empowerment theory, at multiple levels of analysis, in community development processes. Participatory development is
viewed as a particularly promising approach for the promotion of psychological empowerment, yet more thorough consideration
and assessment of psychological empowerment holds promise for achieving the full potential of participatory approaches.
The topic of youth civic engagement is increasingly popular in social science research; however, the question of why some youth are civically involved while others are not is not well understood. This article addresses the following questions: What motivations and barriers do youth report for civic involvement? How do motivations and barriers differ across school contexts? A qualitative study using in-depth semi-structured interviews with youth (N = 22) was used to identify four categories of motivations and two categories of barriers for civic involvement. Variation emerged in the motivations and barriers for civic involvement both within and across school contexts. Understanding civic motivations in context uncovers new insights about how to structure opportunities to better facilitate youth civic involvement.
Although the strong link between maternal education and children's outcomes is one of the most well-established findings in developmental psychology (Reardon, 2011; Sirin, 2005), less is known about how young, low-income children are influenced by their mothers completing additional education. In this research, longitudinal data from the Head Start Impact Study were used to explore the associations between increases in maternal education and Head Start eligible children's cognitive skills and behavioral problems in 1st grade. Propensity score weighting was used to identify a balanced comparison group of 1,362 children whose mothers did not increase their education between baseline (when children were aged 3 or 4) and children's kindergarten year, who are similar on numerous covariates to the 262 children whose mothers did increase their education. Propensity-score weighted regression analyses indicated that increases in maternal education were positively associated with children's standardized cognitive scores, but also with higher teacher-reported externalizing behavioral problems in 1st grade. The increases in externalizing behavioral problems were larger for children whose mothers had less than a college degree at baseline. (PsycINFO Database Record
(c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).
Participating in civic life is an important developmental task of adolescence and a central tenet of democracy. What motivates diverse youth in the United States to become involved in civic life? Using a mixed-method and person-centered approach, the authors (1) identified subgroups of participants based on their motivations for political and nonpolitical volunteering and (2) explored differences in civic motivations by ethnic and immigration backgrounds among Asian and Latino adolescents. Using latent class analysis, the authors identified four classes of motivation for political (n = 414) and nonpolitical volunteer (n = 1,066) activities: helping identity, instrumental, personal issue, and weak motivation. Overall, first- and second-generation Latino and Asian youth and nonimmigrants showed more similarities than differences in civic motivations. Survey and interview data revealed that youth from immigrant backgrounds were more motivated to volunteer by instrumental reasons compared to nonimmigrants. Qualitative analyses also revealed that immigrant youth from Mexican backgrounds were mobilized around issues of immigration reform whereas youth from Asian backgrounds were concerned with issues in their local communities.
There is an urgent need to identify lifestyle activities that reduce functional decline and dementia associated with population aging. The goals of this article are to review critically the evidence on the benefits associated with formal volunteering among older adults, propose a theoretical model of how volunteering may reduce functional limitations and dementia risk, and offer recommendations for future research. Database searches identified 113 papers on volunteering benefits in older adults, of which 73 were included. Data from descriptive, cross-sectional, and prospective cohort studies, along with 1 randomized controlled trial, most consistently reveal that volunteering is associated with reduced symptoms of depression, better self-reported health, fewer functional limitations, and lower mortality. The extant evidence provides the basis for a model proposing that volunteering increases social, physical, and cognitive activity (to varying degrees depending on characteristics of the volunteer placement) which, through biological and psychological mechanisms, leads to improved functioning; we further propose that these volunteering-related functional improvements should be associated with reduced dementia risk. Recommendations for future research are that studies (a) include more objective measures of psychosocial, physical, and cognitive functioning; (b) integrate qualitative and quantitative methods in prospective study designs; (c) explore further individual differences in the benefits associated with volunteering; (d) include occupational analyses of volunteers' specific jobs in order to identify their social, physical, and cognitive complexity; (e) investigate the independent versus interactive health benefits associated with volunteering relative to engagement in other forms of activity; and (f) examine the relationship between volunteering and dementia risk. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).
The association between neighborhood conditions and cortisol is rarely studied in children or adolescents and has been hampered by small sample size and racial/ethnic and geographic homogeneity. Our objective was to estimate the association between neighborhood disadvantage and salivary cortisol levels in a large, geographically and racially/ethnically diverse sample of adolescents from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication Adolescent Supplement. Salivary cortisol was collected before and after an interview administered in the adolescent's home. We used a propensity score approach to match adolescents living in disadvantaged neighborhoods with those in nondisadvantaged neighborhoods to create two similar groups based on the time and day of cortisol collection as well as demographic characteristics. Adolescents living in disadvantaged neighborhoods had higher pre-interview cortisol levels and steeper rates of decline in cortisol levels over the course of the interview than similar adolescents in non-disadvantaged neighborhoods. This bolsters the evidence base suggesting that place may influence the stress response system.
The formation of future occupational expectations is a critical career-development
task for adolescents that has a significant impact on adult occupational attainment.
However, sociopolitical barriers constrain the occupational expectations
and attainment of poor youth of color. Extant research has suggested that
sociopolitical development, the consciousness of and motivation to transform
sociopolitical inequity, facilitates the negotiation of sociopolitical barriers that
constrain career development. However, the longitudinal effect of sociopolitical
development on occupational attainment is unclear. This study examines
the longitudinal impact of sociopolitical development on adult occupational
attainment while controlling for academic performance. The obtained structural
model suggests that sociopolitical development influenced occupational
expectations in 12th grade and had a longitudinal impact on adult occupational
attainment among a nationally representative sample of poor youth of color.
This model also fits subsamples of female and male participants, although
sociopolitical development had stronger effects for young women. Sociopolitical
development may inform and augment career interventions for poor youth
of color.
This study examined young adult sequelae of participation in high school activities and identity group for 900 participants from the Michigan Study of Life Transitions.Participation at Grade 10 in high school activities predicted later substance use, psychological adjustment, and educational and occupational outcomes.Prosocial activity participation predicted lower substance use and higher self-esteem and an increased likelihood of college graduation.Performing arts participation predicted more years of education as well as increases in drinking between ages 18 and 21 and higher rates of suicide attempts and psychologist visits by the age of 24.Sports participation predicted positive educational and occupational outcomes and lower levels of social isolation but also higher rates of drinking. Breakfast Club identity categories were predictive of both levels and longitudinal patterns in substance use, education and work outcomes, and psychological adjustment.In general, Jocks and Brains showed the most positive adjustment and Criminals the least.
Civic engagement was studied in relation to overall development in adolescence, emerging adulthood, and young adulthood to examine how earlier activity involvement and success in prior and concurrent age-salient domains of competence may contribute to 2 forms of civic engagement in adulthood (citizenship and volunteering). Data on 163 youth were drawn from a longitudinal study of competence in a normative, urban school sample. Results indicate that competence and activity involvement in adolescence predict citizenship and volunteering in adulthood, 10 to 15 years later. As hypothesized, however, the level of competence in developmentally salient domains in adolescence and emerging adulthood fully mediate the predictive significance of concurrent activity involvement for civic engagement outcomes in adulthood. Findings also suggest that citizenship and volunteering are distinct types of civic engagement that should be studied separately.
The relationship of positive and negative dimensions of self-esteem and perceived control to substance (tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana) use was tested with a sample of 1,775 adolescents, surveyed in 8th grade and followed up 1 year later. Esteem and control were highly correlated. Concurrent multiple regression analyses with simultaneous entry indicated internal control inversely related, and self-derogation positively related, to substance use; the unique contribution for control variables was 6.4 times the unique contribution for esteem variables. In prospective analyses, only internal control was significant. Self-attitudes were less relevant in general for substance use among Black adolescents compared with Hispanic and White adolescents; self-derogation was less relevant for adolescents in single-families compared with two-parent families. Previous findings on self-esteem and substance use may be partially reflecting the effect of perceived control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Justin is not alone. In a recent study of high school seniors from California, for example, only 28% agreed that “I think people in government care about what people like me and my family need” (Kahne and Middaugh 2005). Related findings are common. A survey by the National Association of Secretaries of State, for example, revealed that two-thirds of all young people agreed that “our generation has an important voice, but no one seems to hear it.” Moreover, those youth who were least trusting were also the least likely to vote, to believe that government can affect their lives, or to pay attention to politics (National Association of Secretaries of State 1999). These findings, combined with numerous other indicators that show low and in many cases declining civic and political participation, indicate that forms of engagement required for a participatory democracy to thrive are in need of attention (Macedo et al. 2005). The initial research for this essay was generously supported by a grant from the Surdna Foundation. Subsequent research and writing was generously supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. We also wish to thank Melinda Fine, Barbara Leckie, Tobi Walker, and James Youniss for helpful feedback on earlier drafts. The authors are solely responsible for any and all conclusions.
Are people who are more satisfied with their lives more likely to participate in politics? Although the literature on political
participation in the United States is one of the most theoretically and methodologically developed in political science, little
research has sought to incorporate subjective life satisfaction into models of political participation. Instead, life satisfaction
has been studied nearly exclusively as a dependent variable. By turning to life satisfaction as an independent variable, we
contribute to the literatures on both political participation and life satisfaction. Using survey data, we find that individuals
who are more satisfied with their lives are more likely to turn out to vote and participate in the political process through
other avenues, and that the magnitude of this relationship rivals that of education. We also find that the relationship between
life satisfaction and political participation is confined to “non-conflictual” forms of participation, and exhibits no relationship
with the decision to engage in political protest.
KeywordsPolitical science–Effects of life satisfaction
Despite the renewed interest in youth volunteering in recent years, there remain major gaps in our knowledge of its consequences. Drawing data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we examine the long-term effects of youth volunteering on the civic and personal aspects of volunteers’ lives. Our results suggest that youth volunteering has a positive return on adult volunteering only when it is voluntary, and that net of contextual factors neither voluntary nor involuntary youth service has a significant effect on adult voting. Regarding personal outcomes, our findings indicate that the psychological benefits of youth volunteering accrue only to voluntary participants, whereas both voluntary and involuntary youth service are positively associated with educational attainment and earnings in young adulthood. Taken together, these results lend support to the case for youth volunteer programs, though the civic benefits of these programs appear to be less dramatic than generally suggested.
Over the past few years, I have experimented with a classroom exercise that encourages students to think about how they perceive service and politics. I ask the students to create lists of service activities and political activities in which they and their friends and families engage. The service list typically includes such activities as working in a soup kitchen, delivering meals to the homebound, tutoring in the school system, and cleaning up parks. The list of political activities usually includes things like voting, protesting, raising money, lobbying, letter writing, and running for office.
Turning students' attention to the list of community service activities, I ask them to give some adjectives that people might use to describe the listed projects. The students usually offer such descriptors as altruistic, caring, helping, selfless, and giving, as well as individualistic and one-on-one. Often, the students will also add the words selfish or insincere to describe those students who engage in community service to enhance their resume or earn academic credit.
Asked for adjectives that describe politics, the words come fast and furious—dirty, corrupt, ambitious, crooked, dishonest, compromising, slow. After the initial rush of negative descriptors and with little prompting on my part, students will also talk about politics as a means to affect social change and make a difference for groups of people.
I have used this exercise with audiences ranging from young women uninterested in politics, to young people planning careers in politics and policy making, to foundation officials.
In this chapter we use Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory (P-VEST) to consider civic engagement as a coping response to systems of inequality faced by racial minority children. After a brief introduction we present a historical and theoretical overview of civic engagement with regard to children and adolescents and racially marginalized communities. We then introduce the P-VEST framework and examine civic engagement as a proactive reactive coping method to counteract the vulnerability and stress of systematic racial injustice. Following a discussion of the current empirical literature we explore the utility of civic engagement programs (e.g., Youth Participatory Action Research) as interventions to support positive development of minority youth. We conclude with policy implications and future directions for research to leverage civic engagement as a coping strategy for the positive development of minority children and their communities.
Using both quantitative and qualitative data, this study examined the effect of participating in an action civics intervention, Generation Citizen (GC), on civic commitment, civic self-efficacy, and two forms of civic knowledge. The sample consisted of 617 middle and high schools students in 55 classrooms who participated, or were soon to participate, in Generation Citizen. Hierarchical linear models revealed that participating in Generation Citizen was associated with positive gains in action civics knowledge and civic self-efficacy. Qualitative coding identified three types of project characteristics that captured variability in the action projects student chose to complete: context, content, and contact with decision makers. Interactions between project characteristics and participation in GC revealed differences in civic outcomes depending on project characteristics.
Social Capital is created through the patterns of interdependence and social interaction that occur within a population, and we attempt to understand the participatory consequences of these patterns relative to the effects of human capital and organizational involvement. The production of social capital in personal networks was examined with the use of social network and participation data from the 1992 American study of the Cross National Election project. The results suggest that politically relevant social capital (that is, social capital that facilitates political engagement) is generated in personal networks, that ir is a by-product of the social interactions with a citizen's discussants, and that increasing levels of politically relevant social capital enhance the likelihood that a citizen will be engaged in politics. Further, the production of politically relevant social capital is a function of the political expertise within an individual's network of relations, the frequency of political interaction within the network, and the size or extensiveness of the network. These results are sustained even while taking account of a person's individual characteristics and organizational involvement. Hence, the consequences of social relations within networks are not readily explained away on the basis of either human capital effects ol the effects of organizational engagement.
The myth of generations of disengaged youth has been shattered by increases in youth turnout in the 2004, 2006, and 2008 primaries. Young Americans are responsive to effective outreach efforts, and this collection addresses how to best provide opportunities for enhancing civic learning and forming lasting civic identities. The thirteen original essays are based on research in schools and in settings beyond the schoolyard where civic life is experienced. One focus is on programs for those schools in poor communities that tend to overlook civic education. Another chapter reports on how two city governments-Hampton, Virginia, and San Francisco have invited youth to participate on boards and in agencies. A cluster of chapters focuses on the civic education programs in Canada and Western Europe, where, as in the United States, immigration and income inequality raise challenges to civic life.
Using a vast swath of data spanning the past six decades, Unequal Democracy debunks many myths about politics in contemporary America, using the widening gap between the rich and the poor to shed disturbing light on the workings of American democracy. Larry Bartels shows the gap between the rich and poor has increased greatly under Republican administrations and decreased slightly under Democrats, leaving America grossly unequal. This is not simply the result of economic forces, but the product of broad-reaching policy choices in a political system dominated by partisan ideologies and the interests of the wealthy. Bartels demonstrates that elected officials respond to the views of affluent constituents but ignore the views of poor people. He shows that Republican presidents in particular have consistently produced much less income growth for middle-class and working-poor families than for affluent families, greatly increasing inequality. He provides revealing case studies of key policy shifts contributing to inequality, including the massive Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 and the erosion of the minimum wage. Finally, he challenges conventional explanations for why many voters seem to vote against their own economic interests, contending that working-class voters have not been lured into the Republican camp by "values issues" like abortion and gay marriage, as commonly believed, but that Republican presidents have been remarkably successful in timing income growth to cater to short-sighted voters. Unequal Democracy is social science at its very best. It provides a deep and searching analysis of the political causes and consequences of America's growing income gap, and a sobering assessment of the capacity of the American political system to live up to its democratic ideals.
Contribution to civil society is a key outcome of positive youth development (PYD), as evidenced by
findings from the 4-H Study of PYD. In this chapter, we focus on conceptualizations and
measurement of contribution within PYD research. We first discuss conceptualizations of
contribution as Active and Engaged Citizenship (AEC) and the relations among AEC and other constructs, such as school engagement and risk behaviors, within the 4-H Study sample. We then describe research on contribution among youth of color, including recent research on social justice youth development and critical consciousness. Throughout the chapter, we review strategies that practitioners can use to develop and promote meaningful contributions among diverse young people. Given associations between contribution and positive outcomes among America’s diverse youth, we emphasize that policies and programs should provide more opportunities for youth contributions to society, including community service, social activism, and/or participation in local polities.
Within contemporary developmental science, models derived from relational developmental systems metatheory emphasize that the basic process involved in the ontogeny of civic engagement involves mutually-influential and beneficial relations between the developing individual and his or her complex and changing social, cultural, and physical contexts (represented as individual ← → context relations). The authors suggest that research on the development of civic engagement should be theoretically predicated, use change-sensitive, longitudinal methods, and be comparative across time and place. Using these facets of scholarship as a lens, we discuss the contributions to this special issue. We conclude that the present set of studies provides a useful basis for future research and applications aimed at understanding and promoting individuals’ civic contributions, and their support of social organizations promoting individual thriving and freedom, liberty, and social justice.
Social networks reflect the structure of our interpersonal relationships. The effect of social networks on health is a topic of growing interest, particularly in an increasingly connected world. This review provides an overview of how social relations shape obesity risk and the effectiveness of network-based obesity interventions across the lifecourse. The review highlights that while the literature suggests obesity and related health behaviors are similar between socially connected individuals, why this is the case and how to effectively intervene remain unclear. In addition, the review outlines methodological gaps limiting our understanding of how social networks shape obesity risk throughout the lifecourse. Several implications for obesity prevention and research are offered, including the need to examine the relationship of social networks and obesity across rather than within lifecourse stages, continued development of statistical social network analysis methods, and the need for new cohort studies, particularly among children and the elderly.
Objective:
This study was designed to examine whether family and peer relationships in adolescence predict the emergence of metabolic risk factors in young adulthood.
Method:
Participants from a large, nationally representative cohort study (N = 11,617 for these analyses) reported on their relationship experiences with parents and close friends during adolescence. Fourteen years later, interviewers collected blood samples, as well as anthropometric and blood pressure measurements. Blood samples were analyzed for HbA1c.
Results:
Ordered logistic regressions revealed that for females, supportive parent-child relationships and close male friendships in adolescence were associated with reduced odds of having elevated metabolic risk markers in young adulthood. These effects remained significant even after controlling for baseline measures of body mass index (BMI) and health and demographic covariates. The protective effects of close relationships were not significant for males, however. Exploratory analyses with 2-parent families revealed that supportive father-child relationships were especially protective for females.
Conclusions:
These findings suggest that, for females, close and supportive relationships with parents and male friends in adolescence may reduce the risk of metabolic dysregulation in adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record
This meta-analysis assessed the effect of community service on adolescent development and the moderation of this effect by reflection, community service, and adolescent characteristics to explicate the mechanisms underlying community service effects. Random effects analyses, based on 49 studies (24,477 participants, 12–20 years old), revealed that community service had positive effects on academic, personal, social, and civic outcomes. Moderation analyses indicated that reflection was essential; the effect for studies that include reflection was substantial (mean ES = .41) while community service in the absence of reflection yielded negligible benefits (mean ES = .05). Effects increased when studies include more frequent reflection and community service, reflection on academic content, and older adolescents. These findings have implications for understanding and improving community service.
The CES-D scale is a short self-report scale designed to measure depressive symptomatology in the general population. The items of the scale are symptoms associated with depression which have been used in previously validated longer scales. The new scale was tested in household interview surveys and in psychiatric settings. It was found to have very high internal consistency and adequate test- retest repeatability. Validity was established by pat terns of correlations with other self-report measures, by correlations with clinical ratings of depression, and by relationships with other variables which support its construct validity. Reliability, validity, and factor structure were similar across a wide variety of demographic characteristics in the general population samples tested. The scale should be a useful tool for epidemiologic studies of de pression.
Over the past few years, I have experimented with a classroom exercise that encourages students to think about how they perceive service and politics. I ask the students to create lists of service activities and political activities in which they and their friends and families engage. The service list typically includes such activities as working in a soup kitchen, delivering meals to the homebound, tutoring in the school system, and cleaning up parks. The list of political activities usually includes things like voting, protesting, raising money, lobbying, letter writing, and running for office.
Turning students' attention to the list of community service activities, I ask them to give some adjectives that people might use to describe the listed projects. The students usually offer such descriptors as altruistic, caring, helping, selfless, and giving, as well as individualistic and one-on-one. Often, the students will also add the words selfish or insincere to describe those students who engage in community service to enhance their resume or earn academic credit.
Asked for adjectives that describe politics, the words come fast and furious—dirty, corrupt, ambitious, crooked, dishonest, compromising, slow. After the initial rush of negative descriptors and with little prompting on my part, students will also talk about politics as a means to affect social change and make a difference for groups of people.
I have used this exercise with audiences ranging from young women uninterested in politics, to young people planning careers in politics and policy making, to foundation officials.
Providing help or support to others buffers the associations between stress and physical health. We examined the function of the neurohormone oxytocin as a biological mechanism for this stress-buffering phenomenon. Participants in a longitudinal study completed a measure of charitable behavior, and over the next two years provided assessments of stressful life events and physician-diagnosed physical ailments. Results indicated that charitable behavior buffered the associations between stressful events and new-onset ailments among individuals with the AA/AG genotypes of oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) variant rs53576, but not among those with the GG genotype. These results suggest that oxytocin function may significantly affect health and may help explain the associations between prosocial behavior and health. More broadly, these findings are consistent with a role for the caregiving behavioral system in health and well-being.
This Working Paper presents an overview of findings from research that addresses whether, and to what extent, gender is salient in the development of norms of citizen behavior and key precursors to citizen engagement. A variety of data is used to illuminate the complexity of gender's relationship to citizen engagement among today's youth. The bulk of the analysis, however, is drawn from the National Citizen Engagement Study (NCES). Across some key indicators, the story is about the same regardless of sex. Young women and men appear to be receiving the same cues about politics, elected officials, and the political process. They are also responding in much the same way--i.e., tuning out and doing little. However, young women are also demonstrating their distinctiveness in ways that are both hopeful and potentially worrisome. Thus, the picture to emerge is one that cannot be easily summarized by either sameness or difference. (Contains 8 tables and 13 endnotes.) [This Working Paper was produced by CIRCLE (The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement). For CIRCLE Working Paper 40, see ED491129.]
Objectives:
We sought to test the hypothesis that providing help to others predicts a reduced association between stress and mortality.
Methods:
We examined data from participants (n = 846) in a study in the Detroit, Michigan, area. Participants completed baseline interviews that assessed past-year stressful events and whether the participant had provided tangible assistance to friends or family members. Participant mortality and time to death was monitored for 5 years by way of newspaper obituaries and monthly state death-record tapes.
Results:
When we adjusted for age, baseline health and functioning, and key psychosocial variables, Cox proportional hazard models for mortality revealed a significant interaction between helping behavior and stressful events (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.58; P < .05; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.35, 0.98). Specifically, stress did not predict mortality risk among individuals who provided help to others in the past year (HR = 0.96; 95% CI = 0.79, 1.18), but stress did predict mortality among those who did not provide help to others (HR = 1.30; P < .05; 95% CI = 1.05, 1.62).
Conclusions:
Helping others predicted reduced mortality specifically by buffering the association between stress and mortality.
Nationally, youth organizing programs are growing in popularity. Although research has found positive short-term effects associated with participation, little work has examined longer-term implications. This study explores how alumni from one organizing group describe its influence on their subsequent developmental trajectories. Their descriptions highlight perceived effects in academic, professional, relational, and sociopolitical arenas. Although most respondents remain committed to the issues they came to care about as youth organizers, they express these commitments in various ways, including through traditional and nontraditional forms of civic engagement. They also credit a diverse set of programmatic factors with having influenced them. The findings