Lisette M. DeSouza’s research while affiliated with Tufts University and other places

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Publications (12)


Developmental Science in 2025: A Predictive Review
  • Chapter

February 2021

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33 Reads

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1 Citation

Richard M. Lerner

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Lisette M. DeSouza

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“I’m Hoping That I Can Have Better Relationships”: Exploring Interpersonal Connection for Young Men
  • Article
  • Publisher preview available

February 2016

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118 Reads

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14 Citations

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Rachel O. Rubin

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[...]

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Understanding interpersonal relationships and the skills an individual needs for building and engaging in interpersonal relationships is central to the study of the construct of connection, as an indicator of positive youth development, and to understanding the challenges adolescents face as they transition to adulthood. Accordingly, we conducted a thematic analysis of the reflections about relationships provided by young men beginning postsecondary education. We attended to what they said made these relationships meaningful or important to them, the actions and processes described as part of these relationships, and the role of these relationships in their life plans. Themes identified included indicating closeness through metaphor and hyperbole, connection as feeling close and cared for, emotional expression, talking and listening, putting effort into a relationship, acknowledging difficulty, and improving relationships. We discuss implications of our findings for future research with adolescents and young adults in relation to masculinity ideologies and positive youth development approaches.

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Childhood and Adolescence: Developmental Assets

December 2015

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52 Reads

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2 Citations

Research pioneered by Peter L. Benson, of Search Institute, has enhanced the study of developmental assets and thriving among youth. Thriving occurs when the strengths of youth are aligned with ecological developmental assets. Findings from the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development (PYD) indicate that when individual and ecological assets are integrated, thriving occurs. We discuss contributions of Search Institute to the study of thriving, as well as findings from tests of the model of PYD by Lerner and Lerner.


Promoting Contribution Among Youth: Implications from Positive Youth Development Research for Youth Development Programs

July 2015

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176 Reads

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18 Citations

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.




Developmental Science in 2025: A Predictive Review

November 2014

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152 Reads

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37 Citations

Research in Human Development

This article discusses the current and emerging status of contemporary developmental science and present predictions about the growth of the field by 2025. Key contemporary features of developmental science involve a theoretical focus on models derived from the relational developmental systems, metamodel, a methodological focus on quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods analytic approaches. Emerging foci involve an integrative understanding of evolution and of epigenetics, methodological innovations predicated on the idiographic nature of intraindividual change and on the use of systems science and econometric methods, and the use of relation developmental systems-based evidence to enact applications to optimize human development and to promote social justice.


Illuminating Trajectories of Adolescent Thriving and Contribution Through the Words of Youth: Qualitative Findings from the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development

February 2014

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78 Reads

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31 Citations

Journal of Youth and Adolescence

Theory and research in adolescent development have emphasized that contributing to self, others, and community is important to the success of society and predictive of positive youth and later adult development. Despite this emphasis, there is a lack of qualitative and youth-centered research exploring whether adolescents themselves value contribution as part of their daily lives or future goals. Understandings of contribution are, thus, limited in their generalizability. To lessen this gap, we implemented qualitative analyses of open-ended responses from youth in the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development. We addressed questions about what is meaningful to youth and about their future goals through descriptive and thematic analyses of responses from 56 youth (66 % female) who participated in the 4-H Study in each of three grades (6, 9, and 12). Findings indicated that most youth in this study valued acts and/or ideologies of contribution at some point in their adolescence, and several were committed to facets of contribution across grades. The analyses also identified other aspects of these youth experiences (e.g., athletics, family relationships, and academic competencies) that were described as meaningful across adolescence. Findings are discussed in relationship to youth programming aimed at encouraging well-being and contribution in adolescence.


Activity Involvement as an Ecological Asset: Profiles of Participation and Youth Outcomes

February 2014

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205 Reads

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94 Citations

Journal of Youth and Adolescence

Prior research has demonstrated that participation in out-of-school time activities is associated with positive and healthy development among adolescents. However, fewer studies have examined how trajectories of participation across multiple activities can impact developmental outcomes. Using data from Wave 3 (approximately Grade 7) through Wave 8 (approximately Grade 12) of the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development, this study examined patterns of breadth in out-of-school time participation in activities and associated outcomes in positive youth development (PYD), Contribution to self and community, risk behaviors, and depressive symptoms. We assessed 927 students (on average across waves, 65.4 % female) from a relatively racially and ethnically homogeneous sample (about 74 % European American, across waves) with a mean age in Wave 3 of 12.98 years (SD = 0.52). The results indicated that high likelihood of participation in activities was consistently associated with fewer negative outcomes and higher scores on PYD and Contribution, as compared to low likelihood of participation in activities. Changes in the breadth of participation (in particular, moving from a high to a low likelihood of participation) were associated with increased substance use, depressive symptoms, and risk behaviors. Limitations of the current study, implications for future research, and applications to youth programs are discussed.


TABLE 1 Demographic Information for Total Sample and by WS and CS Group 
TABLE 2 Descriptive Statistics for Full Sample and by School Group 
Exploring Characteristics of Young Adult Men: Initial Findings From a Mixed Methods Evaluation of an All-Male, Character-Focused Trade School

January 2014

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465 Reads

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13 Citations

Little research has investigated postsecondary institutions as a context for character development, despite theoretical suggestions about their potential significance. Accordingly, the authors initiated the Assessment of Character study, a mixed methods investigation of character development, among students at the Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades (WS) and 3 comparison schools (CS). Analyses of initial data from 214 WS and CS students with a mean age of 18.76 years (60 of whom were also interviewed) indicated that WS students scored higher on several measures of character attributes and that the manifestation of character may differ across contexts. The authors discuss these findings in light of the continued importance of triangulations across quantitative and qualitative methods in subsequent waves of this research.


Citations (10)


... Despite the mutually beneficial nature of adolescent civic engagement, countries around the globe have reported concerns regarding the low rates of enduring adolescent civic engagement in their societies [33]. Scholars have called for an increase in programming that offers and accompanies youths through opportunities to contribute positively to their communities [34]. ...

Reference:

Transforming Service into Civic Purpose: A Qualitative Study of Adolescent Civic Engagement and Purpose Development
Promoting contribution among youth: Implications from positive youth development research for youth development programs
  • Citing Article
  • January 2015

... In recent years, IARYD has also explored the impact of out-of-school-time and post-secondary institutions with explicit foci on character attributes. Such projects include the 4-H Study of PYD (see Lerner et al., 2005), the Assessment of Character in the Trades (ACT) Study of the Williamson School for the Trades (see Hershberg et al., 2016;Johnson et al., 2014) and the study of U.S. Military Academy Cadets at West Point (Callina et al., 2017b(Callina et al., , 2019, all of which explored the character development of young adult students. IARYD has also employed integrative data analysis (IDA) techniques (Curran & Hussong, 2009) using IARYD-generated data sets to explore pathways of character and purpose development across the first three decades of life (Callina et al., 2017a;Johnson et al., 2018). ...

Exploring Characteristics of Young Adult Men: Initial Findings From a Mixed Methods Evaluation of an All-Male, Character-Focused Trade School

... Also note that leadership is contextual and dynamic (Day et al., 2014), arising with respect to a given combination of individuals and in a specific situation, each of which may contain both facilitating and constraining features that evolve over time (Dinh et al., 2014;Murphy & Johnson, 2011). This latter point illuminates how the developmental focus of adolescent leadership is substantively compatible with theoretical frameworks of adolescent development more generally (Lerner et al., 2015). It is also important to acknowledge research showing that leadership potential and propensity emerges in childhood, well before adolescence. ...

Childhood and Adolescence: Developmental Assets
  • Citing Article
  • December 2015

... A number of studies have examined the role of masculine norms in male friendships (e.g., Arbeit et al., 2016;Gupta et al., 2013;McDiarmid et al., 2017;Pollastri et al., 2018;Way, 2013). To our knowledge, however, this body of work has yet to be consolidated within a meta-analysis or metasynthesis. ...

“I’m Hoping That I Can Have Better Relationships”: Exploring Interpersonal Connection for Young Men

... Furthermore, sport-based researchers have examined related constructs such as prosocial behavior in sport (e.g., Bruner et al., 2014), social identity development (e.g., Bruner et al., 2017), and character development (e.g., Herbison et al., 2018). However, contribution, one of the key markers of lifespan development (Hershberg et al., 2015), has received little attention in the sport-based positive youth development research literature. This limitation may be, in part, due to the lack of a clear theoretical definition of the term contribution, both in sport and in the general positive youth development literature. ...

Promoting Contribution Among Youth: Implications from Positive Youth Development Research for Youth Development Programs
  • Citing Chapter
  • July 2015

... Developmentalists have not always been accepted or eager contributors to policy or public life. Accusations of preoccupation with children's "becoming" to the neglect of their present "being" and the neglect of adult development cannot be sustained in the face of twenty-first Century relational systemic analyses and commitments to life-span development [32,33]. In some sense, developmental scientists have been complicit in their absence from the policy domain, mainly due to reluctance to risk misinterpretation and mismanagement of scientific knowledge in public debate [34,35]. ...

Developmental Science in 2025: A Predictive Review
  • Citing Article
  • November 2014

Research in Human Development

... In this paper, we use three inter-related developmental theories -the "life span, life space" theory [12], the Relational Developmental Systems Theory [13], and the Social Cognitive Career Theory [14]-to inform our conceptual framework and guide our inquiry. Both "life span, life space" theory and a Relational Developmental Systems Theory view individuals' changes as a result of individual-context relations. ...

Describing, Explaining, and Optimizing Within-Individual Change Across the Life Span: A Relational Developmental Systems Perspective
  • Citing Article
  • June 2013

Review of General Psychology

... In turn, this was associated with improved academic performance, reduced school dropout rates, and improved problem-solving skills. In another qualitative research with a longitudinal design in the United States [59], the 4-H study identified social relationships and community engagement as significant factors, particularly among African-American youth, for their overall well-being. In China, the Tin Ka Ping Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programs (TKP PATHS) project was based on the PYD approach in educational settings [60]. ...

Illuminating Trajectories of Adolescent Thriving and Contribution Through the Words of Youth: Qualitative Findings from the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development
  • Citing Article
  • February 2014

Journal of Youth and Adolescence

... These reviews support the importance of attending to program quality and implementation (Kremer et al. 2015;Heath et al. 2022). Research on how to engage youth in OST programs is especially critical because when youth have higher OST engagement over longer periods of time, programs can more effectively encourage PYD (Agans et al. 2014;Bohnert et al. 2010;Gardner et al. 2008;Guzmán-Rocha et al. 2017;Theokas et al. 2005). For instance, Agans et al. (2014) found that higher participation in OST for MS-aged youth was associated with lower risk of substance abuse, depression, and risk behaviors. ...

Activity Involvement as an Ecological Asset: Profiles of Participation and Youth Outcomes
  • Citing Article
  • February 2014

Journal of Youth and Adolescence

... The community to which the individual belongs also makes positive contributions to the individual. [12,13] Friend groups can contribute to the development of a sense of belonging. Organized events such as sports competitions and spontaneous events such as conversations have an important place in the development of positive emotions. ...

Promoting positive youth development in the face of contextual changes and challenges: The roles of individual strengths and ecological assets
  • Citing Article
  • September 2012

New Directions for Youth Development