Maxim Bouchard’s research while affiliated with Université Laval and other places

Today’s adolescents will inevitably face the negative effects of climate change and will need to engage in pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs) as part of the solutions. The primary objective of this scoping review was to identify the individual, peer and family, and school and community predictors of PEB in adolescence. The secondary objectives were to highlight the main types of PEBs, the main conceptual frameworks examined in adolescence, and the main research gaps mentioned in prior studies. A bibliographic search on multiple databases was conducted. Among the 2578 records identified, 209 were retrieved and assessed for eligibility, and 62 met the inclusion criteria (i.e., peer-reviewed primary research articles published in English in the last ten years with adolescent data). Results reveal a heterogeneous set of correlates with an imbalance favoring individual correlates. The most frequent PEBs in the reviewed studies were linked to energy and water conservation. The most frequent theoretical frameworks were the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Value–Belief–Norm Theory, while the most frequently highlighted research gap was the use of cross-sectional designs. These results can inform the targets of interventions aimed at increasing PEBs, which are fundamental aspects of the psychology of sustainability and sustainable development.

La participation à des activités parascolaires à l’école secondaire est une voie prometteuse pour promouvoir l’adaptation scolaire et psychosociale des adolescents. Cependant, peu d’études ont cherché à comprendre les processus expliquant ce lien, notamment comment les expériences sociales vécues dans le contexte de ces activités peuvent se généraliser au contexte scolaire. L’objectif de cette étude consiste à tester un modèle à médiation multiple afin de vérifier (a) si la satisfaction du besoin d’affiliation sociale dans l’activité parascolaire contribue à la satisfaction du besoin d’affiliation sociale à l’école et (b) si le sentiment d’appartenance envers l’activité parascolaire permet de prédire le sentiment d’appartenance envers l’école et si, à leur tour, ces expériences à l’école sont liées à la motivation intrinsèque et au bien-être psychologique des adolescents. Au total, 123 adolescents (50 % de filles) ont rempli un questionnaire à deux reprises au cours d’une même année scolaire. Les résultats montrent que le sentiment d’appartenance des adolescents envers l’activité parascolaire peut se généraliser au contexte de l’école, ce qui, en retour, est associé à la motivation intrinsèque envers l’école. Dans l’ensemble, cette étude permet de mettre en évidence l’importance de développer un sentiment d’appartenance aux activités parascolaires.

Introduction Participation in extracurricular activities (ECAs) during high school is likely to be associated with higher intrinsic motivation, as well as lower externalizing problems and depressive symptoms, particularly for students in schools located in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods. However, few studies have explored the processes underlying these positive associations. In this study, we examined whether peer relatedness and school belonging mediated the links between participation in these activities and adolescent academic and psychosocial adjustment and whether another indicator of poverty, namely material deprivation, moderated these links. Methods Canadian students (n = 638; 59% girls) at disadvantaged high schools were surveyed at two‐time points. Results and Conclusions Results show that peer relatedness can explain the associations between extracurricular activity participation and (a) school intrinsic motivation and (b) depressive symptoms. Results also revealed that the indirect effect involving the number of activities, peer relatedness, and depressive symptoms was only significant among students living in highly deprived areas. These results highlight the contribution of peer relatedness as a potential mediator of the positive association connecting extracurricular activity participation to adjustment among disadvantaged students.