Background: Few studies have explored community participation for autistic adults, with or without intellectual disability. This study aims to investigate how autistic adults participate in the community, and the childhood and adulthood factors that predict community participation in adulthood. Method: Eighty-four autistic adults (mean age 34…

Adolescents' civic engagement is related to other aspects of their positive development. Many family and school characteristics can promote adolescents' civic engagement, but they are often studied separately. Furthermore, studies have often used adolescent self-reports and measured only one aspect of the multidimensional construct of civic…

This study examines whether youth's goals for their future societal engagement affect their future political activities. We hypothesized, first, that youth's political interest would be a central predictor of their future political activities and, second, that their goals for future societal engagement would moderate their political interest. The…

For lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning (LGBQ) youth of color, the intersection of identifying as both LGBQ and a person of color results in not only managing racial stereotypes, but also heterosexism and genderism. Developing a critical understanding of oppressive social conditions and ways to engage in social action is a form of resistance…

This study examined the relationship between family wealth and school dropout among vocational education students (n = 1,231; mean age=17.81). It investigated whether (1) family affluence and adolescents' own perceptions and experiences of their family wealth (i.e., perceived family wealth, financial scarcity) predict dropout, (2) adolescents'…

This goal of this study was to develop a measure that captures the three dimensions of youth purpose proposed by Damon, Menon, and Cotton-Bronk (2003). We tested a theoretical model that links youth purpose (comprised of intention, engagement, and prosocial reasoning) with achievement motivation, agency, and civic engagement for a sample of high…

This study frames continued long-term participation in community engagement activities as indicative of a sense of "purpose" as defined by Damon, Menon, and Cotton Bronk (2003). Using data from US-based National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we examined factors that predict whether students participating in civic engagement…

A powerful rhetoric regarding the importance of adolescents' civic engagement and political participation is common in contemporary societies, whilst citizens, both adolescent and adults, seem to express a growing scepticism and alienation regarding politics. Even if this disengagement is debatable, as there are simultaneous signs of an increasing…

This study explored whether discussions about the media, when positively linked to interest in the news media, were related to adolescents' current and future civic engagement. A sample of 2638 adolescents (age M = 17, SD = 1.2), who participated in a school-based study on positive socialization, completed self-report measures on interest in the…

Many adolescents living in contexts characterized by adversity achieve positive outcomes. We adopt a protection-risk conceptual framework to examine resilience (academic achievement, civic participation, and avoidance of risk behaviors) among 1,722 never-married 12-19 year olds living in two Kenyan urban slums. We find stronger associations…

In the literature it is expected that a participatory democratic climate is associated with civic and political engagement intentions of adolescents. In this paper we use a three level multilevel analysis to explore these relations: the individual, school and country level. Using data from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study…

Concern exists that youth who spend a lot of time participating in organized out-of-school activities (e.g., sports) are at-risk for poor developmental outcomes. This concern--called the over-scheduling hypothesis--has primarily been assessed in terms of adolescent adjustment. This longitudinal study of a nationally representative sample of 1,115…

This study of 4,057 students from 52 high schools in Chicago finds that a set of specific kinds of civic learning opportunities fosters notable improvements in students' commitments to civic participation. The study controls for demographic factors, preexisting civic commitments, and academic test scores. Prior large-scale studies that found…

Across the country, youth advocates, civic activists, community builders, and young people themselves have been calling for more meaningful roles for young people in society. This special issue brings the voices of researchers into that conversation. In doing so, it builds in important ways on a small but growing evidence base that underscores the…

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…