Youth-adult partnerships are a powerful means to nurture and amplify youths' voices and create social change. Drawing on our own framework, critical positive youth development, and our experience pilot testing the #PassTheMicYouth curriculum, we identified four promising practices to cultivate youth-adult partnerships. 4-H professionals can use…

A potential underlying mechanism associated with the difficulties in social interactions in Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) concerns the abnormal development of moral reasoning. The present study examined utilitarian and deontological judgments in impersonal and personal moral dilemmas, comparing 66 individuals with ASD and 61 typically…

This study explored how mentoring begins and the benefits provided for African American sexual and/or gender minority (SGM) youth. Participants were mentors and mentees living in three Mid-Atlantic cities. Mentees (ages 15-21, n = 14) identified as African American; cisgender male, transgender female, or non-binary assigned male; and had sexual…

Digital flourishing refers to the positive perceptions of digital communication use in five dimensions: connectedness, positive social comparison, authentic self-presentation, civil participation, and self-control. This three-wave panel study among 1081 Slovenian adolescents (M[subscript age] = 15.34 years, 53.8% boys, 80.7% ethnic majority)…

Armed conflicts violate young people's rights by exposing them to violence and trauma, disrupting their sense of safety. This study examines how Russia's war against Ukraine affects Ukrainian adolescents' lives. The study utilizes data from Let's Chat, a free, low-threshold support service for Ukrainian-speaking children and youths. We analyzed…

Feeling loved by one's caregiver is essential for individual flourishing (i.e., high levels of psychological well-being in multiple dimensions). Although similar constructs are found to benefit adolescent well-being, research that directly tests parental love as a feeling from the recipient's perspective is rare. Historically, parental love has…

This qualitative research aimed to identify factors contributing to the formation and development of effective partnerships that foster positive youth development. The study involved interviews with eight adult military mentors and nine youth cadet mentees to gain various perspectives regarding mentoring relationships within the youth leadership…

This research explored what students and school staff in rural, low socioeconomic (SES) high schools perceive as factors that strengthen and inhibit the positive youth development (PYD) attributes of students' confidence, competence, character, connection, and compassion. A collective case study was conducted in four rural high schools, two in…

Concerned with the ongoing youth mental crisis in the United States, researchers intentionally planned for positive youth development (PYD) practices in nature. Educators, appreciating the critical importance of youth developing relationships and a sense of belonging, may regard this model as a powerful tool to enhance existing programs. Both…

We sought to understand the school and legal experiences of "at-risk youth". Twenty-six semi-structured interviews were conducted with Black adolescents (aged 15-19) participating in a youth program. Based on a narrative analysis, three core narratives emerged--(a) school staff and family members as motivating school success; (b)…

Objective: This study examined children's representations of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) as well as their pandemic experiences against the backdrop of the world having transitioned to normalcy. Design: Mixed-methods approach encompassing both qualitative and quantitative analysis. Setting: Two middle schools in…