Background: Wilderness therapy (WT) has become a popular method of intervention with youth residing in residential facilities (RFs), and an important part of their treatment plan. Thus, the dual positioning and role of RF staff members - who both accompany participants on the WT journey and, at the same time, participate in their on-site, daily…

Youth substance use challenges their health and well-being. There is research and practical need for rigorous evaluation of substance use prevention programs in prompting positive youth development. This study examined the program effectiveness of Health Rocks!, a youth substance use prevention program, with a quasi-experimental two-factor mixed…

The challenges faced by youth can hinder them from reaching their full potential or help them grow and develop as they overcome their challenges. Grit and resilience provide young people with the skills, confidence, and perseverance to overcome challenges, pursue their goals and thrive. In this article, the authors examine the complex constructs…

In its diverse forms, authentic writing carries the potential to connect literacy practice to an author's 'real world'. While contemporary approaches to authentic writing instruction--advocating writer-centred, intertextual and culturally relevant productions--are most often explored in formal learning contexts like classrooms, this paper seeks to…

Adolescents face many difficulties when transitioning to high school, particularly when it comes to their social circles and maintaining friendships. As these challenges can have long-term consequences, providing support to youth during this period is essential. The YWCA Youth Education Programs (YEP) in Vancouver, BC offer group-based,…

This case study describes the "Reimagining Door 84" project, a participatory ethnographic research initiative conducted in collaboration with Door 84, a local youth and community center in York. Researchers from York St John University collaborated with young people, empowering them to design and implement their own research projects.…

Climate change presents an immediate threat for children living today, and a long-term burden for those living now and in the future. In Aotearoa New Zealand, tamariki Maori (Maori children), Pacific children, and children born into poverty are among those most exposed to climate risk. Taiohi (young people) have a right not just to be treated as a…

This paper uses the framework of transition as "becoming" to explore what young people learned from participating in a post-secondary transition program that was co-designed by young people. The 9-week youth participatory action research (YPAR) involved six staff collaborators (SCs) and seven youth collaborators (YCs). Data comprised…

This paper discusses the "how" of conducting participatory research that engages youth as participants and, more importantly, as co-researchers. In collaboration with four community co-researchers, this arts-based inquiry engaged 14 young Black people ranging in age from seven to fifteen years around their definitions of joy. Using a…

There has been a growing interest in the association between overweight or obesity and bullying behavior; however, investigations into this relationship have produced inconsistent results. This study is the first three-level meta-analytic approach to integrate previous findings on the association between overweight or obesity and bullying behavior…

Youth of Color in the United States are often leaders in movements for social justice. Evidence suggests that organizing has a positive macro-therapeutic effect on the mental health of young organizers; however, they can also experience strain and become targets of the very systems they are trying to change. In a community-based participatory…

A majority of youth in residential facilities such as residential children's treatment centers and juvenile justice facilities have a history of exposure to traumatic events, contributing to a multitude of long-term mental and physical concerns. Residential facility teachers and staff have the unique opportunity to create trauma-informed spaces -…

As the youth mentoring field has expanded since MENTOR's founding in 1990, so have the questions about the scope of mentoring relationships, who is finding the mentoring they need, and who is being left behind. MENTOR began its efforts to answer these questions almost a decade ago with the publication of "The Mentoring Effect…

A sense of belonging for any young person is core to the human experience--it encompasses how much a student feels accepted, respected, and included at school and in other contexts. For youth, adolescence is a time of exploration and one where they naturally wrestle with questions of belonging and sense of self as they transition to emerging…

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) invests in mentoring programs and services to help ensure positive outcomes for youth. Successful mentoring relationships have been shown to increase youth's self-esteem, improve academic achievement, and steer them away from delinquency, substance use, and other high-risk…