Positive Youth Development in Global Contexts of Social and Economic Change

The youth of the world are our most important assets. When youth develop positively, they have the power to benefit themselves, their families, communities, and societies. These tremendous benefits accrue for many generations, so investments in youth represent a highly cost-effective opportunity for positive change. This is the first volume to focus globally on the effects of social and economic change on youth, and on the opportunity to support youth through policy, programs, and interventions to develop positively despite challenges. The chapters in this volume highlight research demonstrating youth assets and resilience as well as programs and interventions that increase the likelihood that youth will thrive. Many chapters also draw attention to opportunities for youth leadership, helping youth to develop their strengths as they benefit their communities. Additional chapters focus on promoting optimal youth development in the presence of adversity, risk, or challenge, taking into consideration the potential and capacity of the young person. Finally, the ecological system theory is a strong influence in many chapters that examine the inter-relationship of different social contexts such as family, peers, school, and work. Positive Youth Development in Global Contexts of Social and Economic Change is both a vision for the future and an ideology supported by a new international vocabulary for engaging with youth development. Developed by researchers across interdisciplinary fields, the volume has enormous policy implications for lawmakers given the surge in youth population in many parts of the world.

Anne C. Petersen is Research Professor at the University of Michigan, USA and Founder/President of the Global Philanthropy Alliance. Sílvia H. Koller is Professor of Psychology at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil. Frosso Motti-Stefanidi is Professor of Psychology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. Suman Verma is the former Head of the Department of Human Development and Family Relations in the Government Home Science College, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India.

Foreword Lonnie R. Sherrod 1. Global Positive Youth Development: Framing the Issues Anne C. Petersen, Suman Verma, Sílvia H. Koller, Frosso Motti-Stefanidi 2. Development in the Context of Social and Economic Change: The Jena Model Rainer K. Silbereisen 3. Socioeconomic Status, Parenting, and Positive Youth Development in Global Perspective Jennifer E. Lansford Part I: Positive Youth Development in Diverse Contexts during Economic Change 4. The Role of the Great Recession for the Quality of Labor Market Entry in Switzerland: Societal Climate, Job Opportunities and Young People's Social Resources Marlis Buchmann 5. Making It Against the Odds: A Developmental-Contextual Approach to the Study of Resilience Ingrid Schoon 6. Career Engagement and Life Satisfaction During Transition from School to Work Katja Upadyaya and Katariina Salmela-Aro 7. Youth Adaptation during the Current Great Economic Recession in Greece: Risk and Resilience Frosso Motti-Stefanidi, Nancy Papathanasiou, Stefanos Mastrotheodoros, and Vassilis Pavlopoulos 8. A New Perspective on Three Old Methodological Issues: The Role of Time, Missing Values, and Cohorts in Longitudinal Models of Youth Development Manuel C. Voelkle 9. Family Connectedness and its Association with Psychological Well-Being among Emerging Adults across Four Cultural Contexts Amina Abubakar, Maja Schachner, Arzu Aydnili-Karakulak, Itziar Alonso-Arbiol, Virginia Martinez-Fernandez, Moses Kachama Nyongesa, and Halimu Shauri 10. Youth-Adult Relationships as Assets for Youth: Promoting Positive Development in Stressful Times Stephen F. Hamilton, Mary Agnes Hamilton, David L. DuBois , M. Loreto Martínez, Patricio Cumsille, Bernadine Brady, Pat Dolan, Susana Núñez Rodriguez, and Deborah E. Sellers 11. Identity Resources for Positive Adaptation of Roma Ethnic Minority Youth in Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Italy, Kosovo and Romania Radosveta Dimitrova, Pasquale Musso, Amina Abubakar, Iva Polackova Solcova, Delia Stefenel, Fitim Uka, Skerdi Zahaj, Peter Tavel, Venzislav Jordanov Part II: Interventions to Support and Promote Positive Adaptation and Development 12. Innovative Approaches to Promoting Positive Youth Development in Diverse Contexts: Novel Applications of Participatory Research and New Technologies Emily J. Ozer, Amber Akemi Piatt, Ingrid Holsen, Torill Larsen, James Lester, and Elizabeth M. Ozer 13. Dual-Generation Approaches to Address Adolescent Motherhood and Human Development in the Context of Economic Downturns and Poverty in Low- and Middle-Income Countries Alice J. Wuermli and Hirokazu Yoshikawa 14. The Development of an Intervention Based on Positive Psychology for Children Involved in Bullying Juliana Pureza, Carolina Lisboa, Angela Helena Marin Part III: Research, Interventions, and Policy Needs 15. Lessons Learned for Policy Impact from Research and Interventions Christiane Spiel and Barbara Schober 16. How Youth Development Demands Greater Commitment to Research, Intervention and Social Policy: The Example of Adolescent Health in India Suman Verma 17. Achieving Positive Development for Youth Globally: How Far Have We Come and What Is Yet Needed? Sílvia H. Koller, Frosso Motti-Stefanidi, Anne C. Petersen, and Suman Verma