Background: Positive youth development emphasizes that adaptive features of adolescence may contribute to teenage pregnancy prevention. Methods: Using data from approximately 1300 seventh-ninth graders, we describe positive youth development assets (external and internal) and their association with sexual risk taking. School-, sex-, and…

Youth participation in community-based, structured out-of-school time programs (OST) has been found to promote positive developmental outcomes by providing youth with resources to build interpersonal relationships and essential life skills. The increasing prevalence and multiplicity of youth participation in these activities leads us to expand the…

Although family-school engagement is important across child and adolescent development, most research, programs, and policies have focused primarily on elementary students and contexts. The current study extends beyond elementary settings by exploring the unique and shared contributions of developmental context on family-school engagement (i.e.,…

Although family-school engagement is important across child and adolescent development, most research, programs, and policies have focused primarily on elementary students and contexts. The current study extends beyond elementary settings by exploring the unique and shared contributions of developmental context on family-school engagement (i.e.,…

This study evaluated a brief social self-efficacy (SSE) measure among 4,122 public middle school adolescents and its association with aggressive behavior. Data analytic procedures included calculating mean ratings, standard deviations in addition to inspecting the scale's reliability, internal structure, and relationships to demographic and…

Early adolescents undergo immense developmental changes which consequently impact their middle level educational experiences. These changes are also mediated through social forces such as race, class, gender, and sexuality. Despite the intersection of early adolescent development with social and institutional forces, critical concepts such as race…

Recent advances in positive youth development theory and research explicate complex associations between adaptive functioning and risk behavior, acknowledging that high levels of both co-occur in the lives of some adolescents. However, evidence on nuanced overlapping developmental trajectories of adaptive functioning and risk has been limited to 1…

Cluster analyses and hierarchical linear modeling were used to investigate the impact of perceptions of connectedness to family, school, and neighborhood contexts on academic and psycho-social outcomes for 437 urban ethnically diverse adolescents. Five profiles of connectedness to family, school, and neighborhood were identified. Two profiles were…

We report on a study aimed at understanding adolescence as a period of heightened vulnerability, and investigate Life Orientation as a possible means of addressing the risk associated with adolescence. However, if Life Orientation is to be an effective solution to the problem, it needs to respond to Life Orientation needs as perceived by…

In this study, we examined the associations between organized activity participation during early adolescence and adjustment in a large and economically diverse sample of African American and European American youth. The sample included 1,047 youth (51% female and 49% male and 67% African American and 33% European American). We used analysis of…

The purpose of this project was to gain a better understanding of dimensions of trust and inter-relationships between those dimensions during the adolescent years. Drawing from survey data collected at the beginning and end of a semester in eighty middle- and high-school social studies classes, relationships were assessed between: social trust,…