After-school programs have been demonstrated or theorized to be associated with a wide variety of positive youth outcomes and have become a more widely-accepted aspect of the greater educational system. One of the most commonly-cited vehicles for these positive outcomes is relationships developed within the after-school program. This paper…

Positive Youth Development (PYD) model is a strength-based perspective of transition to adulthood derived from developmental systems theory. Developmental assets (DAs) framework describes the individual and contextual resources that may promote PYD. This work aims to analyze the associations between internal and external DAs and PYD, as well as…

Although Bowlby proposed that adolescence is a major developmental period to transfer their attachment figures from parents to other people, no comprehensive longitudinal study on attachment transfer from early to late adolescence exists. This study employed 215 early to late adolescents between ages 11 and 18 years (X-bar[subscript age] = 14.02,…

The proportion of teenagers engaging in sex has declined in recent decades, and rates of teen births in the United States have reached a historic low (Osterman et al., 2022). However, risky sexual activity, which can result in teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), remains a concern. To help reduce teen pregnancies and STIs…

In this study, we explored the longitudinal linkages among Chinese early adolescents' unsociability, peer rejection, and loneliness. Participants were N = 445 primary school students in Shanghai, P.R. China followed over 3 years from Grades 6 and 7 to Grades 8 and 9. Measures of adolescents' unsociability, peer rejection, and loneliness were…

Youth unemployment refers to young people between the ages of 15 and 24 years who are without work, but are currently available for and actively seeking work (Youth Employment Network, 2011). Despite a mild recovery between 2009 and 2014, where the number of unemployed youth dropped by 3.3 million, finding employment is still an uphill struggle…

"It Takes an Ecosystem" explores the idea and potential of the Allied Youth Fields--an aspirational term that suggests increased connection across the multiple systems in which adults engage with young people. Recent research and initiatives make a strong case for what developmentalists have argued for decades: A young person's learning…

Panic attacks are common in adolescents and are experienced in several mental health difficulties. In adults, cognitions during panic attacks comprise mental images as well as thoughts. No qualitative research into panic attacks has been conducted with adolescents. Better understanding of the experience of panic attacks, including the presence and…

There has been an increase in research regarding experiences within virtual education. However, little attention has been given to the middle level context. Through a theoretical lens grounded in stage-environment fit theory, this phenomenological case study describes the lived experiences of two middle level virtual learners as they engage in an…

The COVID-19 pandemic caused schools to shift to virtual or hybrid instruction, thrusting young adolescents into a very different educational environment. Stage-environment fit theory outlines ways in which educational contexts may, or may not, meet the developmental needs of young adolescents. Yet little is known about how virtual environments…

Many prosocial behaviors involve social risks such as speaking out against a popular opinion, bias, group norm, or authority. However, little is known about whether adolescents' prosocial tendencies develop over time with their perceptions of social risks. This accelerated longitudinal study used within-subject growth-curve analyses to test the…

Adolescence is by definition an "age of risk", irrelevant if you substantiate such a claim experientially or empirically. Mid-adolescence is the period where the processes of both neural and socio-emotional maturation are linked with an increase in both exploratory and health-risk behaviors. The present study, using a cross-sectional…

Ever wonder why teenagers are so quick to adopt Instagram, Snapchat, and other forms of social media? Or take up X Games sports such as skateboarding and snowboarding? This Alliance for Excellent Education report explains how changes in the brain make adolescents more likely to be influenced by their peers, take risks, and even become disengaged…

This document, from the Council for Exceptional Children, Division of Emotional and Behavioral Health (DEBH), provides clear and compelling support for the abolishment of solitary confinement with incarcerated youth and young adults in juvenile and adult correctional facilities. This is the first position statement from DEBH on the topic, and the…

In order to support adolescent girls' social and emotional development, school counselors need to understand girls' current experiences and developmental needs. Researchers used phenomenological methodology to explore the experiences of 11 girls in Generation Z. They further examined girls' interactions with their high school counselors including…