Youths and parents in the California 4-H program have reported issues with communication and challenges in understanding the program. As a result, we developed a family handbook and other supporting documents to help youths and parents navigate the California 4-H program. This article addresses the development, dissemination, and reach of the…

While social programs are often assessed using short-term impact studies, longitudinal designs allow evaluators to capture change over time, identify longer-term outcomes, adapt instruments, and better understand participants in transition. A mixed methods design can be critical in understanding these dynamics; yet there is a lack of literature…

Extension personnel are tasked with ensuring that 4-H volunteers have competencies identified in the Volunteer Research and Knowledge Competency (VRKC) Taxonomy, 4-H youth development's foundational volunteer skills framework. The VRKC Codebook is a qualitative analysis tool for accurately identifying VRKC-aligned needs expressed in volunteer…

The purpose of the study reported here was to gather information about the extent and scope of 4-­H health ambassador programs. An online survey was sent to land-­grant institution health contacts. Fifteen of the 36 individuals responding indicated that their states had such programs, and 13 completed the remainder of the survey questions.…

Background: Schools provide an ideal setting for promoting healthy lifestyles in youth, but it has proven difficult to promote the adoption and implementation of evidence-based programming by school leaders. The SWITCH® ("School Wellness Integration Targeting Child Health") intervention is a capacity-building process designed to help…

In this paper, we seek to advance understandings of the contemporary global 'sport for development and peace' (SDP) sector, with respect to volunteers and volunteering in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Volunteers play a critical role in organizing and delivering SDP social intervention programmes across the world; most SDP volunteer…

Promoting the Readiness of Minors in Supplemental Security Income (PROMISE), a study of 13,444 randomly assigned youth and their families, includes six model demonstration projects and a technical assistance center funded through the U.S. Department of Education and a national evaluation of the model demonstration projects funded through the…

Educational researchers and practitioners have cited the need for new directions in youth leadership studies as it relates to globalization. Globalization is considered one of the most important economic, cultural, and social trends of the last century, yet there is much debate about the educational curricula that best support the development of…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the views of the participants of European Union Erasmus+ Youth Exchange project regarding its effect on foreign language motivation and speaking fluency development. Foreign language motivation and speaking are two significant aspects of learning English as a foreign language. There are some studies on…

A survey of 1,860 15-year-olds from across the United States found that mentees' perceived positive regard from caring adults was associated with a range of personal, school, and civic outcomes. A structural equation modeling analysis found that for youth who have a mentor or other caring adults that they feel "gets them," this perceived…

The purpose of this research is to investigate how Young Enterprise (YE) student entrepreneurs develop new product/service opportunities, learn decision-making skills and achieve a sense of entrepreneurial self-efficacy. From a national survey of YE participants in the Netherlands, entrepreneurial self-efficacy was found to partially mediate…

The purpose of the present study was to examine the extent to which social factors such as gender, age, organized sport participation and family wealth, influence adolescents' global self-worth and out-of-school physical activity (PA). Seven hundred twenty-one Greek students (346 boys and 375 girls), aged 14 to 16 years old (Mage = 14.97 ± 0.82…

Youth within juvenile justice facilities (JJFs) are often some of the most vulnerable and marginalized population in our communities. These youth often have experienced trauma, social-emotional learning (SEL) issues as well as difficulties in school. Many of these youth have had little opportunity to express their voice in positive and healthy…

Twenty-six participants aged 12-18 living in four countries were interviewed about their experiences participating in a digital exchange programme and learning about cultures. Abductive analysis of the transcripts suggests that social media-type learning formats offer particular opportunities for young people to: (1) engage with different cultures…

This study examined the moderating effect of youth-adult partnerships (YAPs) on the relationship between youth empowerment in the community and youth's creative self-efficacy (CSE). A survey was administered to 2,653 youth recruited from youth service centers in Hong Kong, which measured youth empowerment in the community, perceived YAPs in youth…