Measuring Youth Perceptions of Being Known and Loved and Positive Youth Development: Cross-National Findings from Rwanda and El Salvador

Abstract

Background Dynamic, relational developmental systems-based models of development emphasize that developmentally-nurturant youth-adult relationships elicit in youth perceptions of being known and loved. Although such perceptions are foundations of positive youth development (PYD), such measures do not exist. Objective We sought to create a theoretically-predicated measure of youth perceptions of being known and loved by capitalizing on data sets in two countries (Rwanda and El Salvador) wherein a multi-national study of PYD was being conducted by Compassion International (CI). Method With Rwanda data ( n = 1,204, M age = 11.84, 50% CI-supported), exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses enabled refining the measure for robustness and parsimony. Measures of intentional self-regulation, hopeful future expectations, transcendence, and contribution were used for validation of the known and loved measure within the nomological net of constructs proposed in the Lerner and Lerner PYD model. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the use of the model within the El Salvador data set ( n = 1,205, M age = 13.03, 51% CI-supported). Results Robust psychometric properties were established in both national settings. Measurement invariance was found across age, gender, urban–rural location, CI-enrollment status, and nations, and involved both mean differences and correlations among latent factors. Conclusions The results provide evidence for a theory-predicated measure of youth perceptions of being known and loved and that scores for this construct covary within a nomological net specified in the Lerner and Lerner model of PYD. These findings serve international development organizations seeking theory-predicated measures for use in evaluating PYD programs in low- and middle-income countries. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10566-022-09725-6.

Spirituality as a key asset in promoting positive youth development: Advances in research and practice

“…Social relationships are key components of the "Big Three," and similarly, they are key components in the development of youth spirituality. As Tirrell et al (2023) demonstrated, feeling known and loved (KL) by adults is an important developmental asset of youth programs because these feelings are markers of the presence of developmentally nurturant relationships existing in a program, and such relationships are foundations of many developmental outcomes that are important goals in these settings (e.g., transcendence, contribution; e.g., Cantor et al, 2021). These developmentally nurturant relationships also impact how youth grow in their personal spirituality because relational variables have been linked to positive spiritual and psychological development (Augustyn et al, 2017).…”

“…Next, to assess the convergent validity of a new scale developed to measure youth perceptions of being KL within the context of the youth development program, Tirrell et al (2023) established cross-national invariance of the measurement model between samples of youth from El Salvador and Rwanda and, in doing so, found significant and moderate correlations between the KL scale and the established transcendence subscale of the MDAS ( r s = .45 and .59 for the El Salvador and Rwanda samples, respectively). The finding, that youth spirituality correlates with overall feelings of being KL, is an important point for FBOs to consider in program design because increasing feelings of being KL within the program might also enhance youth spirituality.…”

“…Indeed, using ideas from RDS-based models of PYD (e.g., Benson, 2008; Damon, 2008; Lerner et al, 2019; Lerner & Lerner, 2019; Murry et al, 2016; Smith et al, 2017), longitudinal research and evaluations of strengths-based PYD programs have burgeoned in LMICs. Many of these programs are faith-based for various reasons, not the least of which are the facts that (a) religious institutions are often the major context other than the family wherein youth encounter the key contextual asset of developmentally nurturant relationships with adults (Benson, 2008; Cantor et al, 2021; Tirrell et al, 2023) and, in turn, (b) young people’s spirituality and religiosity constitute key individual assets linked to PYD (Dowling et al, 2003, 2004) In short, theory-predicated studies of the mutually-influential and mutually-beneficial relations between youth spirituality and religiosity, and the implementation of strengths-based PYD programs for youth developing in LMICs, constitute an important sample case of how research predicated on dynamic, RDS-based models can enhance our understanding of how mutually-influential, positive relations between marginalized youth in LMICs and PYD programs can promote thriving.…”